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Dana Plato
Maywood, California, USA
Dana Michelle Plato (November 7, 1964 — May 8, 1999) was born in Maywood, California. Dana made an impact on the TV screen when she landed the role of Kimberly Drummond in the TV…
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Dana Michelle Plato (November 7, 1964 — May 8, 1999) was born in Maywood, California. Dana made an impact on the TV screen when she landed the role of Kimberly Drummond in the TV hit sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978) from 1978-1986. After the series ended, Dana had difficulty finding more acting work. Sometimes she would act in a made-for-TV movie or a low- budget silver-screen film. She was married for Lanny Lambert for seven years and they had a son. Plato was arrested in 1991 for robbing a Las Vegas video store and placed on probation; the next year she was arrested again, this time for forging a Valium prescription. She had just finished an interview with Howard Stern in the spring of 1999 when she and her fiancé, Robert Menchaca, were headed back to California. She hoped the interview would revive her stalled career. They stopped at his parents' house in Moore, Oklahoma for a Mother's-Day-weekend visit; on Saturday, May 8, 1999, Dana died of what appeared to be an accidental overdose of the painkiller "Loritab". On May 21, a coroner's inquest ruled her death a suicide because of the large amount of drugs in her body and her history of past suicide attempts. She was 34 years old.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2025
Hollywood Demons
TV show Self (archive footage)
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2024
Gary
Movie Archive footage
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2002
Pacino is Missing
Movie Prosecuting Attorney
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2000
Insatiable Coeds
Movie Piano Teacher's Wife (archive footage) (uncredited)
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1998
Tiger
Movie Andrea Baker
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1998
Different Strokes
Movie Jill Martin
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1998
Desperation Boulevard
Movie Herself
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1998
The Hostage
Movie Leslie
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1997
Blade Boxer
Movie
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1996
E! True Hollywood Story
TV show
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1995
Lethal Cowboy
Movie Elizabeth
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1995
Compelling Evidence
Movie Dana Fields
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1995
Millenium Day
Movie Pacifica
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1994
Silent Fury
Movie
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1992
Night Trap
Movie Kelly
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1992
Distortions
Movie Deborah Nichols
More credits
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1992
Bikini Beach Race
Movie J.D.
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1990
The Word
TV show
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1989
Prime Suspect
Movie Diana Masters
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1985
Growing Pains
TV show Lisa
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1983
High School U.S.A.
Movie Cara Ames
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1982
Kraft Salutes Walt Disney World's 10th Anniversary
Movie Daughter
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1980
Schoolboy Father
Movie Daisy Dallenger
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1979
The Facts of Life
TV show Kimberly Drummond
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1979
Hello, Larry
TV show Kimberly Drummond
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1978
Diff'rent Strokes
TV show Kimberly Drummond
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1978
California Suite
Movie Jenny
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1977
CHiPs
TV show Dana Plato (uncredited)
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1977
Return to Boggy Creek
Movie Evie Jo
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1977
Exorcist II: The Heretic
Movie Sandra Phalor (uncredited)
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1976
Family
TV show Debbie
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1975
Beyond the Bermuda Triangle
Movie Wendy
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1974
The Six Million Dollar Man
TV show Girl on the Tennis Court
