Dana Plato

About Dana Plato

Dana Michelle Plato (November 1, 1963 – May 8, 1999) was an American actress who became famous playing the role of Kimberly Drummond in the U.S. television sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. Plato's career declined after her departure from the show, with appearances in low-budget films, including some softcore pornography. She had longstanding personal problems and died from an overdose of prescription medication on May 8, 1999.

Plato was born on November 1, 1963, in Maywood, California to Linda Strain, an unwed mother who was 16 at the time of Dana's birth and was already caring for an 18-month-old child. Strain put her infant daughter up for adoption and in June 1965, Dean and Florine "Kay" Plato adopted the child, raising her in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. She attended Sutter Jr. High School in Canoga Park, California.

Kay Plato began taking Dana to auditions when she was very young. By the age of seven, Dana began doing television commercials, reportedly appearing in over 100 spots for companies as diverse as Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dole, and Atlantic Richfield. She claimed she was offered two highly sought-after movie roles: the part of possessed child Regan MacNeil in the 1973 film, The Exorcist, and the starring role in Louis Malle's 1978 film, Pretty Baby. Kay Plato, it was said, vetoed both jobs, either fearing her daughter would be typecast, or subjected to unsavory subject matters. Plato herself appears to have been the source for these oft-repeated casting stories. Exorcist author William Peter Blatty, who also wrote the screenplay for the film, said in the book Former Child Stars: The Story of America's Least Wanted that he had "no such recollection" of Plato being offered the role.