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Dana Plato

Acting Born Nov 7, 1964 Maywood, California, USA 24 credits

Biography

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.

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Known for

The Six Million Dollar Man

as Girl on the Tennis Court

The Facts of Life

as Kimberly Drummond
Film

Notting Hill

as Dana Plato

Diff'rent Strokes

as Kimberly Drummond

Full filmography

  • The Six Million Dollar Man (1974) as Girl on the Tennis Court
  • The Facts of Life (1979) as Kimberly Drummond
  • CHiPs (1977) as Dana Plato
  • Growing Pains (1985) as Lisa
  • Family (1976) as Debbie
  • Hollywood Demons (2025) as Self (archive footage)
  • Hello, Larry (1979) as Kimberly Drummond
  • Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) as Sandra Phalor (uncredited)
  • Diff'rent Strokes (1978) as Kimberly Drummond
  • E! True Hollywood Story (1996)
  • California Suite (1978) as Jenny
  • High School U.S.A. (1983) as Cara Ames
  • Insatiable Coeds (2000) as Piano Teacher's Wife (archive footage) (uncredited)
  • Night Trap (1992) as Kelly
  • Prime Suspect (1989) as Diana Masters
  • Silent Fury (1994)
  • Gary (2024) as Archive footage
  • Beyond the Bermuda Triangle (1975) as Wendy
  • Distortions (1992) as Deborah Nichols
  • The Hostage (1998) as Leslie
  • Different Strokes (1998) as Jill Martin
  • Schoolboy Father (1980) as Daisy Dallenger
  • Millenium Day (1995) as Pacifica
  • Bikini Beach Race (1992) as J.D.