Former child star Gary Coleman dies at 42
Posted on May 31, 2010
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Actor Gary Coleman, who shot to fame in the 1970s as the child star of TV sitcom ‘Diff’rent Strokes’, has died from a brain haemorrhage. He was 42. Coleman was taken to a hospital in Provo, Utah, earlier this week after he suffered a fall at his nearby home. According to the hospital staff, Coleman’s wife, Shannon, 26, decided to switch off his life-support machine after doctors said he was unlikely to regain consciousness, reported The Independent online. Coleman was briefly the best-paid actor in television, after he was cast in ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ at the age of 10. He played Arnold Jackson, a working-class child who was adopted by a wealthy socialite, and was famed for his catchphrase “Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout?” 
At the height of its success, his salary was USD 64,000 a week. But he lost almost all of his USD 18m fortune in a legal battle with his parents. Shawn Price, Coleman’s brother-in-law, has said his family are “very grateful” for the support they have received from the public. Reading out a statement from Shannon, Price said, “thousands of e-mails have poured into the hospital”.
Agencies
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