'Whatchoo Talkin' 'Bout?' Museum Of Broadcast Communications Salutes Gary Coleman

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on May 30, 2013 3:45PM

Gary Coleman is another statistic in a long history of popular child actors who couldn’t maintain their success as they crossed over into adulthood. Coleman suffered from autoimmune kidney disease, underwent two unsuccessful kidney transplants and required daily dialysis. That and the medications he took to keep his illness in check limited his growth and he retained his cherubic facial features well into his adult years before he died in 2010

But the Zion, Illinois native was a talented actor, in spite of his frame. Coleman was a Peoples’ Choice Award winner, one of the most popular actors of the late 70s and early 80s and, at the height of his popularity, earned $100,000 an episode for his role as Arnold Jackson on the comedy Diff’rent Strokes. Coleman would later sue his manager and parents for misappropriating his earnings and was awarded a $1.3 million judgment in 1993; he would declare bankruptcy a decade later. Coleman spent his last years taking in bit roles in music videos, television and direct-to-video projects, and would perform stunts like run for governor of California.

It’s Coleman’s sad adult life that people who didn’t grow up when Diff’rent Strokes was one of the most popular shows on television associate with the actor. “The Life & Times of Gary Coleman,” an exhibit running June 26- Sept. 14 at The Museum of Broadcast Communications, aims to highlight the good times of Coleman’s career while paying tribute to a Chicago area native in the process.

Coleman’s parents, William and Sue Coleman, have donated some of his professional and personal belongings for the exhibit, as has Sony Television. The MBC has also produced a tribute video for the exhibit featuring reflections from former NBC president Fred Silverman and producer Norman Lear, who cast Coleman in Diff’rent Strokes. Coleman’s parents will appear at the museum July 20 at noon to discuss his career and offer advice to aspiring stage parents.