Today, Diff’rent Strokes may be looked back as just one of many 80s sitcoms, but at the time it was one of the most popular shows on TV.
That popularity was in large part due to its star, Gary Coleman. At the height of the show’s success, Coleman had a decent amount of power as the sitcom’s number one draw. At one point, he decided to flex his muscles and use that power. Here’s the story of the show’s fourth season, in which Coleman sat out at the beginning of it due to a money dispute.
What was the premise of ‘Diff’rent Strokes?’
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According to IMDB, the show centered on the life of a New York City millionaire named Phillip Drummond. Drummond is a widower whose housekeeper passes away. She makes Drummond promise that he’ll look after her two young sons, the 12-year-old Willis and eight-year-old Arnold. Drummond adopts the two boys and immediately takes them in as family. He also has a young daughter named Kimberly and a new housekeeper named Edna Garrett.
The show highlights the two boys as they move from a poor Harlem neighborhood to a swanky Manhattan existence. While there is a culture clash at first, eventually the two feel comfortable in their new environment.
The show was a major hit. It even led to a spinoff featuring Edna called The Facts of Life.
Gary Coleman was ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ breakout star
Coleman sadly passed away in 2010, but he will always be remembered for his role as the incorrigible Arnold. In his obituary, People claimed he was rumored to have received $100,000 per episode at one point. The show ran from 1978-1986.
Coleman suffered from congenital health issues that stunted his growth. He never grew past 4’8.” He also suffered from a kidney disorder known as nephritis. Coleman’s mother reflected on his innate acting ability:
“His talent…may be God’s way of compensating him for what he’s been through, and the fact that he’ll never have the physical size of other boys.”
Despite the many challenges Coleman faced, he was able to shine as Arnold. He became well known for his signature catchphrase of “What you talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” His ability to captivate the audience helped drive the show’s popularity. His boyish naïveté and excellent comic timing were a combination too tantalizing for viewers to resist.
Coleman may have looked like a child, but he was much savvier than that. He knew he had the ability to command a lot of power on the show, and he used that leverage in an effort to get more money.
The time Gary Coleman held out of ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ season four for more money
According to the New York Times, Coleman became involved in a dispute with Tandem Productions, the production company behind the show, over his salary. When the show began, he was receiving $1,800 a week. He negotiated a raise to $30,000. When the show qualified for syndication, Coleman wanted even more, hence the court battle. He sat out the first few episodes of the fourth season during the dispute.
Coleman wasn’t the only person who saw his own financial value. Then-NBC president, the late Brandon Tartikoff, also knew it as well, stating:
”Gary Coleman is Diff’rent Strokes. Without him, it would not be commercially viable and whatever shell of a show would be left would be unacceptable to NBC.”
The battle ended well for Coleman. According to Mental Floss, his salary eventually got bumped up to $70,000. That was good enough to make him the highest-paid actor on the network for quite some time.
Gary Coleman was an American actor who had a internet price of $75 thousand {dollars} on the time of his demise in 2010. Gary Coleman was finest recognized for his little one efficiency as Arnold Jackson on the sitcom “Diff’hire Strokes.” Because of the position, he grew to become one of many highest-paid child actors within the late 70s and 80s. He additionally gained quite a few awards. His catchphrase on the present “What’chu talkin’ bout, Willis?” remains to be very talked-about.
Coleman additionally lent his voice to the animated applications “The Gary Coleman Present” and “Waynehead,” and appeared in movies comparable to “Jimmy the Child,” “Soiled Work,” and “An American Carol.”
Diffrent Strokes Wage
At his peak, Gary Coleman earned $100,000 per episode on the present. That made him the highest-paid TV actor on the planet on the time. Roughly $2.5 million per season. That is the identical as round $6.5 million after adjusting for inflation. After he paid his dad and mom, legal professionals, advisers, and taxes he was mentioned to solely have one fourth of what he made.
Monetary and Authorized Struggles
Coleman was usually burdened by monetary points throughout his profession, on account of each ongoing medical bills and the truth that his dad and mom and enterprise advisers ceaselessly misappropriated his earnings. In 1989, he sued his adoptive dad and mom and former advisers, in the end successful a $1.28 million settlement some years later. To assist himself throughout his profession struggles, Coleman labored part-time at railroad pastime shops in California, Arizona, and Colorado.
Whereas working as a safety guard in 1998, Coleman was charged with assaulting a Los Angeles bus driver who requested his autograph. When an argument ensued, Coleman punched the girl a number of occasions within the face, and was arrested. He acquired a suspended jail sentence, and was ordered to each pay the girl’s hospital invoice and enroll in anger administration courses. The subsequent 12 months, Coleman filed for chapter safety. Afterward in his life, Coleman ceaselessly bumped into extra authorized hassle, being cited for situations of disorderly conduct, reckless driving, and home assault.
Early Life and Profession Beginnings
Gary Coleman was born in 1968 in Zion, Illinois, the adopted son of Edmonia Sue, a nurse practitioner, and W. G. Coleman, a forklift operator. He had a congenital kidney illness that may stop him from rising past 4 ft 8 inches, and that may preserve his face showing childlike into maturity. In an try to handle this, he underwent two kidney transplants in 1973, and one other in 1984, however they have been unsuccessful.
Coleman’s skilled profession started in 1974, when he appeared in a business for Harris Financial institution. That very same 12 months, he was in an episode of the CBS drama collection “Medical Middle.” A couple of years later, he appeared in episodes of the CBS sitcoms “The Jeffersons” and “Good Instances.”
Diff’hire Strokes
In 1977, Coleman was within the pilot episode of the revival of “The Little Rascals.” Though the collection was not picked up, an government observed Coleman, and subsequently solid him in what could be his most well-known position: Arnold Jackson on “Diff’hire Strokes.” Jackson was one in every of two African-American brothers from Harlem, the opposite performed by Todd Bridges, who have been adopted by a rich white Manhattan widower, portrayed by Conrad Bain. A significant hit, the present ran for eight seasons, first on NBC after which on ABC. Coleman grew to become recognized for his catchphrase on the present, “What’chu talkin’ ’bout, Willis?,” which he would utter suspiciously to his character’s brother.
On the peak of his fame on “Diff’hire Strokes,” Coleman was reportedly incomes $100,000 per episode. He acquired a plethora of accolades, together with 5 Younger Artist Award nominations and two wins, and 4 consecutive Individuals’s Selection Awards for Favourite Younger TV Performer, gained between 1980 and 1983.
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Movie and Tv Profession within the 70s and 80s
A preferred determine because of the success of “Diff’hire Strokes,” Coleman started showing on different tv productions, in addition to in movies. In 1979, he starred within the made-for-television film “The Child from Left Discipline,” and had a visitor look on the science-fiction program “Buck Rogers within the twenty fifth Century.” The next 12 months, he was within the tv movie “Scout’s Honor,” and in 1981, made his function movie debut within the comedy “On the Proper Observe,” starring as a younger shoeshine boy who turns into well-known for efficiently playing on horses. This was adopted by “The Child with the Damaged Halo,” “Jimmy the Child,” and three tv movies: “The Child with the 200 I.Q.,” “The Unbelievable World of D.C. Collins,” and “Taking part in with Hearth.” In the meantime, in 1982, Coleman was the lead voice on the Saturday morning animated program “The Gary Coleman Present,” which ran for 13 episodes.
Later Appearing Profession
Within the Nineties, Coleman appeared in episodes of exhibits comparable to “Married… with Youngsters,” “Martin,” and “The Recent Prince of Bel-Air.” In 1996, he had a recurring position on the Saturday morning cartoon “Waynehead,” which was created by actor Damon Wayans. On the large display, he made cameo appearances as himself within the comedies “S.F.W.” and “Soiled Work.”
Coleman continued to make appearances as himself on many applications within the 2000s. His credit included “The Hughleys,” “My Spouse and Children,” “Child Bob,” “The Parkers,” “The Surreal Life,” “Drake & Josh,” and “Nitro Circus.” Amongst Coleman’s final roles have been within the comedies “Church Ball” and “An American Carol.” His remaining movie look got here within the 2009 impartial movie “Midgets vs. Mascots.”
Private Life
Whereas on the set of “Church Ball” in 2007, Coleman met Shannon Worth, who was working as an additional. They wed many months later. After showing on the present “Divorce Court docket” in 2008, they ended up divorcing, due largely to Worth being bodily abusive and untrue.
In 2009, Colman had coronary heart surgical procedure, and developed pneumonia. The subsequent 12 months, he suffered two seizures, and was admitted to the Utah Valley Regional Medical Middle in Provo, Utah after falling down the steps of his house. In essential situation, his well being worsened, and he was placed on life assist. Coleman handed away in Might of 2010, on the age of 42.
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