Remembering Dana Plato
 Dana Michelle Plato November 7, 1964 – May 8, 1999 |
Dana Michelle Plato aka Dana Michelle Strain was an American actress and model who I saw in various forays into teevee and film during my younger days in the 1970s through 1980s.
Starting out in commercials and a horror film called Return to Boggy Creek she was cast in a sitcom called Diff'rent Strokes as Kimberly Drummond which was on from 1978 (I was in the Navy) through 1986 (I was teaching college).
I must admit that I watched the heyday of her career to see other characters on the program, but I was keenly aware she was there and she too punctuated my entertainment on a regular basis during that time.
I'm sorry to say that after a good run on the television show she fell on difficult times and earnings plummeted. She experienced a steep downward spiral after the money was gone and died at the age of 34 from an overdose of prescription pills after suffering years of substance abuse and poverty.
I always was one to have pitty on the young girl who was arrested for shoplifting and that decline in her appearance secondary to those hard times she endured. Others on her same television program suffered as well and they too are deserving of our empathy.
There by the grace of God go I for I was ensnared in substance abuse for a long time until such time as I decided "enough was enough" and quit all recreactional drugs cold turkey.
I suppose she never had this moment because if it arises you are never the same again.