'Different Strokes' star Gary Coleman dies

PROVO, Utah (AP): Gary Coleman, the child star of the smash 1970s TV sitcom Different Strokes, whose later career was marred by medical and legal problems, died Friday after suffering a brain haemorrhage. He was 42.

Utah Valley Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Janet Frank said life support was terminated and Coleman died at 12:05 p.m.

Coleman, with his sparkling eyes and perfect comic timing, became a star after Different Strokes debuted in 1978. He played younger brother Arnold Jackson, a pair of African-American siblings adopted by a wealthy white man.

His popularity faded when the show ended after six seasons on the NBC network and two on ABC.

Coleman suffered continuing ill-health from the kidney disease that stunted his growth and had a host of legal problems in recent years.

Coleman suffered the brain haemorrhage last Wednesday at his Santaquin home, 55 miles (90 kilometres) south of Salt Lake City.

A statement from the family said he was conscious and lucid until midday last Thursday, when his condition worsened and he slipped into unconsciousness. Coleman was then placed on life support.

Different Strokes debuted on NBC in 1978 and drew most of its laughs from the tiny, 10-year-old Coleman.

Race and class relations became topics on the show as much as the typical trials of growing up.

Coleman was an immediate star, and his sceptical "Whatchu talkin' 'bout?" - usually aimed at his brother, Willis - became a catchphrase.

In a 1979 Los Angeles Times profile, his mother, Edmonia Sue Coleman, said her son had always been a ham as a small child. He acted in some commercials before he was signed by T.A.T., the production company that created Different Strokes.

awesome memory

"Gary remembers everything. Everything," co-producer and director Herb Kenwith told the newspaper. "His power of concentration is unlike any adult's I know."

Asked by Ebony magazine in 1979 how he learned his lines so easily, young Gary replied, "It's easy!"

But the attention his starring role brought him could be a burden as well as a pleasure. Coleman told The Associated Press in 2001 that he would do a TV series again, but "only under the absolute condition that it be an ensemble cast and that everybody gets a chance to shine."

"I certainly am not going to be the only person on the show working," he said. "I've done that. I didn't like it."