Dana Michelle Plato (November 7, 1964 — May 8, 1999) was born in Maywood, California. Dana made an impact on the TV screen when she landed the role of Kimberly Drummond in the TV hit sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978) from 1978-1986. After the series ended, Dana had difficulty finding more acting work. Sometimes she would act in a made-for-TV movie or a low- budget silver-screen film. She was married for Lanny Lambert for seven years and they had a son. Plato was arrested in 1991 for robbing a Las Vegas video store and placed on probation; the next year she was arrested again, this time for forging a Valium prescription. She had just finished an interview with Howard Stern in the spring of 1999 when she and her fiancé, Robert Menchaca, were headed back to California. She hoped the interview would revive her stalled career. They stopped at his parents' house in Moore, Oklahoma for a Mother's-Day-weekend visit; on Saturday, May 8, 1999, Dana died of what appeared to be an accidental overdose of the painkiller "Loritab". On May 21, a coroner's inquest ruled her death a suicide because of the large amount of drugs in her body and her history of past suicide attempts. She was 34 years old.

Filmography

• 2024Gary — Archive footage
• 2002Pacino is Missing — Prosecuting Attorney
• 2000Insatiable Coeds — Piano Teacher's Wife (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 1998Different Strokes — Jill Martin
• 1998The Hostage — Leslie
• 1998Tiger — Andrea Baker
• 1997Blade Boxer
• E! True Hollywood Story
• 1995Compelling Evidence — Dana Fields
• 1995Lethal Cowboy — Elizabeth
• 1995Millenium Day — Pacifica
• 1994Silent Fury
• 1992Bikini Beach Race — J.D.
• 1992Distortions — Deborah Nichols
• 1992Night Trap — Kelly
• The Word
• 1989Prime Suspect — Diana Masters
• Growing Pains — Lisa
• 1983High School U.S.A. — Cara Ames
• 1982Kraft Salutes Walt Disney World's 10th Anniversary — Daughter
• 1980Schoolboy Father — Daisy Dallenger
• Hello, Larry — Kimberly Drummond
• The Facts of Life — Kimberly Drummond
• 1978California Suite — Jenny
• Diff'rent Strokes — Kimberly Drummond
• CHiPs — Dana Plato (uncredited)
• 1977Exorcist II: The Heretic — Sandra Phalor (uncredited)
• 1977Return to Boggy Creek — Evie Jo
• Family — Debbie
• 1975Beyond the Bermuda Triangle — Wendy
• The Six Million Dollar Man — Girl on the Tennis Court

Appearances as themselves (2)

• Hollywood Demons — Self (archive footage)
• 1998Desperation Boulevard — Herself