Peacock’s ‘Gary’ Hints At Actor’s Difficult Life In Trailer For The Upcoming Documentary
by Erik Amaya
If you are of a certain age — like most of the Comicon.com editorial staff — then you grew up watching Diff’rent Strokes. A groundbreaking series in its day, it starred Gary Coleman as a diminutive orphan, Arnold Jackson, who is adopted along with his older brother by their mother’s former employer, wealthy businessman Philip Drummond (Conrad Bain). Airing for eight seasons on both NBC and ABC, it was hugely popular in syndication and made its cast very recognizable faces.
Of course, the series also lives in infamy as the younger members of the ensemble faced issues with drugs and more. In Coleman’s case, he started with a tough existence as his short stature was a consequence of treatments for a kidney disease known as focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Long hours on set did him no favors. As teased in the trailer above for Peacock’s upcoming documentary, Gary, his post-Diff’rent Strokes life was marred when he discovered his adoptive parents improperly accessed over $700,000 of his earnings. Financial difficulties remained a constant. The trailer also suggests further issues as he sought to find love and a good place for himself in the world. Sadly, he passed away in 2010 at age 42 and the preview indicates even that comes with an amount of controversy.
All of it will be covered in the documentary, of course, and it hits just the right nostalgia and true-crime buttons for us to want to know more.
Gary debuts August 29th on Peacock.