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Gary Coleman’s parents actually took all of his money that he made from Diff’rent Strokes tv show. By the time he sued his parents, they had no money left. Coleman ended up working as a security guard for the final years of his life.
He sued his adoptive parents, Willie and Sue Coleman, over misappropriation and the pilfering of his trust fund in 1989. At the peak of his career in the early 1980s, in addition to movie and TV appearances, he made $70,000 per episode of “Diff’rent Strokes”, a total of around $18 million in earnings! Coleman’s parents set up a trust fund for his money, yet they carefully structured the arrangement to name themselves as paid employees of Coleman’s production company so they could live off Coleman’s salary. When the court finally dissolved the trust fund in 1986 upon Coleman turning 18, his parents’ share was worth $770,000, while Coleman himself had only $220,000. Coleman then successfully sued both his parents and managers for $3.8 million in losses and won a $1,280,000 settlement. Afterward, Coleman (feeling used and betrayed) never saw or spoke to his foster parents or former accountants and managers ever again.
Gary Coleman and Dixie Carter both died in 2010, a little over a month apart. Carter died of endometrial cancer on April 10 at the age of 70. Coleman died of an epidural hematoma on May 28 at the age of 42.
The brain hemorrhage that eventually led to his death, was a result of a fall at his home in Utah (on May 26th) that put him into a coma. His ex-wife Shannon Price, who was with him at his home at the time of the fall, made the 911 call. It was also Price who eventually made the decision to take Coleman off life support.
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