Editing Dana Plato (section)

== Personal life and legal troubles==
During her years on ''Diff'rent Strokes'', Plato struggled with drug and alcohol problems; she admitted to drinking alcohol, using [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] and [[cocaine]], and suffering an overdose of [[diazepam]] when she was aged 14.<ref name="LittleGirlLost2" />

In December 1983, Plato moved in with her boyfriend, rock guitarist Lanny Lambert. The couple married on April 24, 1984, and their only child, Tyler Edward Lambert, was born on July 2, 1984. When it was revealed that she was pregnant, she was written out of ''Diff'rent Strokes''.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.moms.com/20-acting-moms-who-were-written-out-due-to-their-pregnancies/| title=20 Actor Mamas Who Were Written Out Due To Their Pregnancies| first=Amanda| last=Ferris| date=September 22, 2018| website=Moms| language=en-US| access-date=January 25, 2020| archive-date=January 25, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125212310/https://www.moms.com/20-acting-moms-who-were-written-out-due-to-their-pregnancies/| url-status=dead}}</ref> Her co-star [[Conrad Bain]] revealed that she was happy about her baby,<ref name="LittleGirlLost2" /><ref name=":3" /> stating in an interview with [[People (magazine)|''People'' magazine]]: "She deliberately got pregnant while doing the series, when I spoke to her about it, she was enthusiastic about having done that... [saying that] 'When I get the baby, I will never be alone again.{{' "}} Plato separated from Lambert in January 1988, the same week her mother died of [[scleroderma]]. In desperation, she signed over [[power of attorney]] to an accountant who disappeared with the majority of her money, leaving her with less than $150,000 ($410,232 in 2025) She claimed the accountant was never found nor prosecuted despite an exhaustive search, and that he had also stolen more than $11 million from other clients.<ref name="HowardSternShow">{{cite web| url=http://www.sitcomsonline.com/sounds/dana_plato_05-07-99.ra| title=Dana Plato's final interview with Howard Stern| date=May 7, 1999| website=sitcomsonline.com}}</ref> In her March 1990 divorce, Plato lost [[child custody|custody]] of her son to Lambert and was given visitation rights.<ref name="LittleGirlLost2" /><ref name="abcnews">{{cite news| url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/dana-platos-son-tyler-lambert-commits-suicide-mom/story?id=10629167| title=Growing Pains: The Trials and Tribulations of 1980s TV Child Stars| last1=Fisher| first1=Luchina| date=May 13, 2010| work=ABC News| access-date=August 23, 2015| last2=Marikar| first2=Sheila}}</ref> 

Plato then became engaged to Fred Potts, a filmmaker, but the romance ended. She was later married to actor and producer Scott Atkins (Scotty Gelt) in [[Vancouver]] for one month, but the marriage was [[annulled]]. Plato got engaged to her manager Robert Menchaca, six years her junior, with whom she lived in a [[Recreational vehicle|motor home]] in [[Navarre, Florida]].<ref name="reelReviews" /> She later moved back to Las Vegas, where she struggled with poverty and unemployment. At one point she worked at a dry-cleaning store, where customers reported being impressed by her lack of errors.<ref name="LittleGirlLost2" /> 

On February 28, 1991, Plato entered a Las Vegas video store, produced a [[air gun|pellet gun]], and demanded the money in the cash register. After she left with the money, the flabbergasted clerk called [[9-1-1]] and said, "I've just been robbed by the girl who played Kimberly on ''Diff'rent Strokes''."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Larman |first=Alexander |date=2024-09-11 |title=Gary Coleman and the curse of Diff'rent Strokes |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/different-strokes-curse-gary-coleman-dana-plato/ |access-date=2024-11-25 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> Approximately fifteen minutes after the robbery, Plato returned to the scene and was immediately arrested. She had stolen $164 ($387 in 2025) <ref>{{cite journal| last=Sporkin| first=Elizabeth| date=March 24, 1991| title=Diff'rent Strokes, Fallen Stars| url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20114736,00.html| volume=35| issue=11| journal=[[People (magazine)|People]]| access-date=June 26, 2010| archive-date=April 5, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405131606/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20114736,00.html| url-status=dead}}</ref> Entertainer [[Wayne Newton]] posted her $13,000 [[bail]], and Plato was given five years' [[probation]].<ref name="reelReviews">{{cite news| url=http://www.franksreelreviews.com/shorttakes/plato.htm| title=The Overdose Death of Dana Plato| first=Frank| last=Wilkins| work=Morbidly Hollywood| access-date=April 12, 2007| archive-date=April 23, 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070423031619/http://www.franksreelreviews.com/shorttakes/plato.htm| url-status=dead}}</ref> In January 1992, Plato was arrested for [[Drug fraud|forging a prescription]] for [[diazepam]].<ref name="NYT" /> She served thirty days in jail for violating the terms of her probation and immediately entered a [[drug rehabilitation]] program. 

On May 7, 1999, the day before she died, Plato appeared on ''[[The Howard Stern Show]]''. She spoke about her life, discussing her financial problems and past run-ins with the law. She admitted to being a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, but claimed she had been sober for more than ten years and was not using any drugs, with the exception of prescribed [[painkiller]]s due to the recent extraction of her [[wisdom teeth]].<ref>{{cite news|date=May 10, 1999|title='Diff'rent Strokes' actress dies of apparent overdose|newspaper=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|agency=[[Reuters]]|url=https://variety.com/1999/tv/news/diff-rent-strokes-actress-dies-of-apparent-overdose-1117500206/}}</ref> Many callers to the show insulted Plato and questioned her sobriety, which angered and provoked her, and she defiantly offered to take a drug test on the air. Some callers, as well as host [[Howard Stern]], came to Plato's defense, though Stern also referred to himself as "an enabler" and sarcastically offered Plato drugs.<ref name="HowardSternShow" /> Although she allowed a hair to be cut for the test, Stern later claimed she asked for it back after the interview.<ref>{{cite web|last=Buffa|first=Denise|date=May 11, 1999|title=Stern: Dana Tried Desperately To Dodge Drug Test|url=https://nypost.com/1999/05/11/stern-dana-tried-desperately-to-dodge-drug-test/|newspaper=[[New York Post]]}}</ref>