Dana Plato

Dana Plato

Born: November 7, 1964
Died: May 8, 1999
in Maywood, California, USA
Dana Michelle Plato was born in Maywood, California, on Saturday, November 7, 1964. 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.

Movies for Dana Plato...

Showbiz Kids
Title: Showbiz Kids
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: July 14, 2020
Type: Movie
A documentary chronicling the shared experiences of prominent former child stars and the personal and professional price of fame and failure on a child.
bee
Night Trap
Title: Night Trap
Character: Kelly
Released: July 6, 2018
Type: Movie
For the first time ever, the cult classic game Night Trap is available as a 48-minute motion picture on videocassette. Experience the terror like never before. You better be good, you better beware...
bee
Pacino is Missing
Title: Pacino is Missing
Character: Prosecuting Attorney
Released: January 1, 2002
Type: Movie
Mob tale of a mafia boss whose moll has hooked up with a young hood now in charge of a movie studio.
bee
Insatiable Coeds
Title: Insatiable Coeds
Character: Piano Teacher's Wife (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: January 1, 2000
Type: Movie
Insatiable Coeds is a compilation video. You get some very nice moments from Landon Hall, Brandy Davis, Gabriella Hall and the very striking Tammy Parks. Scenes of each of these wonderful softcore starlets are broken up by a handful of other excellent players like Ashley Rhey, Kristen Knittle, Petra Sexton, Mellara Gold, Michelle Trongone and Dana Plato.
bee
Different Strokes
Title: Different Strokes
Character: Jill Martin
Released: June 25, 1998
Type: Movie
A Los Angeles fashion model falls in love with a female art director during a photo shoot which puts their newfound romance at odds with the model's photographer boyfriend.
bee
Desperation Boulevard
Title: Desperation Boulevard
Character: Herself
Released: June 1, 1998
Type: Movie
An ex-child star (Judy Tenuta) tries to reclaim her former fame.
bee
The Hostage
Title: The Hostage
Character: Leslie
Released: January 1, 1998
Type: Movie
The Hostage is about a gang of high-end thieves who plan to break into a really rich businessman's house, hack into his computer, and download all his money. Ted Prior plays a down-on-his-luck former special forces soldier who signs on with this crew so he can make some quick cash for him and his daughter. Things go wrong, though, and the guys are holed up in the mansion, holding the businessman hostage, while the feds have them under siege outside, led by agent Cynthia Rothrock. Will the thieves get away with the cash?
bee
Blade Boxer
Title: Blade Boxer
Released: October 27, 1997
Type: Movie
Bloodsport clone finds roughneck cop, Detective Rick Morgan going undercover to get a blood-thirsty fight promoter named Jonathan Carter. Morgan finds himself getting caught up in the violent "fight-to-the-death" world of human cock-fighting and liking it. He is joined by a young officer in training named Rita.
bee
Tiger
Title: Tiger
Character: Andrea Baker
Released: January 1, 1997
Type: Movie
When the neighborhood bullies kidnap Tiger, a dog who can telepathically talk to his owner Josh, everything changes. What happens next will delight the whole family. What started out as a boy's dream of having his own pet, becomes the adventure of a lifetime.
bee
Title: E! True Hollywood Story
Released: August 21, 1996
Type: TV
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and also well-known public figures. Among the topics covered on the program include salacious re-tellings of Hollywood secrets, show-biz scandals, celebrity murders and mysteries, porn-star biographies, and "where-are-they-now?" investigations of former child stars. It frequently features in-depth interviews, actual courtroom footage, and dramatic reenactments. When aired on the E! network, episodes will be updated to reflect the current life or status of the subject.
bee
Lethal Cowboy
Title: Lethal Cowboy
Character: Elizabeth
Released: September 1, 1995
Type: Movie
Cody is shot by Malone because Cody had a debt with him. Malone and his henchman buried him in the desert. What they do not know, however, is that they have just buried Cody on a sacred Indian cemetery.
bee
Millenium Day
Title: Millenium Day
Character: Pacifica
Released: January 1, 1995
Type: Movie
A movie about aliens trying to fight each other; one side wanting to destroy the earth and the other wanting to save it. A lot of stock footage of tanks and cars exploding along with the United States and Red China fighting each other.
bee
Compelling Evidence
Title: Compelling Evidence
Character: Dana Fields
Released: January 1, 1995
Type: Movie
Rick Stone is the world's biggest action star but unfortunately, he is also the prime suspect in his wife's death. He must enlist the help of a conniving tabloid reporter named Dana Fields and the trust of his mistress Stephanie to try and clear his name.
bee
Silent Fury
Title: Silent Fury
Released: January 1, 1994
Type: Movie
After his friend is caught and killed by some drug dealers, a former commander of special forces search revenge.
bee
Distortions
Title: Distortions
Character: Deborah Nichols
Released: January 1, 1992
Type: Movie
A man with paranormal abilities discovers that one of his colleagues is cheating the firm they work for. When he threatens to expose the colleague, things become dangerous...
bee
Bikini Beach Race
Title: Bikini Beach Race
Character: J.D.
Released: January 1, 1992
Type: Movie
Rev up your engines as the most gorgeous and charming Bed Race Team of all, The Sex Puppets, heat up the raceway. Clad in bikinis and sexy lingerie, they'll bump and grind their way to victory aboard comical "Bedmobiles". J.D. is a hydroplane speedboat pilot cajoled by four college oddballs into joining their Bed Race Team. But watch out - there's dangerous curves ahead as the local Mafia pits the odds 100 to 1 against our zany team. The gears shift as Milo perfects a fantastic invention that'll blast this year's event into Gran Prix history.
bee
Prime Suspect
Title: Prime Suspect
Character: Diana Masters
Released: January 1, 1989
Type: Movie
The only witness to a young woman's murder has a nervous breakdown, is institutionalized, and escapes, tracking down the murderer.
bee
Title: Growing Pains
Character: Lisa
Released: September 24, 1985
Type: TV
Fatherhood has taken on a whole new meaning for Jason Seaver, who has assumed the chores of cooking, cleaning and minding the kids so that his wife, Maggie, can pursue a career in journalism after spending 15 years as a housewife.
bee
High School U.S.A.
Title: High School U.S.A.
Character: Cara Ames
Released: October 16, 1983
Type: Movie
Set in a senior high school class, J.J. pursues the girlfriend of a rival from a higher clique which culminates in a race at the end of the movie between the two rivals in this light comedy.
bee
Schoolboy Father
Title: Schoolboy Father
Character: Daisy Dallenger
Released: October 15, 1980
Type: Movie
High school senior discovers his summer girlfriend has given birth to his child, and decides to fight for custody.
bee
Title: The Facts of Life
Released: August 24, 1979
Type: TV
The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979, to May 7, 1988, making it the longest running sitcom of the 1980s. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' premise focuses on Edna Garrett as she becomes a housemother at the fictional Eastland School, an all-female boarding school in Peekskill, New York.
bee
California Suite
Title: California Suite
Character: Jenny
Released: December 15, 1978
Type: Movie
The misadventures of four groups of guests at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
bee
Title: Diff'rent Strokes
Character: Kimberly Drummond
Released: November 3, 1978
Type: TV
The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, two African American boys from Harlem who are taken in by a rich white Park Avenue businessman named Phillip Drummond and his daughter Kimberly, for whom their deceased mother previously worked. During the first season and first half of the second season, Charlotte Rae also starred as the Drummonds' housekeeper, Mrs. Garrett.
bee
Title: CHiPs
Character: Dana Plato
Released: September 15, 1977
Type: TV
Lighthearted look at the adventures of two Highway Patrol officers in Los Angeles. The main characters are Jon Baker and Frank Poncherello, two motorcycle officers always on the street to save lives.
bee
Return to Boggy Creek
Title: Return to Boggy Creek
Character: Evie Jo
Released: July 29, 1977
Type: Movie
Three children and two adults become trapped in the woods during a hurricane and it is up to a Bigfoot-like creature called 'Big Bay-Ty' to come to their rescue.
bee
Exorcist II: The Heretic
Title: Exorcist II: The Heretic
Character: Sandra Phalor (uncredited)
Released: June 17, 1977
Type: Movie
Bizarre nightmares plague Regan MacNeil four years after her possession and exorcism. Has the demon returned? And if so, can the combined faith and knowledge of a Vatican investigator and a research specialist free her from its grasp?
bee
Title: Family
Character: Debbie
Released: March 9, 1976
Type: TV
The lives of the middle-class Lawrence family in Pasadena, California.
bee
Beyond the Bermuda Triangle
Title: Beyond the Bermuda Triangle
Character: Wendy
Released: November 6, 1975
Type: Movie
A retired businessman notices that there has been a rash of ships and planes disappearing off the Florida coast, and he starts to investigate.
bee
Title: The Six Million Dollar Man
Character: Girl on the Tennis Court
Released: January 18, 1974
Type: TV
Follow the adventures of Steve Austin, cybernetically enhanced astronaut turned secret agent, employed by the OSI, under the command of Oscar Goldman and supervised by the scientist who created his cybernetics, Rudy Wells. Steve uses the superior strength and speed provided by his bionic arm and legs, and the enhanced vision provided by his artificial eye, to fight enemy agents, aliens, mad scientists, and a wide variety of other villains.