Personal Info

Social Media

Biography

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.

Known For

6.3

Archive footage

Gary

2024

2.0

Prosecuting Attorney

Pacino is Missing

2002

2.0

Piano Teacher's Wife (archive footage) (uncredited)

Insatiable Coeds

2000

3.8

Jill Martin

Different Strokes

1998

4.0

Herself

Desperation Boulevard

1998

2.0

Leslie

The Hostage

1998

🎬

0.0

Blade Boxer

1997

0.0

Andrea Baker

Tiger

1997

8.1

E! True Hollywood Story

1996

4.5

Elizabeth

Lethal Cowboy

1995

Credits

Gary

as Archive footage

2024

6.3

Pacino is Missing

as Prosecuting Attorney

2002

2.0

Insatiable Coeds

as Piano Teacher's Wife (archive footage) (uncredited)

2000

2.0

Different Strokes

as Jill Martin

1998

3.8

Desperation Boulevard

as Herself

1998

4.0

The Hostage

as Leslie

1998

2.0

🎬

Blade Boxer

1997

0.0

Tiger

as Andrea Baker

1997

0.0

E! True Hollywood Story

1996

8.1

Lethal Cowboy

as Elizabeth

1995

4.5

Millenium Day

as Pacifica

1995

0.0

Compelling Evidence

as Dana Fields

1995

3.7

Silent Fury

1994

6.0

Night Trap

as Kelly

1992

5.0

Bikini Beach Race

as J.D.

1992

1.8

Distortions

as Deborah Nichols

1992

3.5

Prime Suspect

as Diana Masters

1989

3.2

Growing Pains

as Lisa

1985

6.5

High School U.S.A.

as Cara Ames

1983

5.4

Kraft Salutes Walt Disney World's 10th Anniversary

as Daughter

1982

0.0

Schoolboy Father

as Daisy Dallenger

1980

2.0

The Facts of Life

as Kimberly Drummond

1979

7.1

Hello, Larry

as Kimberly Drummond

1979

5.0

Diff'rent Strokes

as Kimberly Drummond

1978

7.1

California Suite

as Jenny

1978

5.8

CHiPs

as Dana Plato

1977

6.8

Return to Boggy Creek

as Evie Jo

1977

4.0

Exorcist II: The Heretic

as Sandra Phalor (uncredited)

1977

4.5

Family

as Debbie

1976

7.2

Beyond the Bermuda Triangle

as Wendy

1975

4.8

The Six Million Dollar Man

as Girl on the Tennis Court

1974

7.3