Dana Plato Bio
Dana Plato was an American-born actress. She was born as Dana Michelle Strain on November 7, 1964 in Maywood, California, United States. Her zodiac sign is scorpio. She is also known as Dana Michelle Plato.
In June 1989, Dana Plato brought her signature glamour and star appeal to Playboy.
Dana Plato had beautiful enhanced breasts, sparkling blue eyes, and luminous blond hair. With a sensually shaped 33-25-35 frame, she's a true embodiment of Playboy allure.
Plato began working before most children had settled on a favourite television show. Adopted as an infant and raised in California’s San Fernando Valley, she appeared in commercials while training seriously as a figure skater. Her early screen work included The Six Million Dollar Man, the television film Beyond the Bermuda Triangle, Return to Boggy Creek and an uncredited appearance in Exorcist II: The Heretic. By 1978, she had also appeared in California Suite, gaining valuable experience before the role that would permanently shape her public identity.
That role was Kimberly Drummond on Diff’rent Strokes. As the teenage daughter of wealthy widower Philip Drummond, Plato brought a warm, composed presence to the sitcom’s unconventional household alongside Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges. The series became a major network success and transformed its young cast into celebrities, making Plato one of television’s most recognisable teenage performers. She remained a regular until 1984, when her pregnancy was written around by sending Kimberly to Paris, and later returned for several guest appearances.
Separating herself from Kimberly proved far more difficult. Plato pursued adult roles and appeared in independent and low-budget productions, including Prime Suspect, Bikini Beach Race, Compelling Evidence and Lethal Cowboy. She also entered the early world of interactive cinema as Kelli Medd in the 1992 video game Night Trap, a title that later became famous during political debates about violence and mature content in video games. A brief attempt to launch a recording career in 1990 produced several tracks, although the material was not commercially released.
Playboy featured Plato in its June 1989 issue in a celebrity pictorial titled “Diff’rent Dana.” She was not the cover model or Playmate of the Month; the cover featured Playmate of the Year Kimberley Conrad, while Tawnni Cable held the monthly centerfold title. Plato’s feature presented the former child star as a grown woman seeking to replace the wholesome image audiences still associated with Diff’rent Strokes. The polished photographs attracted considerable publicity, but they did not produce the major Hollywood comeback she had hoped might follow.
Plato’s later years were marked by addiction, financial difficulties and legal troubles, while her efforts to rebuild her career never regained the stability of her early success. She died from a prescription-drug overdose in Oklahoma on May 8, 1999, at 34; although initially treated as accidental, her death was later ruled a suicide. Her story has often been presented as a warning about the pressures placed upon child performers, yet her enduring popularity also reflects the affection audiences retained for Kimberly Drummond. VH1 later included her among its 100 Greatest Kid Stars, recognising the television legacy behind a tragically brief life.
