Dana Plato was one of the major teen idols of the 1970s and 1980s, with major roles in the likes of Diff'rent Strokes, California Suite and Return to Boggy Creek.
Her acting abilities were widely recognised, and the star earned Young Artist Award nominations, but behind closed doors, Dana ended up living a troubled life.
The star was addicted to drugs and alcohol from a young age, had money left to her by her late mother stolen by a fraudulent accountant, and at her lowest point, she even robbed a convenience store.
Here's what happened to one of Hollywood's brightest talents…
© Getty ImagesDana's tragic story
As a teenager, Dana ended up taking drugs and drinking alcohol, with the star regularly taking cannabis and cocaine, and reportedly overdosing on Valium when she was just 14 years of age. At 15, she started showing up on the set of Diff'rent Strokes drunk, with the show's creative supervisor Al Burton recalling: "She would show up in a daze, in a funk."
Although she had a stable job on the classic sitcom, this came to an end when she fell pregnant at the age of 18, something that her co-star, Conrad Bain, believed that she had done "deliberately". He said in an interview with People: "When I spoke to her about it, she was enthusiastic about having done that."
© NBCUniversal via Getty ImagesAt the time, Dana was dating rock star Lanny Lambert, who was three years her senior, and the pair married just three months before the arrival of their son. However, their relationship wasn't to last, and when they split, Lanny won custody of their son, with Dana only having visitation rights.
Dana and Lanny separated the same week that her mother died. At the time, she signed power of attorney over to an accountant, who would go on to steal most of the money, leaving her with only $150,000. Before she passed, Dana claimed that the accountant had stolen $11 million from others and had never been caught.
Following her divorce, Dana moved back to Las Vegas, and she started working in a dry cleaners. In 1991, she robbed a convenience store after threatening the store clerk with a pellet gun. She stole $164, but was later arrested. Dana was bailed thanks to the entertainer Wayne Newton, and she was sentenced to five years' probation.
In 1999, she made an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, where she told the host that she was now sober and the only drug she was using was prescribed painkillers due to a recent wisdom tooth extraction.
© Getty ImagesHowever, a day later, after complaining of feeling unwell, she ended up mixing painkillers and a muscle relaxant, and she passed away in her sleep.
A medical examiner found that she died by accident after consuming the fatal cocktail of drugs; however, her friends dismissed the ruling, claiming that she died by suicide. A subsequent ruling found that her death was by suicide.
