What in the name of Conrad Bain has cursed the stars and offspring of "Diff'rent Strokes" in Oklahoma?
First Dana Plato, known for playing teen Kimberly Drummond on the popular NBC sitcom, overdosed on prescription drugs May 8, 1999, in Moore (of all places) in an RV parked outside the home of her fiancé's mother.
Now Plato's son, Tyler Lambert, committed suicide May 6 in Tulsa a few days before Mother's Day and the anniversary of his mom's death, according to ABC News.
Plato's ex-manager Johnny Whitaker (memba him as Jody on "Family Affair," that sweet '60s-era sitcom?), said he attempted to help Lambert before his demise.
"I did say, 'You know your mother had a problem, which means you may have a problem because it is a family disease,'" Whitaker, a certified drug counselor and family friend, told ABC News. "Dana passed away because of the disease. And when the toxicology reports come in, I'm sure they will show something."
What you talkin' 'bout, Whitaker?
"Mother's Day was always a difficult time, not only because it was Mother's Day but the anniversary of Dana's death," he told ABC News.
At age 21, Lambert reportedly filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his mother's former fiancé, claiming the man contributed to her death by "not giving immediate medical assistance or contacting medical personnel," according to PopEater.com.
With Lambert's toxicology results pending, ABC News reported the Chief Medical Examiner's office said the 25-year-old died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
"It's a shame that such a talented human being would do this with his life," Lambert's grandma Joni Richardson told People magazine. "He had all the opportunities in the world, and we just can't understand it."
