Dana Plato was a beloved teen idol in the 1970s and early 1980s, who died tragically in 1999 at the age of 34.

Her death did not come as a surprise, as Plato had struggled with addiction, personal and financial problems, and run-ins with the law.

Plato was born Dana Michelle Strain on November 7, 1964, in Maywood, California, and was adopted by Dean and Kay Plato when she was a baby.

Raised in the San Fernando Valley, Plato experienced the divorce of her adoptive parents when she was three years old.

Kay Plato began taking Dana to casting calls, leading to several appearances in commercials.

At age 13, Dana Plato was cast as the character Kimberly Drummond on the NBC show Diff’rent Strokes, which became hugely successful and made stars of its young actors, including Plato, Gary Coleman, and Todd Bridges.

With instant success came the danger of Hollywood excess, and Plato began experimenting with alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine alongside her young co-stars.

In 1983, Plato moved in with her future husband, guitarist Lanny Lambert, and she became pregnant around the age of 19 or 20.

As a result, Plato was written out of Diff’rent Strokes by the following year.

The producers worried that Plato’s personal life ruined the wholesomeness of her character and the squeaky-clean image of the show.

Before long, Plato was settling for B-movies and adult films as a way to make money. In the meantime, she was also spiraling further into drug addiction and alcoholism.

Plato’s personal problems worsened in the late 1980s, especially when her husband ended their marriage and her mother died.

Plato’s former husband eventually gained legal custody of their son due to Plato’s addiction.

Plato hoped that a Playboy photoshoot in 1989 would lead to better offers in the entertainment industry, but no golden opportunities seemed to come.

Meanwhile, Plato’s newly hired accountant allegedly embezzled most of the money in her savings.

Defeated, Plato moved to Las Vegas in yet another attempt to reinvigorate her career, but she still struggled to find steady work.

In 1991, she was arrested for robbing a video store in Sin City.

Police soon arrested her, and Plato was sentenced to five years of probation. Just a year later, she found herself in trouble again, this time for forging prescriptions for Valium.

Plato was ordered to attend rehab, but it didn’t seem to make a difference.

Though she soon insisted that she was clean and sober, her loved ones doubted that claim and remained concerned about her health.

All the while, Plato continued to find herself cast only in low-budget films, remaining on the fringes of the entertainment industry.

On May 7, 1999, Plato made an emotional appearance on The Howard Stern Show, during which she repeatedly claimed to be sober.

But if she was hoping for a supportive environment, she didn’t find it there.

Many callers mocked her, and some even accused her of being “stoned” on the show.

Angered and provoked, Plato offered to take a drug test to prove that she was clean and even allowed a producer to cut off a few pieces of her hair.

Tragically, just one day later, Plato died of an overdose.

Her body was found in an RV that she had been sharing with her fiancé Robert Menchaca.

Plato had been in Moore, Oklahoma, to visit family members. According to police, her death had been an accident.

But a medical examiner later ruled her demise a suicide, citing the high level of drugs found in her system, including fatal concentrations of the muscle relaxant Soma and a generic form of the painkiller Lortab, and her history of suicidal tendencies. No suicide note was ever found.