Dana Michelle Plato, born Dana Michelle Strain on November 7, 1964, in Maywood, California, was adopted shortly after birth by Dean and Kay Plato. Raised in the San Fernando Valley, Dana Plato began her career at a young age, appearing in commercials and television shows.

Her breakthrough came at the age of 13 when she landed the significant role of Kimberly Drummond on the NBC sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes," which aired from 1978 to 1986. This role established her as a teen idol of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Her early life was marked by her adoptive parents' divorce when she was three years old, and she was primarily raised by her adoptive mother. She was an accomplished figure skater before acting and attended auditions with her mother from a young age.

By the age of seven, she had already appeared in over 100 television commercials. Her television debut came at the age of ten with a brief appearance on the television series "The Six Million Dollar Man" (1975).

Her career continued with appearances in the horror film "Return to Boggy Creek" (1977) and the Oscar-winning film "California Suite" (1978). She received nominations for a Young Artist Award and two TV Land Awards for her tenure on "Diff'rent Strokes".

Following the show, she worked sporadically in independent films and B movies, and appeared in the video game "Night Trap" (1992).

Dana Plato was married twice; she had a child in 1984 during her marriage to guitarist Lanny Lambert. She struggled with substance abuse for most of her life and was arrested in 1991 for robbing a video store and again the following year for forging a drug prescription.

On May 8, 1999, at age 34, Plato was found dead in her motor home from an overdose of prescription drugs. Her death, while initially considered accidental, was ruled a suicide.