New Documentary Explores If ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ Star Gary Coleman Was Murdered

A new documentary about Gary Coleman is set to stream on Peacock starting Thursday, bringing to light questions surrounding the actor’s sudden death.

Gary Coleman was once the highest-paid child actor in the United States, known for his role in the sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes.”

In 2007, Coleman married Shannon Price, a movie extra. Their marriage, however, was fraught with turbulence.

“I slapped him a couple of times, nothing major, nothing red flag. People smack each other, they hit each other,” Price said in the documentary.

This turbulence led to Coleman spending a night in jail after one argument. The couple eventually divorced in 2008.

Then in 2010, Price made a distressing 911 call from Coleman’s Utah home, where she was also living at the time. She reported that Coleman had fallen down the stairs.

“His head is bloody. There is blood all over the floor. I don’t know what happened. I really don’t know what happened,” Price told the 911 operator. “I just can’t be here with the blood. I’m sorry. I can’t do it. I just can’t.”

Two days later, Price authorized doctors to take Coleman off life support. The circumstances leading to his death have left his friends suspicious.

Kent Emmons, a friend of Coleman and the executor of his estate, expressed his doubts in an interview with Inside Edition. “That’s strictly my speculation. I don’t believe it,” Emmons said, referring to the idea that Coleman’s death was due to an accidental fall.

In the Peacock documentary, Price denied any wrongdoing. “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t touch him, I didn’t hurt him,” she stated.

In his final interview with Inside Edition, just weeks before his demise, Coleman discussed another fall. “Just a clumsy homeowner. Multi-level stairs trying to rush down to get the door and just missed a step,” he explained.

After Coleman’s death, Price faced severe criticism when she allegedly sold a photograph of Coleman on his deathbed to the tabloids.

“It was just sick,” Emmons commented. “That’s just not the way Gary needs to be remembered. He was a great, wonderful, amazing man.”