Gary Wayne Coleman was an American actor, comedian, and writer. One of the highest-paid child actors in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was rated first on a list of VH1's "100 Greatest Kid Stars" on television, and received several awards and nominations throughout his career, including winning two Young Artist Awards and four People's Choice Awards.

He was best known for his role as Arnold Jackson in the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986), for which he received the Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor in a Comedy Series, as well as three other Young Artist Award nominations. Along with this, he was also the star of the animated-show The Gary Coleman Show (1982), and he voiced Kevin in the animated-show Waynehead (1996–1997). Aside from his work on television, Coleman worked in film, debuting with the film On the Right Track (1981). His other notable films include starring in Jimmy the Kid (1982), The Kid with the Broken Halo (1982), Church Ball (2006), An American Carol (2008), and Midgets vs. Mascots (2009). He also made appearances in music videos, and he starred in the video games The Curse of Monkey Island (1997) as Kenny Falmouth and Postal 2 (2003) as himself.

Despite having a successful acting career, Coleman struggled financially in later life. In 1989, he successfully sued his parents and business adviser over misappropriation of his assets, only to declare bankruptcy a decade later.

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