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Peacock‘s newest documentary will cover the life and 2010 death of child actor Gary Coleman.
Coleman became famous at a young age for his role on the hit ’70s sitcom Diff’rent Strokes. Coleman was the lead, playing Arnold Jackson. He became loved around the world for his role, spunk, and humor.
Coleman lived his life with a kidney disease called nephritis, which led him to have two kidney transplants before the age of 18. The disease led the child star to never grow above 4′ 8″.
Ultimately, the actor died in 2010 at the age of 42 of a brain hemmorrage after a fall that is now being questioned as “suspicious” — and the doc doesn’t shy away from it.
In the trailer for the new film released today, viewers are introduced to the many individuals who were close to Coleman during his life, including fellow actor Todd Bridges, former managers like Dion Mial, Coleman’s estranged parents and his ex-wife.
“The kid was a true star,” viewers hear Bridges say at the beginning of the trailer.
Other interviewees go on to talk about how one-of-a-kind the actor was and how “audiences loved” him.
The documentary then turns to explore the darker parts of Coleman’s life.
“If someone had of told me my life would’ve been like this, early enough where I could’ve got out, I would’ve got out,” viewers hear Coleman say in a clip from an old interview.
![Dion Mial, Gary Coleman's former manager.](https://decider.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/garymanager.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=300 300w, https://decider.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/garymanager.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=640 640w, https://decider.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/garymanager.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1280 1280w, https://decider.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/garymanager.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=885 885w, https://decider.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/garymanager.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1284 1284w)
The documentary also reveals Coleman’s parents took $770,000 of his earnings and gave it to themselves.
Mial even details the devastating extent of Coleman’s depression when he tells the camera, “He said, “I just wanted to say goodbye. I cannot take this anymore.” And we cried.”
The documentary also digs into his tumultuous relationship with ex-wife Shannon Price, who says in the trailer, “People think that I did this” after the audio from her 9-1-1 call is played. “Because I’m the ex-wife, I’m the evil person, right?”
“His life is a cautionary tale,” Mial says, but the trailer concludes on a touching note about Coleman’s lasting legacy.
“[There are] certain performers that change are lives, he was one of them,” viewers hear a voice say.
Gary will premiere on Aug. 29 on Peacock.