Gary Coleman's Life 'Fraught with Disappointments' Takes Center Stage in Peacock's New Doc “GARY” (Exclusive)
'GARY', which premieres Aug. 29 on Peacock, is set to explore Coleman's rise to fame as the child star of 'Diff’rent Strokes' and the dark sides of his personal life that fans never saw
Gary Coleman's tumultuous life and death will be explored in Peacock's GARY.
In PEOPLE's exclusive first look at the streamer's documentary, the new 90-minute film explores the "fascinating life and mysterious death of beloved child actor, Gary Coleman," according to the documentary's official logline.
Through "exclusive interviews" with Coleman's former costar Todd Bridges, former managers, his estranged parents and Coleman’s ex-wife, the documentary will detail "his rise to international fame as the child star of Diff’rent Strokes and the dark sides of his personal life off camera."
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Peacock's new documentary 'GARY'Related: 'Diff'rent Strokes' Star Gary Coleman Dies at 42
"The kid was a true star," Bridges says in the trailer as throwback photos of Coleman flash on screen.
While others describe Diff'rent Strokes as "groundbreaking" and share how the "audience loved Gary," vintage footage of the late actor reveals that his life behind-the-scenes was much darker.
"If someone had told me that my life would have been like this early enough where I could have got out, I would have got out," Coleman says in found footage as news reports reveal that his parents and business advisors "skimmed some of his earnings."
As the camera pans towards the guilty faces of those who were once closest to him, Coleman says in an old interview, "I'd taken that very deeply to heart."
"He said, 'I just wanted to say goodbye. I cannot take this anymore,' and we cried," his manger Dion Mial recalls of a conversation he once had with the late actor. "His life was fraught with disappointments. From 1985 until his death, he lived with not a single kidney."
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Shannon Price in 'GARY'Eventually, the trailer explores the "suspicious" circumstances of Coleman's death and his "tumultuous" relationship with his ex-wife Shannon Price.
When the teaser plays Price's 9-1-1 call and airs speculations about his death, she tells the camera ominously, "People think that I did this. Because I'm the ex wife, I'm the evil person, right?"
"His life is a cautionary tale," Mial says while others describe Coleman as "a big man in a little kid's body" and "the greatest child actor of all time."
Related: Stars Pay Tribute to Gary Coleman
In May 2010, Coleman died after suffering a brain hemorrhage. He was 42. The former child star endured several medical problems, including several operations, a seizure and transplants. He also battled a lifelong kidney condition, which ultimately stunted his growth and resulted in him being 4′8".
Coleman rose to fame playing Arnold Jackson, the plucky Harlem boy adopted into a wealthy white household on Diff’rent Strokes from 1978-86 – with his much-mimicked catchphrase of, “What’choo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?”
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GARY premieres Thursday, Aug. 29 on Peacock.
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