Arnold and Willy star always regretted going into TV

In the documentary Gary, exclusive footage shows the actor suffering from fame sickness.

A popular sitcom from the late 70s to the mid 80s, Arnold and Willy has delighted many viewers with its eight seasons and 189 episodes. In New York, a billionaire widower makes a promise to his dying governess to take care of his sons, Arnold (Gary Coleman) and Willy (Todd Bridges), from the poor neighborhoods of Harlem. Now living in luxury with Virginia, the billionaire's daughter, and a charming housekeeper, the children become the stars of America, which follows this comedy that evokes key subjects of the time with a touch of drama. If Arnold and Willy brought Gary Coleman fame and earned up to $100,000 per episode, but Coleman has always expressed regret over the fame.

The documentary Garyavailable on the American streaming platform Peacock, looks back at the life of the child star, who suffers from a congenital disease affecting his kidneys and which prevents him from growing, and whose career (beginning at the age of ten) often left him feeling erased behind his cult character. In an interview dating from 1993, we hear him admit:

“If someone had told me that my life would be like this, early enough for me to get out of it, I would have done it. I would have had a normal life and I would have had friends. (…) There is not a place where I am not recognized. I manage of course because I am a public figure, I must be grateful and be happy to do what I do. I love my job. I really like to make people laugh. But of course, there are aspects of this business that I do not care about.”

After cancellation by Arnold and WillyGary Coleman has repeatedly revealed that he has considered taking his own life. His family and manager have asked him for $18 million, and he announced in the late 1990s that he had gone bankrupt.

To overcome his financial problems, he became a security guard in 1997, and appeared in several sitcoms reprising his role as Arnold – as in The Fresh Prince of Bel Airor even Married, two childrenIn 1998, he was arrested for assaulting a woman who wanted an autograph.

He subsequently had numerous run-ins with the law, and died at the age of forty-two from a brain hemorrhage caused by a fall in 2010. His death is at the heart of the documentary.

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