A Big FAT Hug for Gary Coleman

...because that's what he's gonna get the next time I see him. Gary Coleman has been on my mind alot lately and that's unusual. I hope he's alright. Man I haven't seen him in years. I think it was on La Cienega by The Beverly Center in Los Angeles in the early 1990's. Usually when I get a person's face in my mind continuously like this I know exactly what to do. I feel really sad for Gary sometimes. I've always looked up to him and as a former child actor I know exactly what he's going through. When you think about it, he didn't necessarily ask or choose to be an actor. The fact is most people are not compassionate enough to understand his anger or pain at all. They don't understand the psychological effects on a child actor after a canceled television show. Lots of rejection, low self-esteem, that sort of thing. Yes, it's indeed a business. A canceled television show is inevitable. The only thing is, no one really tells the child that it's a "business", that it's only temporary fun...a temporary fantasy if you will. So guess what? When the show gets canceled their world crumbles. They don't know how to cope with reality and neither does the parents because they were so busy countin' the child's money during the height of the show. As far as the issue with Gary suing his parents; I don't necessarily believe his funds were mismanaged intentionally. Gary's post-traumatic experiences after Diff'rent Stokes is 1000 times more magnified than my own. In fact, I've had a lot of positive experiences as a result of being on the show. For instance, I was never typecast as an actor since I wasn't on the show every week. I had the opportunity to be on other television/film projects so that helped. But from a celebrity's standpoint? Sometimes you just want to be alone and not noticed at all. A lot of the anger from celebrities stems from the feeling of "invasion of privacy". Well, you say, "That goes with the territory" or "They chose the profession". However, as I mentioned before, he (Gary) didn't necessarily choose the profession. In fact for most child actors, the profession chooses them. This can be both a blessing and a curse if not handled properly. For the most part, I've always embraced people that ever recognized or wanted an autograph from me. Hang in there Gary! Stay healthy, stay strong and keep your head up! You have brought laughter and joy into MILLIONS of homes...including mine!