EXCLUSIVE VIDEO AND PHOTOS: Todd Bridges, Anna Gray And Friends Attend Gary Coleman's Memorial; Tears Shed
Posted on Jul 13, 2010 @ 06:45AM - 4 comments
A memorial was held Monday afternoon at Il Cielo restaurant in Beverly Hills for Diff’rent Strokes star Gary Coleman where friends gathered to remember him as a kind, generous man with a giant spirit.
RadarOnline.com was there and has exclusive photos, video and details of the bittersweet event attended by approximately 25 people.
EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: See Photos Of Gary Coleman’s Memorial
Todd Bridges was at the lunchtime event along with Gary’s former agent Robert Malcolm, the executor of his estate Anna Gray, his lawyer Randy Kester, former manager Dion Mial and several producers who worked with Gary and friends whose lives were profoundly touched by the star who died at age 42 on May 28.
Noticeably absent and not invited was Gary’s ex-wife Shannon Price, who posed for photos with the actor in the hospital on his deathbed while he was on life support and later profited from the sale of those pictures.
PHOTOS: Gary Coleman Through The Years
“Her actions both after the accident and in the days following; taking him off life support so quickly, selling his trains, taking photos when he died,” former business partner Barry Greenberg told RadarOnline.com’s Amber Goodhand of his take on Price.
“I think those were all very strange actions.”
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When one person at the event called Gary a “little guy,” Gray spoke up and said, “No, he’s the biggest man in the world.”
That sentiment ran throughout the afternoon.
“This is a special day where the people who helped him or were his friends, can gather and discuss the good times in his life,” Malcolm told RadarOnline.com.
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The event started at approximately noon PT and lasted two hours. Guests feasted on calamari, eggplant, pesto pasta, salmon, chicken, mini sliders, chocolate covered strawberries, cream puffs and more.
A woman in attendance said her name was Tree Windsong and she was blind. She said she met Gary when she called into a Tucson, Arizona radio show that was running a “win a date with Gary Coleman” show. Windsong won and went out with Gary, leading to a friendship that lasted years.
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One friend of Gary’s talked about his fear of grass because of the germs he believed it harbored and recalled carrying him across her lawn so he could attend her birthday party.
At one point in his life Gary worked as a security guard. A producer who encountered him during this time pitched a project to Gary that would involve Emmanuel Lewis. The two diminutive stars met but things quickly turned contentious.
Gary one-upped his fellow celebrity by saying something he rarely got to utter: “I’m a foot taller than you!”
The story drew laughs throughout the room.
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“I can’t say that I was shocked,” Greenberg said of Gary’s death. “I know that he had all kinds of problems in life, all kinds of trouble, both medically and personally and it’s just very sad.”
Gray was still visibly grieving after the memorial telling RadarOnline.com, “I’m not ready to comment, guys. Thank you for the interest.”
EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTS: Gary Coleman Secretly Took Out Restraining Order Against Ex-Wife Months Before Death
More laughs were had when Gary’s former attorney, Randy Kester told RadarOnline.com one of his fondest memories of the actor.
“He had his pants tucked into his boots and I said, ‘Why do you have pants tucked into your boots?’ He said, ‘Well, don’t you think it makes me look taller?’”
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW: Gary Coleman's Ex-Wife Reveals Loving Text Messages The Star Sent Her - Read Them Here
It was a low-key afternoon with Gary’s inner circle sharing the best memories they had of the star. Malcolm recalled Gary saying, “I wish you were my dad,” and it was clear by the time everyone felt that Gary had inspired a sense of family in his closest friends.
Inside Gary Coleman's Memorial
Posted on Jul 12, 2010 @ 05:43PM - 2 comments
Inside Gary Coleman's Memorial
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW: Gary Coleman's Vindictive Lawyer Turned Him Against Me, Says Ex-Wife
Posted on Jun 29, 2010 @ 08:38AM - 35 comments
Gary Coleman's ex-wife Shannon Price has broken her silence about a secret restraining order the Diff'rent Stokes star had drawn up against her just months before he died – and she blames it all on his lawyer, in an exclusive new video interview with RadarOnline.com.
We first broke the news that Coleman prepared a restraining order against his ex in February, just months before she had him disconnected from life support. The document was under seal and Gary claimed Price had moved back into his home, against his wishes, and that she would destroy his property.
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But Price blames Gary’s actions on Randy Kester, the star’s former attorney.
“I believe that Randy manipulated him to go against me,” Price told RadarOnline.com in an exclusive video interview.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW: Gary Coleman Forced To Pick Between Two Women Now Fighting For His Estate
Posted on Jun 24, 2010 @ 10:45AM - 8 comments
Diff’rent Strokes star Gary Coleman was forced to choose between his ex-girlfriend and Shannon Price, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Randy Kester, the star’s long-time attorney, told RadarOnline.com the actor faced the dilemma after the two women collided.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW: Ex-Wife Told Gary Coleman What To Write In His Controversial Will, Says Star's Former Lawyer
“Anna’s a lady who worked with Gary for about eight years from about ’97 or 98 to about 2005 or 2006,” he said.
“She actually worked with him as his manager. I think, quite frankly, she became a confidante of Gary’s. He would tell her things that he didn’t share with a lot of other people.
VIDEO: Gary Coleman's Father: Son Wished To Be Revived "If He Went Under"
The couple became more than just friends, but when Coleman met Price things changed drastically.
Said Kester, “My understanding from my discussion with Anna is that she and Gary had a romantic relationship -- that they were very close to one another, close enough that they lived together for those 2 or 3 months until it fell apart.”
EXCLUSIVE: From Actor To Fashionista -- Gary Coleman Planned A Kids Clothing Line
“Shannon came on the picture and that just didn’t mix well and Anna didn’t want any part of it,” he added.
“She indicated to me she felt uncomfortable making Gary uncomfortable because Shannon was making Gary make a choice, make a decision and Anna just respectfully said "I don’t want to do this to you, Gary. I’ll always be your friend, but I’m going to move on.’"
EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTS: Gary Coleman Secretly Took Out Restraining Order Against Ex-Wife Months Before Death
Gray was named executor of a will signed in 2005 ‹ a will that Kester thinks will be determined as Coleman’s valid will.
Price has a handwritten codicil from 2007.
Coleman had told Gray that he put her in his will, but she had never seen it until he died.
“Anna was surprised when she found out that Gary had named her as the executor and as a partial beneficiary in that will,” Kester said.
“When she first found out about it she was emotionally overwhelmed. I think it struck her right in her heart and she had a hard time reacting to it.
EXCLUSIVE: Gary Coleman's Ex Wife: I Wanted To Be There When He Was Cremated
“I really truly believe that the 2005 will that Gary signed appointing Anna as the executor and a partial beneficiary giving his railroads to other people, I think that will is going to prevail.
“I think Shannon is going to have a really hard time of proving her case of common law marriage.”
Although the couple divorced in 2008, Coleman and Price were living together and they were planning to re-marry.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERIVEW: Ex-Wife Told Gary Coleman What to Write In His Controversial Will, Says Star’s Lawyer
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW: Gary Coleman's Lawyer Reveals Why The Actor Wanted Ex-Wife Banished & Restrained
Posted on Jun 24, 2010 @ 05:50AM - 9 comments
Three months before Gary Coleman died, he filed a restraining order against the very woman who pulled him off life support -- and RadarOnline.com has details of why the actor wanted his ex-wife banished and restrained.
EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTS: Coleman's Secret Restraining Order Against Ex-Wife
In an exclusive new interview, Coleman’s former attorney Utah attorney Randy Kester slammed Coleman’s ex-wife Shannon Price for taking Coleman’s vehicles and destroying his property during the last days of his life.
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“Over the last six to eight months of Gary’s life had often expressed to me that he was concerned Shannon was taking things that didn’t belong to her,” Kester told RadarOnline.com.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW: Shannon Price Abusive Toward Gary Coleman, Called Him Stupid, Says His Attorney
Posted on Jun 23, 2010 @ 02:06PM - 58 comments
Gary Coleman’s ex-wife Shannon Price was often abusive toward him, called the actor ‘stupid’ and made comments about his height.
Those disturbing revelations come from Coleman’s lawyer Randy Kester, who revealed new details about Price in an exclusive video interview with RadarOnline.com.
He also revealed the couple did not sleep together and had separate bedrooms in their Santaquin, Utah, home, at the end of Coleman’s life.
“Shannon would demean him and say very personal things about him in public... she would frequently call him stupid,” Kester told RadarOnline.com.
“I thought it was an inappropriate relationship... Shannon’s treatment of Gary was harsh and it was domineering.
“It always bothered me.”
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Kester added, “If Gary would respond in the wrong way, if he would disagree then there was this barrage of why he was wrong and why he shouldn’t be saying it that way... and even comments about his stature.”
PHOTOS: Gary Coleman Through The Years
Price has become a controversial figure since Coleman’s death.
The 24-year-old posed for photos with him on his deathbed and then profited from their sale. She also sold interviews about him within 24 hours of his death.
Price made the decision to take Coleman off life support, even though he had signed a document saying he wanted his life prolonged.
Now Kester has revealed some of the inner-most details from inside their tumultuous relationship, suggesting the union was unhealthy.
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Kester told RadarOnline.com that Coleman’s relationship with Price “just didn’t seem to be a loving relationship. It was more dominant, subdued type of relationship.”
“They weren’t reluctant to talk loudly and harshly in public.”
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Coleman and Price were secretly divorced but living together when he died, age 42.
She is trying to get a share of his estate with a hand-written codicil to his will.
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Kester recalled one incident after a court hearing, when he saw “her (Shannon) literally dragging him to the car as if he was a little child.
“That just always stuck out in my mind as indicative of what the relationship was.”
PHOTOS: Gary Coleman's Last Birthday
Kester summed it up: “Everyone has their own subjective sense of what a loving relationship is I just don’t think what they had fit into the norm. It was extraordinary—it was off the wall almost.”
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW: Ex-Wife Told Gary Coleman What To Write In His Controversial Will, Says Star's Former Lawyer
Posted on Jun 23, 2010 @ 08:15AM - 10 comments
The lawyer representing Gary Coleman’s ex-girlfriend has quit the case in order to turn star witness in a move that could explode the two-way battle for control over the late actor’s affairs.
In an exclusive interview, Utah attorney Randy Kester revealed to RadarOnline.com that he stepped down from ex-girlfriend's Anna Gray’s legal team last week, in order to testify against Coleman's former wife Shannon Price.
Watch the video on RadarOnline.com
Kester was Coleman’s personal lawyer in the final years of his life.
Gary Coleman Cremated
Posted on Jun 17, 2010 @ 09:26PM - 7 comments
Three weeks after Gary Coleman passed away, his final wish has finally been met.
Gary was cremated today in Utah, reports Entertainment Tonight.
Gary Coleman's former girlfriend Anna Gray paid her last respects to the Diff'rent Strokes star Wednesday.
PHOTOS: Gary Coleman's Last Birthday
Dressed in black, Gray left Memorial Mortuary in Murray, Utah Wednesday afternoon after a private viewing of Coleman's body.
PHOTOS: Gary Coleman Through The Years
As RadarOnline.com has previously reported, Gray was named in a 2005 will as the executor and beneficiary to Coleman's estate.
If valid, it supersedes the 1999 will already entered for probate by the actor's former manager, Dion Mial.
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Gray's lawyer Randy Kester, who was also Coleman's attorney during his divorce to Price, had told RadarOnline.com the 2005 will also nullifies the handwritten codicil (amendment to a will) that gives all assets to his ex-wife Shannon Price, including Coleman's $315,000 home in Santaquin, Utah.
While Gray and Price have conflicting wills, both documents agreed that Gary wished to be cremated.
VIDEO: Ex-Girlfriend Visits Gary Coleman Body; Cremation Set
Posted on Jun 17, 2010 @ 10:09AM - 6 comments
Gary Coleman's former girlfriend Anna Gray paid her last respects to the Diff'rent Strokes star Wednesday, paving the way for the actor's body to be finally cremated either Thursday or Friday, RadarOnline.com can report.
Dressed in black, Gray left Memorial Mortuary in Murray, Utah Wednesday afternoon after a private viewing of Coleman's body. Only KTVX-TV, the ABC affiliate in Provo, Utah captured video of Gray paying her last respects.
Watch the video on RadarOnline.com
BREAKING NEWS: Gary Coleman’s Ex-Girlfriend To See Him One Last Time
Posted on Jun 14, 2010 @ 05:03PM - 15 comments
It was the courtroom showdown between Gary Coleman’s ex-wife and an ex-girlfriend, each bringing a document that they claim is his last will and testament.
PHOTOS: Inside The Gary Coleman Hearing
A judge in a Provo, Utah court has given attorneys a seven day window to sort out the legal wrangling over the late actor’s affairs.
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However, the judge did grant ex-girlfriend Anna Gray’s request to visit his body one last time. She will have to fly from Oregon to Sandy, Utah within 48 hours after the judge ruled the body of the Diff’rent Strokes star must cremated according to his wishes. While Gray and Gary’s ex-wife Shannon Price have conflicting wills, both documents agree that Gary wished to be cremated.
An independent special administrator has been appointed in the interim.
Shannon, who claims she was Gary’s common law wife, has a handwritten codicil dated September 4, 2007 that leaves his entire estate to her. Her attorney, Todd Bradford, also presented a will written in 2005 that also leaves everything to the 24-year-old, but as RadarOnline.com revealed, that will was not signed.
Utah law states that any reference to the spouse in a will becomes invalid after a divorce.
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But Gary’s ex-girlfriend and business manager, Anna, presented her own 2005 will that leaves her as the sole beneficiary. Dion Mial, who was Gary’s ex-manager and had a third will from 1999, pulled out of the legal battle on Monday.
PHOTOS: Gary Coleman Through The Years
As RadarOnline.com first reported, Anna’s attorney Randy Kester also filed a restraining order against Shannon. Kester claims that Shannon has been “invading Gary’s home and disposing of his property.” He claims nothing is left in the home, but Gary’s clothes and bed.
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Late Monday, Gary’s advance health care directive was filed in court. The directive from 2006 clearly states that Gary’s wishes were not to pull the plug on him.
