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.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW: Family Of Gary Coleman's Ex-Wife Wants To Take His Ashes On Whistlestop Train Tour
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.
PHOTOS: Gary Coleman's Last Birthday
“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 INTERVIEW: Gary Coleman's Pals Bashed For Excluding Ex-Wife From Memorial
Posted on Jul 08, 2010 @ 05:50AM - 22 comments
Gary Coleman's friends are being slammed for excluding his ex-wife Shannon Price from a memorial service honoring the Diff'rent Strokes actor, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned.
EXCLUSIVE: Gary Coleman Ex-Wife Not Invited To His Memorial Service
Posted on Jul 07, 2010 @ 02:45PM - 15 comments
A memorial service has finally been arranged for Gary Coleman, and his ex-wife Shannon Price is not invited, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.
After nearly two months of bitter disputes and controversy surrounding the death of Gary Coleman, we’ve learned that a memorial for the actor will be held Friday in Los Angeles. to say goodbye to the Diff’rent Strokes star.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW: Gary Coleman Shouldn't Have Died, Says Agent
Posted on Jun 28, 2010 @ 05:50AM - 2 comments
The person who had the longest relationship with Gary Coleman is making a barrage of attacks against the Diff’rent Strokes star’s ex-wife Shannon Price -- lashing out about her now infamous 911 call and her decision to take him off of life support.
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Breaking his silence to RadarOnline.com, Coleman's long-time agent Robert Malcolm said the star “shouldn’t have died.”
Watch the video on RadarOnline.com
Following Coleman's death on May 28, there has been much speculation around the alleged involvement of Price in the events surrounding her 911 call and her ultimate decision to switch off the actor’s life support machine.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW: Gary Coleman's Agent: He "Never Had The Time To Be A Child"
Posted on Jun 26, 2010 @ 12:50PM - 13 comments
Gary Coleman played a happy fun-loving ‘Arnold’ on TV's Diff’rent Strokes.
But according to his longtime agent, speaking out for the first time to RadarOnline.com, Coleman’s real life was far from the ideal Hollywood image.
Robert Malcolm revealed the tormented life that Coleman endured-- a life he described to RadarOnline.com as “sad and lonely.”
Malcolm met Coleman when the Diff’rent Strokes star was 24 — a time when the actor revealed his lost youth.
VIDEO: Gary Coleman's Father: Son Wished To Be Revived "If He Went Under"
Malcolm told RadarOnline.com, “His room was full of toys, very little furniture... and I said to myself, ‘How sad, here is somebody who probably never had the time to be a child'."
The pint-sized actor sued his parents Sue and Willie Coleman in 1989 for allegedly stealing his multimillion-dollar fortune -- a claim they have long denied.
The parents were also accused of forcing their son to work under horrific health conditions.
EXCLUSIVE: From Actor To Fashionista -- Gary Coleman Planned A Kids Clothing Line
“His kidney problem started when he was quite young, he was in pain, they would still make him work and they kept on promising that it would be the last year and the year ended and they started again,” said Malcolm.
“He supposedly made $18 million over the course of Diff’rent Strokes and when he finally sued his parents, he wound up with $1.3 million.
EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTS: Gary Coleman Secretly Took Out Restraining Order Against Ex-Wife Months Before Death
“So you wonder where did that money go? I don’t have the answer.”
Later in life, Coleman moved on and didn’t speak with his parents for the final 23 years of his life.
EXCLUSIVE: Gary Coleman's Ex Wife: I Wanted To Be There When He Was Cremated
Said Malcolm, “In terms of his parents he spoke very little. There was not particularly anger but there was no love. You felt that he had been abandoned.”
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERIVEW: Ex-Wife Told Gary Coleman What to Write In His Controversial Will, Says Star’s Lawyer
Perhaps the most heartbreaking part of Coleman’s life was the multitude of ailments he faced.
“Beyond the fact that he had dialysis every other day, three times a week which is a very, very difficult thing to go through… he also had a heart problem, he had infection problems because of the posts they had to put in, there were very few places that they could do things to him to draw blood, he had a breathing problem.
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“About four years ago he got very ill and had to be in an induced coma. He had bitten his tongue in his sleep and his tongue basically had enlarged and was outside his mouth. They induced a coma which he was in for a couple of months.”
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Police do not believe the 42-year-old's death on May 28 was suspicious.
His body was discovered by his ex-wife Price, 25, who later gave permission to turn off his life support machine.
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.
