When I wrote about child star Gary Coleman dying on May 28th, I had no idea it would turn into a continuing blog series. But, I love crazy Hollywood stories and it doesn’t get much crazier than this one, so I feel compelled to continue updating it.
First off, Coleman’s parents, Sue and Willie, and Coleman’s ex-wife, Shannon Price, have been arguing over who has control of Coleman’s body. Coleman’s parents have since dropped the fight, but the funeral has still been postponed.
Todd Bridges, who co-starred with Coleman and Dana Plato in “Diff’rent Strokes,” has told the media that he has a secret will that Coleman gave him. Bridges said, “A friend of mine and I have paperwork, and we’ll bring it out soon, that will show what his wishes were and what he wanted.” Bridges went on the say “There’s a big fight going on with his parents and some other people involved, and after we bring this paperwork out, everybody’s going to shut up.”
But, no one really seems to be sure which will is the final one. An attorney in Utah has a will, Bridges claims to have a will, Price says she has a handwritten will – which one is real?
Kent Alderman said he has Coleman’s will from 1999 and will file it later this week in the Utah court. Sources say the document lists Dion Mial, Coleman’s former manager as the executor of the estate. Mial said Price’s will doesn’t meet all the legal standards and will be proved null and void.
However, Price’s rep, Sheilia Erickson said that Gary talked about Mial less than 24 hours before he fell and had nothing nice to say. Reportedly Coleman said the two had not been friends for “years” and that they had a falling out.
Of course, both Mial and Price are discounting the will Bridge’s supposedly has.
The will that Mial holds leaves nothing to Price, but it seems as if she is already trying to cash in on anything she can. According to Mial, Price has sold death photos of Coleman to Globe magazine. A spokesperson for Globe, Samantha Trenk, confirmed that the company did buy the photos, which will appear in this week’s edition of the magazine.
Coleman’s parents are upset by the photos, with Sue telling TMZ, “I can’t think of any other reason why she would do that unless it’s just for the money.”
Yeah, I can’t either Sue.