Plato was fired from Diff'rent Strokes when she became pregnant and her career slumped after the show, with appearances in low-budget films, including some soft-core pornography, and in some minor roles in made for TV movies. She also had repeated drug and alcohol problems.
Her one year marriage to Lanny Lambert produced a son, Tyler Lambert (born 1985). She was arrested in 1991 for robbing a video store in Las Vegas, but was placed on probation. The following year Plato was arrested again, this time for forging a prescription for Valium.
In 1999 she and Lambert were returning to California following Plato's appearance on the Howard Stern show, hoping to revive her stagnant career. They stopped at Lambert's mother's home in Moore, Oklahoma for a Mother's Day visit, where she died of a prescription drug overdose. Her death was subsequently ruled a suicide.
Of the child stars on Diff'rent Strokes, Plato got into the most trouble, while Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges are still alive. Coleman, in fact, ran for Governor of California during the 2003 recall election.
