Gary Coleman became security guard to fulfill 'fantasy of being an action hero'

Peacock's "Gary" paints a grim portrait of an adult Coleman with ambitions larger than Hollywood would allow.

Peacock's new documentary Gary, which chronicles the troubled life of Diff'rent Strokes star Gary Coleman, paints a grim picture of Coleman's Hollywood career after the series' 1986 cancelation.

By the mid-'90s, "Gary needed work, he wasn't getting enough TV work to live on," says former girlfriend Anna Gray, and "times were tough." She continues that "one of his dream jobs as a little boy had been to be a cop, so Gary was so ecstatic when he'd finally become a security guard."

"Becoming a security guard was Gary's way of fulfilling that fantasy of being an action hero — playing a cop, being a cop," says Dion Mial, Coleman's lifelong friend and then manager. It wasn't the only non-entertainment career Coleman would pursue post-Strokes, but it certainly ended the most disastrously.

Mial recalls, "One of the most challenging things that I had to deal with as Gary's manager at that time was getting the work." Meeting Gray and landing guest roles on sitcoms like Married... With Children and Martin that weren't reprisals of his Strokes character Arnold Jackson led to a "renewal in spirit," Mial says, and ultimately a "desire to be part of the entertainment industry once again."

But Coleman's optimism was short-lived due to the challenges child stars often face when they grow up. Not to mention the fact of Coleman's congenital kidney condition, which curbed his height at 4 foot 8. Diff'rent Strokes casting director Eve Brandstein says in Gary that "quite often child actors don't go forward in their careers. Some of them aren't talented enough, some are labeled too strongly with the character they played."

Coleman was a gifted actor dedicated to his craft (Coleman's agent Victor Perillo recalls "he'd be home every night watching his episode of Diff'rent Strokes taking notes on his performance"), but he struggled to be seen independent of the Jackson character and his "whatchu talkin' 'bout" catchphrase.

Related: Gary Coleman clashed with Diff'rent Strokes producers because they refused to age his character up

"I'm 31 years old, and wholesome must die. Otherwise I'll never be able to do any cool bad guys, I'll never be able to do any cool characters of any depth ever, because people still think of me as Arnold on Diff'rent Strokes" Coleman told 20/20 in 1999 as we see in Gary.

Mial explains that "Gary loved action/adventure movies. Rambo, you know. He wanted to play a superhero, and there were no roles for Gary Coleman as a superhero. He wanted to play a cop, he wanted to play a larger-than-life villain." So he killed two birds with one stone — make a living and fulfill the "fantasy of being an action hero" by becoming a security guard.

"He was so proud he was just crowing," Gray remembers. But quickly, "being a security guard went wrong for him."

In 1998, while on duty, Coleman assaulted a fan after she persisted in asking Coleman for an autograph. Coleman eventually pled no contest and walked away with a $400 fine, 90-day suspended sentence, and court order to take 52 anger management classes. But that would be the end of his security work.

Related: Gary Coleman: Five memorable moments from 'Diff'rent Strokes'

Coleman entertained a short-lived bid for the California governor's seat in 2003 before returning to show business with the 2006 film Church Ball. He died on May 28, 2010, at age 42 from an intercranial hemorrhage following a fall in his Provo, Utah, home.

Gary is currently streaming on Peacock.

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