Gary Coleman Landed An Iconic Role
In 1977, Norman Lear made two pilots when he was trying to reboot the Little Rascals. These attempts proved to be fruitless. However, they were vital for one well-known TV actor’s career. A television executive was blown away by Gary Coleman’s acting that he ended up making him the lead on Diff’rent Strokes. Coleman’s time on that show wasn’t all that happy, as it turns out. He was forced to work long hours as a young actor and felt isolated from his peers. He later successfully sued his parents for misappropriating the money he earned from the show. Coleman passed away at the age of 42 in 2010.
Gary Coleman Landed An Iconic Role
Ernie ‘Sunshine Sammy’ Morrison
You might know that The Little Rascals was one of the first-ever film series to portray black and white American children interacting as equals. However, what you might not know is that Ernie Morrison, who played Sunshine Sammy, was the first African-American actor to get a long-term contract in Hollywood. He signed a contract in 1919 with Hal Roach, three years before the show began filming. When Roach came up with the idea for the series, Morrison was the first actor to be recruited. The actor left the show in 1924 and worked as a Vaudeville actor. Later on, he was drafted into World War II and spent most of his time working on military defense plants. He died of cancer in 1989 at 76 years old.
Ernie ‘Sunshine Sammy’ Morrison
