Former child actor will be buried in Salt Lake City. By Gil Kaufman Gary Coleman Photo: Getty Images The funeral for former child actor Gary Coleman will be held in Salt Lake City this weekend. According to UsMagazine.com , the service for the sitcom star will be held either Friday or Saturday at a funeral home in the actor’s adopted home state. Coleman’s lawyer, Randy Kester, said the actor’s estranged parents, Sue and Willie Coleman, are planning to attend the service, despite having seen little of their adopted son for much of the past 20 years following a 1989 lawsuit over the handling of his childhood acting earnings. Kester said he recently spoke with Sue and that it’s been “kind of hard” for her to deal with the sudden death of Gary, 42, who passed away on Friday after suffering a brain hemorrhage as a result of a fall last Wednesday. Sue Coleman spoke to People magazine, saying that her son had, “a God-given talent” and getting into show business was his idea. “We always told him, ‘It’s up to you, Gary.’ We never forced him to do anything. We protected him as best we could.” After his career stalled following the cancellation of “Strokes” in 1986, Coleman blamed his parents for allegedly taking advantage of him financially, settling a lawsuit against them and his business manager in 1993 that cemented the long estrangement. “We never stole from our son,” Sue told the magazine. “We always had his best interests at heart. After we stopped hearing from him, we reached out to him anyway we could. Over the years, we sent him birthday and Christmas wishes through his agents and managers because we often had no phone number, no address to reach him. But we always hoped someday he’d come around. … We want him to be remembered as the talented young man he was. We never stopped being proud of Gary.” As for Coleman’s wife, Shannon Price , and other members of the “Diff’rent Strokes” actor’s family, Kester said “they seem to be doing OK. … It’s all kind of a shocker. Even I think back, ‘Oh my gosh!’ You know. Gary’s really gone. It’s one of those things that you keep trying to get your mind around.” At press time it had not yet been announced whether this weekend’s service will be private or open to the public. Share your memories of Gary Coleman in the comments. Related Photos Gary Coleman: A Life In Photos
Go here to read the rest:
Gary Coleman’s Funeral To Take Place This Weekend
