how old was gary coleman when he start acting
'Diff'rent Strokes' Star Gary Coleman Dead at 42 Gary Coleman's Rise to Fame on 'Diff'rent Strokes'. Coleman got his start in acting with appearances on The Jeffersons and Good Times.. In 1978, at the age of 10, he became a TV icon playing one of two adopted sons of a rich widower on NBC's Diff'rent Strokes..