Gary Coleman dies, aged 42

Actor Gary Coleman has died at the age of 42, it has been confirmed.

The star - best known for his role in the '80s comedy Diff'rent Strokes - was hospitalised in Utah on Wednesday after suffering an intracranial haemorrhage caused by a fall.

Coleman slipped into a coma on Thursday and was taken off life support Friday morning. His wife Shannon Price and her father, as well as close friends and family, were at his bedside when he died.

Coleman's growth was hampered from a young age by a kidney disease that meant he never grew beyond 4'8" and required daily dialysis.

As the main star of Strokes, which ran from 1978 to 1986, Coleman played precocious child Arnold, becoming famous for his catchphrase "whatchu talkin' 'bout Willis?"

Co-star Dana Plato committed suicide by drugs overdose in 1999. Her son Tyler Lambert fatally shot himself in the head earlier this month.