Mrs. Drummond (mother) Mr. Drummond (father) Sophia Drummond (sister) Anna Van Drummond (cousin) Hans Van Drummond (nephew/Anna's son)
Nationality
American
Phillip Drummond was portrayed by Conrad Bain. He is a friendly, wealthy white widower, who runs Trans-Allied, Incorporated. He was born December 3, 1931 in Manhattan, New York. (This made him Conrad Bain's junior by eight years.)
Phillip has a daughter, Kimberly, and two adopted African American sons, Willis and his younger brother Arnold Jackson. He also has an eccentric elder sister named Sophia (played by Dody Goodman). Arnold and Willis' mother, Lucy Jackson (portrayed by Todd Bridges' real-life mother), worked as a housekeeper for the Drummonds years ago; her death-bed wish was that Phillip would take care of her two sons. In the series pilot, Phillip welcomes Arnold and Willis into his home.
Phillip had dated several women, and would later get remarried to Maggie McKinney, a television aerobics instructor (played by Dixie Carter from 1983 to 1985 and Mary Ann Mobley from 1985 to 1986). Maggie subsequently introduced Sam McKinney (Danny Cooksey), her son from a previous marriage, to the family.
Phillip Drummond is the only character to appear in every episode of the series.
Phillip, along with Arnold Jackson, made a cameo in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air series finale "I, Done," as a potential buyer of the Banks' mansion.
On The Facts of Life, Philip appears in Rough Housing.
Phillip Drummond (father) Lydia Drummond (mother; deceased) Arnold Jackson (adopted brother) Willis Jackson (adopted brother) Sam McKinney (stepbrother) Maggie McKinney Drummond (stepmother)
Nationality
American
Kimberly Drummond was portrayed by Dana Plato. She was the only biological child and daughter of wealthy widower, Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain). She was born on Park Avenue in New York City on October 22, 1964. Kimberly was shown as a caring, loving big sister to both Willis and Arnold, but as a wealthy, coming of age teenager, she suffered from various problems. Several such instances took place in season 6, one of which involved a two-part "very special" episode on the dangers of hitchhiking, where she was nearly a victim of sexual assault by a deranged man named Bill (Woody Eney). In another episode, no one in the family knew that she was suffering from bulimia, though she later admitted to having a problem and agreed to seek help.
Kimberly wasn't in the opening credits in the 7th season nor the 8th season, however, in the 8th season, there were clips of her and she is shown in the last frame of the opening credits for the 8th season.
On The Facts of Life, Kimberly appears in Rough Housing.
Lucy Mae Jackson (mother) (1938–1977) Henry Jackson (father) (d. 1975) Phillip Drummond (adopted father) Kimberly Drummond (adopted sister) Willis Jackson (older brother) Sam McKinney (stepbrother) Maggie McKinney Drummond (stepmother) Myrtle Waters (distant cousin)
Nationality
American
Arnold Jackson was portrayed by Gary Coleman. He was the younger brother of Willis Jackson (Todd Bridges), and was born in Harlem, New York City on July 19, 1971. Arnold is a "precocious moppet," who was practically known for his catch phrase, "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?", which became a part of popular culture and in 2006 was included in TV Land's "The 100 Greatest TV Quotes and Catch Phrases" special.[1]
Arnold's father died in 1975, and his mother died in 1977. His mother worked as a housekeeper for a wealthy white widower, named Philip Drummond (Conrad Bain). Before her death, his mother expressed her wish for her two boys to be cared for by Mr. Drummond. He agreed, and in 1979, he officially adopted Willis and Arnold.[2]
Arnold is the main character in the series. In many episodes, he is shown as being a selfish younger brother, or coming up with or being suckered into some scheme to keep out of trouble or obtain his desire of the episode. When the boys first move in with Mr. Drummond, Willis wants to move back to Harlem, while Arnold is satisfied with their new surroundings. Willis eventually changes his mind, and they decide to stay with "Mr. D.," as the boys initially refer to him.[3]
In another episode, Arnold has to fight a school bully named "The Gooch," so that he will not pick on him anymore. However, Mr. Drummond does not want Arnold fighting the bully, and ultimately decides that Arnold must make peace with "The Gooch." Arnold, however, listens to his brother, Willis, who tells him to fight back. This ended with Arnold getting a black eye, and both boys getting in trouble.
Arnold's best friend is Dudley Johnson (played by TV actor Shavar Ross), who, like Arnold, was adopted. Dudley appears in many episodes, and both are involved in various schemes throughout the series. Steven Mond played Robbie Jayson, Arnold's other best friend, who once pressured him to try drugs. In one episode, Arnold has to have an appendectomy, but is too scared to see the doctor.
Arnold, along with Phillip Drummond, made a cameo in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air series finale, as potential buyers of the Banks' mansion.
On The Facts of Life, Arnold appears in Rough Housing and in The New Girl: Part 1.
Lucy Mae Jackson (mother, 1938–1977) Henry Jackson (father, d. 1975) Arnold Jackson (younger brother) Kimberly Drummond (adopted sister) Phillip Drummond (adopted father) Sam McKinney (stepbrother) Maggie McKinney Drummond (stepmother) Myrtle Waters (distant cousin)
Nationality
American
Willis Jackson was portrayed by Todd Bridges. He was the older brother of Arnold. He was born in Harlem on April 27, 1965. The boys' late mother, Lucy, was a housekeeper for a wealthy White man, named Phillip Drummond, and her deathbed wish was that he would take care of her two kids, and Philip Drummond officially adopted them in 1979. Willis's catch phrase is "Say what?"
Willis was portrayed alternately as rebellious and responsible.[4] In one episode, Willis joins a gang named "The Tarantulas."
Willis also had a girlfriend, named Charlene DuPrey, portrayed by Janet Jackson of both the television shows Good Times and Fame. Jackson appeared from the show's third season (1980–1981) until 1984, through the show's sixth season.
Bridges' role as Willis Jackson started to fade, because of casting changes in the 1984–1985 season, when Danny Cooksey was added as Sam McKinney, his and Arnold's new younger stepbrother. Bridges did not appear as often in the show's final season, though his name remained in the opening credits.
On The Facts of Life, Willis appears in Rough Housing and in Bought and Sold.
Edna Garrett was portrayed by Charlotte Rae. She was Mr. Drummond's housekeeper from 1978 to 1979. She left the show midway through the second season to take a job as housemother and dietitian at Eastland School, the school Kimberly attends in Peekskill, New York. She returned as a guest star in the wedding episode.
Maggie McKinney-Drummond
Maggie McKinney-Drummond was portrayed by Dixie Carter for seasons 6-7, and when the show moved from NBC to ABC for season 8, Mary Ann Mobley took over the role. Carter and Mobley would star opposite each other in the season 5 premiere of Designing Women, "A Blast From The Past."
Related Research Articles
Dana Michelle Plato was an American actress. An influential teen idol of the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was best known for playing the role of Kimberly Drummond on the NBC/ABC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986).
Conrad Stafford Bain was a Canadian-American comedian and actor. His television credits include a leading role as Phillip Drummond in the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986), as Dr. Arthur Harmon on Maude (1972–1978), and as Charlie Ross in Mr. President (1987–1988).
Mary Ann Mobley was an American actress, television personality, and Miss America 1959.
Holly Marie Combs Ryan is an American actress and producer. She is known for her roles as Kimberly Brock in the CBS series Picket Fences (1992–1996), Piper Halliwell in The WB series Charmed (1998–2006) and Ella Montgomery in the Freeform series Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017).
Green Acres is an American television sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to Petticoat Junction, the series was first broadcast on CBS, from September 15, 1965, to April 27, 1971.
Charlotte Rae Lubotsky was an American character actress and singer whose career spanned six decades.
Todd Anthony Bridges is an American actor. He portrayed Willis Jackson on the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes and had a recurring role as Monk on the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris. Bridges worked as a commentator on the television series TruTV Presents: World's Dumbest... from 2008 to 2013.
Bonar Stewart Bain was a Canadian actor and the identical twin brother of actor Conrad Bain.
Diff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom, which aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, respectively, who are two boys from Harlem taken in by a wealthy Park Avenue businessman and his daughter. Phillip Drummond is a widower for whom their deceased mother previously worked; his daughter, Kimberly, is played by Dana Plato. During the first season and the first half of the second season, Charlotte Rae also starred, as Mrs. Edna Garrett, the Drummonds' first housekeeper, who ultimately spun off into her own sitcom, The Facts of Life, as a housemother at the fictional Eastland School. The second housekeeper, Adelaide Brubaker, was played by Nedra Volz. The third housekeeper, Pearl Gallagher, was played by Mary Jo Catlett, first appearing as a recurring character, later becoming a main cast member.
Nashville is an American musical drama television series. It was created by Callie Khouri and produced by R. J. Cutler, Khouri, Dee Johnson, and Steve Buchanan through season four, Connie Britton through season five, and Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick from season five on.
Live in Front of a Studio Audience is a series of live television specials that was first broadcast by ABC on May 22, 2019. Conceptualized and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the specials feature all-star casting for live recreations of sitcom episodes that originally aired in the 1970s and 1980s.
"The Bicycle Man" is a two-part very special episode of the American sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986). Serving as the 16th and 17th episodes of the fifth season, it was written by Blake Hunter, directed by Gerren Keith, and guest-stars Gordon Jump as a bicycle shop owner who tries to molest Arnold Jackson and his friend Dudley Johnson. The episode also features Le Tari as Ted Ramsey, Dudley's adoptive father, and Brad Trumbull as Detective Simpson.
↑ "Jet". Johnson Publishing Company. March 8, 1982. p.59. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
