Book Answers Question: What You Talkin' Bout Willis?

The actor who played Willis on the 1970s sitcom, Diff’rent Strokes, has released a memoir to discuss his rocky past as a childhood actor turned drug addict.

Killing Willis, the title of the book, relates the experiences Todd Bridges had both during and after his stint on the television series. In an interview with PopEater, Bridges said he doesn’t blame his addiction on Hollywood, but rather on his lack of a father figure due to a strained relationship with his father.

“I was molested when I was 12, and I had a father who I lived in fear of my entire childhood and who, when I told him I’d been molested, didn’t believe me” he said.

When the show ended after eight seasons, Bridges said his “whole life fell apart.” In 1993, he plead guilt to drug possession and was sent to rehab, where he finally made the decision to change.

“When you’re in your 20s and you have a big diaper on, and you were on a hit show, there has to be a change in your life,” Bridges said to the New York Daily News.
Bridges said he tried to help fellow child actor Corey Haim before his recent overdose, but he “wasn’t ready” for the help.

“You know, addiction is so treacherous that it disguises itself into other things, like denial,” he said.

In his book, he also writes about his numerous sexual encounters, including a threesome with his co-actress Dana Plato, who played Kimberly and overdosed on prescription drugs in 1999. Bridges mentioned he does not keep in touch with his other former co-star, Gary Coleman.