Former child star Todd Bridges, 44, is now faring better than his other co-stars on the early 80s show Diff’rent Strokes, but that’s not saying much. The actress who played his sister, Dana Plato, died from an overdose of prescription medication in 1999 at the age of 34. His diminutive on-screen little brother, Gary Coleman, is known more for his angry persona and ongoing domestic abuse issues than his sad career. Before getting sober, Bridges had many hard years of drug addiction, including a murder charge for shooting a drug dealer in 1988. He was acquitted, but it wasn’t until a court-ordered rehab stint in 1993 that he became sober.

Bridges is promoting his new biography, Killing Willis, and discussed his life post-Diff’rent Strokes on Fox News yesterday. He said that he doesn’t blame show business for his decline, but revealed that he was sexually abused by his publicist when he was just 12 and said that his father took his publicist’s side.

Child star Todd Bridges, who played Willis Jackson on “Diff’rent Strokes,” discussed addiction, Corey Haim, and his new book, “Killing Willis,” on “Fox & Friends.”

First, the actor wanted to dispel the presumption that it was Hollywood that made him turn to drugs.

“What I try to always explain to people is that we can’t blame Hollywood, it’s not Hollywood,” he says. “Those are bad choices that I made. I made some stupid personal choices. But I can’t blame Hollywood.”

Whatchu talkin’ ‘bout Willis?

“When the show got canceled is when my whole life fell apart because everything caught up with me,” he explains. “At 12 years old I was molested by my publicist and my father took my publicist’s side.”

Bridges said it was after the successful ‘70s sitcom ended its eight-season run that the drug addiction ensued.

“People don’t realize that during the process of the show, I was always very professional, so that kind of kept me together,” he said.

Once the actor had more time on his hands, he said he began to deal with his past.

“No one ever goes into addiction thinking that you’re going to get addicted to drugs. You do it to cover the pain up,” he recalls. “But then when I got caught up in addiction, Hollywood didn’t throw me away, I threw Hollywood away.”

Luckily for Bridges, his mistakes did not cost him his life, as they may have fellow child star Corey Haim, who died last week.

“A lot of people don’t feel like they have a problem and that’s one of the biggest problems,” said Bridges. “One of the biggest things with Corey Haim was [that he] thought that he was just taking prescription medication, which if you take it according to what the doctor tells you, you’re going to be okay. But if you take it the way an addict is going to take it – take a bunch of them and don’t listen to what the prescription bottle says – that’s what happened.”

Bridges’ co-star, Dana Plato who played Kimberly on the show, also battled with prescription drugs and used them to end her life in 1999.

Bridges had a wake-up call years before that happened. “For me, 17 years ago, I woke up one day and decided things had to be a little different,” says the 44-year-old. After pleading guilty to drug possession in 1993, the judge gave Bridges two options: jail or rehab.

“I chose to go to rehab,” he says. “I still wasn’t quite ready at that moment. So when I got in there I got really angry and I got really mad at the hospital [staff]. And they strapped me at four points and I was in there for three days.”

That was his wake up call.

“When you’re in your 20’s and you have a big diaper on and you were on a hit show, there has to be a change in your life,” he says.

Bridges, who has two young kids, has advice for parents everywhere.

“Never give up on your child. But also, you have to love your child. What I do with my kids is I tell them I love them every day, but also I tell them the truth,” he said. “Our parents back then would say, ‘Do as I say, not as I do’. And you can’t do that anymore. Children need explanations and they deserve explanations.”

[From Fox News]

In the clip of Bridges’ interview available on FoxNews.com, he reveals that his drug abuse started when the show got canceled, which is when he says “my whole life fell apart.” He also said that he was abused by his father and “harassed by the LAPD on a regular basis.” He told a story about how he was riding his bike at the age of 12 with a group of white friends, and the police confiscated his bike, assuming it was stolen. He said that his mom got his bike back from the station for him, and the police took him in for what sounds like no reason just a week later. He was only 12!

I was impressed by how matter-of-fact Bridges is now and how he seems to have straightened out his life. He has had a recurring role on Everybody Hates Chris and seems to have been working steadily for the past few years. Maybe he can reach out and lend a hand to Gary Coleman. The guy really needs some help.