Began appearing in Chicago-area commercials

Auditioned for a television revival of “The Little Rascals”; series was never produced

Cast as Arnold Jackson in the NBC sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes”

TV-movie debut in “The Kid from Left Field” (NBC) opposite Robert Guillaume

Re-teamed with Robert Guillaume for the NBC TV-movie, “The Kid with the Broken Halo”

Lent his voice to the Hanna-Barbera animated series, "The Gary Coleman Show" (NBC)

Third and final collaboration with Robert Guillaume in the NBC TV-movie, “The Kid with the 200 I.Q.”

Appeared in an episode of "Married... with Children" (Fox), playing a building code inspector

Reprised his role of Arnold Jackson on the final episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (NBC)

Played himself in an episode of "The Simpsons" (Fox) titled "Grift of the Magi"

Entered the California recall election; finished a respectable eighth place among 135 candidates, with Arnold Schwarzenegger winnning

Featured in the second season of the WB reality series, "The Surreal Life"