Todd Bridges

Killing Willis is the autobiography of Todd Bridges, former child star most famous for his role as Willis Jackson on the show Diff’rent Strokes. This book read like a very dark and dismal after school special. Todd Bridges started his acting career at a very young age and compared his fame to the likes of Michael Jackson. I was pretty young when Diff’rent Strokes was on the air, so I’m not sure if he was quite as famous as he thinks he was.

Towards the end of Diff’rent Strokes, Todd started to get heavy into drugs. He went from addict to dealer to pimp and inevitably to jail. I believe that his ultimate goal in writing this book was to provide hope by sharing many intimate details of his life. That it is possible to turn your life around even after you hit rock bottom. However, I often felt that while Todd was proclaiming how terrible his life as a drug addict was, he was almost proud of how high he could get and how many sexual partners he was able to acquire during his time as a junkie. Can’t say that I recommend this one.… (more)

Todd Bridges was the first African-American child actor to star in a popular TV series. Ronald Rayton, a well-connected musician and gospel singer, became Todd’s publicist. He sexually abused the eleven-year-old while they were driving back from an autograph signing at a record store in the San Fernando Valley. Rayton bought Todd’s silence through friendship, gifts and lies. When he bought Todd a present he said: ‘Your mum wouldn’t buy you that bike.’ When he talked about sex, he said: ‘I’m telling you, it can be the same with boys as it is with girls. If you just try it, you’ll like it.’ Todd gave in:

I didn't want to lose everything he had given me. [. . .] And obviously I really liked Ronald and wanted to make him happy. Even more than that, I didn’t want to disappoint him. He had done so much for me. I didn’t want him to go away, like he had said he might.

Todd has said that the abuse ruined his life and it must have been an important factor to explain his struggles with drug addiction and violence. He spent years trying to cover up how he felt. He also harboured resentment towards his father. He accused the boy of lying when Todd told him Rayton had abused him:

But when he didn’t believe me and instead sided with the man who had molested me, it was the worst possible betrayal. I was already so full of shame and self-hatred, and so worried that I had something to deserve being molested.… (more)