Willis Jackson is a fictional character on the popular late 1970s-Early 1980s television series, Diff'rent Strokes, and he was portrayed by Todd Bridges. Willis Jackson is the older brother of Arnold, and was born in New York City in 1965. Willis and Arnold's parents had passed away, their mother, used to be a Housekeeper, for a White family named The Drummonds, and her deathbed wish was that Philip Drummond (her employer) take care of her two kids, and Philip Drummond officially adopted them in Late 1979. Willis was sometimes shown as the rebellious older brother, and sometimes as the more responsible brother. In one episode, Willis joins a gang named "The Tarantulas". He buys a gang member's jacket and tries to hide it from Kimberly and Mr. Drummond. When Arnold finds and tries on the jacket, Mr. Drummond thinks Arnold has joined the Tarantulas. This forces Arnold to tell Mr. Drummond the truth, despite his fear that Willis will become furious at him for telling. Arnold and Mr. Drummond find Willis in a jail cell at a Police Station, but when Willis tries to tell him what happened, Mr. Drummond becomes very angry at Willis, but the Police Officer tells Mr. Drummond that Willis was not involved, and that Willis tried to tell the other gang members to stop writing on the school wall. Willis nevertheless does not escape punishment, and Mr. Dummond grounds him. In another episode, Willis invited his old best friends from Harlem. After a little cheering up from his sister, Kimberly, Willis uses his new rich life to charm his best friends. When they start having a conflict, they walk out on both Arnold and Willis, and they make up. Willis also had a girlfriend named Charlene DuPrey, portrayed by Janet Jackson of both television shows Good Times and Fame, Jackson only appeared from the show's third season (1980-81), until her final appearance in Early 1984, during the show's sixth season. Todd Bridges was also famous for his role on one full season on the short-lived ABC sitcom, Fish. Todd Bridges role as "Willis Jackson" started to fade, because of casting changes in the 1984-1985 season, when Danny Cooksey plays Sam McKinney, Arnold's new younger stepbrother. Bridges did not appear as much in the show's final season.