Diff'rent Strokes dad Conrad Bain dies - Daily TV round-up

Conrad Bain, who played Phillip Drummond in the 80s TV show 'Diff'rent Strokes' has died aged 89.

Bain, who was weeks away from his 90th birthday, passed away at the nursing home he had moved to some years earlier in Livermore, California.

Bain... with co-stars on Diff'rent Strokes (Copyright: WENN)

He was most famous for his role as the patriarch in the hit US comedy show, in which he starred alongside Gary Coleman, who played Arnold Jackson, Todd Bridges, who played Arnold's brother Willis, and Dana Plato, who played Kimberley Drummond.

The show set-up the premise of widowed Manhattan millionaire Drummond adopting the two boys of his housekeeper after she dies.

Bain was known for his extensive stage work, and also for appearing in long-running US show 'Maude', with Bea Arthur, and films including 'Postcards From The Edge'.

Sadly, 'Diff'rent Strokes' was consequently marred by tragedy.

Gary Coleman, who suffered from various legal and financial issues, died of a brain haemorrhage in 2010, while Dana Plato died of an apparent drug overdose in 1999.

Bridges too had substance abuse problems, and later revealed he had been sexually abused in childhood.

Bain had said of the show's child stars: “It's painful. It is really painful. It leaves you with such a helpless feeling. I have been asked to go on all these talk shows and I just think the continued public discussion... I can't bear the thought. I love them all.”

He is survived by his three children, Jennifer, Mark and Kent. [LA Times]

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