Conrad Stafford Bain, one of Hollywood’s greatest names, had a long career before being cast in ABC’s Diff’rent Strokes, appearing in everything from a Broadway revival of The Iceman Cometh to Woody Allen’s Bananas, not to mention forming the Actors Federal Credit Union, but to most, he was Phillip Drummond, the friendly rich white man who adopted Arnold and Willis Jackson. Sadly, though, according to TMZ, Bain passed away last night.
Actor Conrad Bain — who played father figure Phillip Drummond on Diff’rent Strokes — has passed away. He was 89. Bain family sources tell TMZ, Bain died Monday night in Livermore, CA. So far, details surrounding his death are unclear. We spoke with Bain’s daughter Jennifer who tells us, “He was an amazing person. He was a lot like Mr. Drummond, but more interesting in real life. He was an amazing father.” (Via)
With Bain’s passing, only one of the four main cast members on Diff’rent Strokes is still alive: Todd Bridges, which is pretty amazing considering the cereal box full of cocaine he sniffed every day in the 1980s. Anyway, in the past 20 years, Bain had only appeared on TV twice (in an episode of Unforgettable in 2011 and the 1996 series finale of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), but he’ll be missed. Every time I walk past a bicycle shop, I’ll think of him. R.I.P.
(Via TMZ)
