Diff'rent Strokes Actor Conrad Bain Dies Aged 89

Diff’rent Strokes actor Conrad Bain has reportedly died aged 89 years old.

Conrad Bain with the rest of the Diff'rent Strokes cast

TMZ reports that Bain died on Monday night (January 14) in Livermore, California, with details surrounding the passing away currently unclear. However, his daughter Jennifer spoke to the entertainment site to say "He was an amazing person. He was a lot like Mr. Drummond, but much more interesting in real life. He was an amazing father."

Conrad Bain appeared on Diff'rent Strokes for seven years

Bain famously played Phillip Drummond in Diff’rent Strokes. Running between 1978 and 1985, the show also starred Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as two boys from Harlem who were taken in by Bain’s character, a rich Park Avenue business man. The show sounded cutesy, but it made big stars out of its cast and also won plaudits for tackling sensitive issues such as racism, illegal drug use and child sex abuse. Bain wasn’t solely known for that role, as impressive as it was. The actor had a long career stretching right back to 1956, but among his other famous roles were Maude, in which he played Dr Arthur Harmon, a character he appeared as for some 118 episodes until 1978, at which point he made the leap to Diff’rent Strokes. Born in Alberta, Canada in 1913, he became a citizen of the United States in 1946.