Brock Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Noooooooooo! Conrad Bain was one of my very favourites. :( :( R.I.P. Dr. Harmon. From CBC News: Diff'rent Strokes actor Conrad Bain dies at 89 Canadian-born actor played on stage and screen Conrad Bain, the Canadian-born actor who played the adoptive father of two young African-American brothers in Diff'rent Strokes, has died. He was 89. Bain died Monday of natural causes in Livermore, Calif., according to his daughter, Jennifer Bain. Lethbridge, Alta.-born Bain had a stage and screen career that included the role of uptight neighbor Dr. Arthur Harmon on 1970s series Maude. On screen, he often was cast in the role of the erudite gentleman or kindly father. In Diff'rent Strokes, which debuted 1978 and starred the late Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges, he was the straight man to Coleman’s comedian. Bain didn't mind being overshadowed by the focus on the show's children. He praised Coleman and Bridges as natural talents without egos. Diff'rent Strokes is remembered partly for its child stars' adult troubles, which Bain sometimes discussed in interviews as he continued to be involved in their lives. Coleman had financial and legal problems in addition to continuing ill health from the kidney disease that stunted his growth. Bridges and Dana Plato, who played Bain's teenage daughter, both had arrest records and drug problems. Plato died of an overdose in 1999 at age 34. Bridges started to put his drug troubles behind him in the early 1990s, telling Jet magazine that Bain had become like a real father to him. Born Feb. 4, 1923, Bain studied at the Banff School of Fine Arts and served in the Canadian army during the Second World War. He had a twin brother Bonar, who once played a fictional "evil" twin to him on an SCTV episode. Conrad Bain studied at the American Academy of Fine Arts in New York, with classmates such as Charles Durning and Don Rickles. He had stage roles in New York in The Iceman Cometh, Candide, Advise and Consent, An Enemy of the People and Uncle Vanya, according to IMDB. In 1958, he played at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in A Winter's Tale, Much Ado About Nothing and Henry IV, Part I. He acted with a Seattle repertory company before moving into television in the late 1950s. He returned to the stage frequently throughout his life. His TV career began on the New York-shot soap opera Dark Shadows, where he was eaten by a werewolf. He also had a role in The Edge of Night before his first significant series TV role in Maude. That part as Rue McClanahan's stuffy, conservative doctor/husband marked him as a comedy actor and led to Diff'rent Strokes and later Mr. President, also starring George C. Scott. He had minor roles in films such as Woody Allen's Bananas (1971), Sean Connery's The Anderson Tapes (1971), Barbra Streisand's Up the Sandbox (1972) and Postcards from the Edge (1990). One of his last on-camera appearances was reprising his Philip Drummond role from Diff'rent Strokes on a 1996 episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Bain married artist Monica Marjorie Sloane in 1945 and they had three children. Monica died in 2009 and Bain is survived by children Jennifer, Kent and Mark. http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2013/01/16/conrad-bain-obit.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted January 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 One of my favourite Arthur and Vivian episodes (featuring Conrad's real-life twin brother Bonar): "Dear, Dear, Vivian..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryCarter Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 He was so terrific on Maude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Did he ever work with Lucy on anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted January 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Did he ever work with Lucy on anything? Not to my knowledge, but he did play Mary Wickes' husband in Postcards from The Edge, featuring Gary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Not to my knowledge, but he did play Mary Wickes' husband in Postcards from The Edge, featuring Gary. Thank you, it was driving me nuts, i knew he had some kind of connection to her, of course, POSTCARDS, one of my fave movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharon Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 I haven't seen much of Maude, but I liked Diff'rent Strokes as a kid. RIP! Did he ever work with Lucy on anything? I entered their names in IMDb's "Two People Working Together" search and the only title it pulled up was "The 33rd Annual Emmy Awards (1981 TV Special). They were presenters in different categories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted January 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Adrienne Barbosom on Facebook: Conrad Bain was my mentor, my friend, and my surrogate father. One of the finest men I've been blessed to have in my life. I miss you, Connie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 I haven't seen much of Maude, but I liked Diff'rent Strokes as a kid. RIP! I entered their names in IMDb's "Two People Working Together" search and the only title it pulled up was "The 33rd Annual Emmy Awards (1981 TV Special). They were presenters in different categories. Ok, well, if we start counting all talk shows, award shows and so on, then everybody has worked with everybody at one point or another, LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 16, 2013 Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 Adrienne Barbosom on Facebook: Awwwwwwwwwww, isn't that nice. I think i liked him more in Maude as it was sometimes a funny show, Different Strokes was a whole different matter, but i watched it a few times anyway i'm sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyImHome Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 :rip: This is the only place he seems to be remembered more for Maude than Diff"rent Strokes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 :rip: This is the only place he seems to be remembered more for Maude than Diff"rent Strokes! Bea Arthur has star power beyond the grave. Poor Gary Coleman came up short i fear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted January 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 A very nice tribute to Conrad from Todd Bridges in the Hollywood Reporter: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/todd-bridges-tv-dad-conrad-413102 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryCarter Posted January 19, 2013 Report Share Posted January 19, 2013 It looks like Antenna TV is having a Maude/Diff'rent Strokes marathon in memory of Conrad today (Saturday). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted January 19, 2013 Report Share Posted January 19, 2013 It looks like Antenna TV is having a Maude/Diff'rent Strokes marathon in memory of Conrad today (Saturday). Coolness! Well ....for the Maude half, that is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harrison Posted January 28, 2013 Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 I was first introduced to this actor through Maude and later with Diff'rent Strokes. I will always remember him as Mr. Drummond ... the loving father to Arnold, Willis, and Kimberly. He was so well-suited for that particular role. Nevertheless, he will be missed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 I was just thinking, another actor who did not make the In Memoriam list at the Oscars, he was in Postcards from the edge with Mary Wickes playing his wife, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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