Conrad Bain, who played wealthy widower and adoptive father Phillip Drummond on the TV comedy Diff’rent Strokes, died Monday. He was 89. Bain passed away of natural causes at his home in Livermore, CA, his daughter Jennifer Bain tells The Associated Press. Bain made his New York theater debut in 1956 as Larry Slade in The Iceman Cometh at the Circle in the Square. He eventually ventured into TV, including the role of Dr. Arthur Harmon in the comedy Maude starring Bea Arthur which aired on CBS from 1972-1978. From Maude he went on to play his most famous role on Diff’rent Strokes, as the adoptive father of two young brothers played by Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges. The series aired for seven seasons on NBC (1978-1985) and one season on ABC (1985-1986). Before his roles on Maude and Diff’rent Strokes, Bain had appeared occasionally in films, including A Lovely Way To Die, Coogan’s Bluff, The Anderson Tapes, I Never Sang For My Father and Woody Allen’s Bananas. He also played the clerk at the Collinsport Inn in the 1960s TV show Dark Shadows.


May not want to remember it as much, but I believe my recollection is that he played chief of staff to George C. Scott’s president in the short-lived “Mr. President” series in the early days of Fox.
Everyone from that show is going away. First Dana,then Gary,& now Conrad. Only have Todd Bridges & Charlotte Rae left. It’s a shame. God bless & may he rest in peace.
Great charcter actor, good bye Conrad
He had a twin brother named Boner. Seriously, look it up. Boner Bain. That’s awesome.