Conrad Bain

American actor who tackled taboo subjects in the sitcom Diff'rent StrokesThe actor Conrad Bain, who has died aged 89, found fame in middle age in the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978-86). As Phillip Drummond, a white millionaire who fosters, then adopts, two orphaned black brothers, Bain was the straight man to the diminutive, wisecracking Gary Coleman, who played Arnold, the younger of the two boys. When his one-time housekeeper dies, the kindly widower Drummond takes Arnold and his brother, Willis (Todd Bridges), from their Harlem ghetto to his luxury Manhattan penthouse and brings them up with his daughter, Kimberly (Dana Plato).Diff'rent Strokes tackled racial issues with humour and was courageous in confronting taboo subjects such as drugs, bulimia, sexual assault and paedophilia. The sitcom was devised as a vehicle for both Coleman, who had been spotted in television commercials, and Bain, following his co-starring role in the series Maude (1972-78) as Dr Arthur Harmon, the stuffy, conservative neighbour of the much-married title character, played by Bea Arthur.Bain outlived two of his three screen children from Diff'rent Strokes. Coleman, who faced charges of assault and disorderly conduct, died of a brain haemorrhage aged 42; Plato died of a drug overdose aged 34. Bridges underwent treatment for drug addiction. Bain told interviewers that he found it difficult to talk about the trio's troubles because of his love for them.Bain and his twin brother, Bonar, were born in L...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: The Guardian Obituaries World news Nuclear weapons Science Source Type: news