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Adam Rich, youngest kid on TV show ‘Eight is Enough,’ dies at 54
The Industry Jan 09, 2023
Adam Rich in 1977 when he co-starrred in the TV show "Eight Is Enough." | Photo courtesy of American Broadcasting Company/Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
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Adam Rich, who played the youngest of eight children on the ABC series “Eight is Enough” in the late 1970s and early ’80s, died at his Los Angeles-area home at the age of 54, it was reported Sunday.
Rich was found dead at his home on Saturday, according to TMZ, which was the first to report the news.
No cause of death was immediately available, but a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department told City News Service it was a coroner’s case and believed to be a natural death with no foul play suspected.
Rich was born in Brooklyn but grew up in Granada Hills. He gained fame for his role as Nicholas Bradford on “Eight is Enough,” which ran from 1977-81. Rich was noted for his “pageboy’ haircut, which was widely imitated by other children for a while. The show centered on a family of eight children whose father was a newspaper columnist played by Dick Van Patton.
Rich had guest spots on other TV shows during the era, including “Fantasy Island,” “The Love Boat” and “CHiPs.” He appeared on 13 episodes of the ABC drama “Code Red” that ran from 1981-82.
In later years his acting roles decreased and he experienced problems with drug use, including a 1991 arrest for breaking into a pharmacy to steal drugs, and a 2002 DUI arrest.
