Actor Adam Rich, 54, of ‘Eight is Enough,’ has passed away
Adam Rich, who passed away recently, played the youngest of eight children on the ABC sitcom “Eight is Enough” in the 1970s and early 1980s. He was 54.
According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, Rich was discovered deceased in his home on Saturday.
No immediate information on the cause of death was available, but an autopsy has been ordered.
The LAPD has released a statement to City News Service, according to a department official. There are no signs of foul play, thus the death is being treated as natural.
Although he was born in Brooklyn, Rich spent much of his childhood in the San Fernando Valley town of Granada Hills. Starring as Nicholas Bradford in the hit series “Eight is Enough” from 1977–1981, he became a household name. Rich’s “pageboy” hairstyle became trendy, with many kids trying to copy his style.
The sitcom followed the lives of the eight children of Dick Van Patton’s newspaper columnist character.
Rich had appearances on other popular TV shows of the time, such as “Fantasy Island,” “The Love Boat,” and “CHiPs.” He was in 13 episodes of the 1981–82 ABC drama “Code Red.”
He was arrested in 1991 for breaking into a pharmacy to steal drugs and again in 2002 for driving under the influence, and his acting career declined thereafter.
In his final Instagram post, dated 2021, Rich reflected on his inclusion in CNN’s “History of the Sitcom” retrospective, which honoured the cultural impact of classic sitcoms in the United States.