‘Eight Is Enough’ actor Adam Rich dies at 54

Adam Rich, the child actor with a pageboy mop who charmed viewers in the late 1970s as “America’s little brother” in “Eight Is Enough,” has died. He was 54 years old.

Rich died Saturday in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles, Lt. Aimee Earl of the Los Angeles County Medical Coroner’s Office said. The cause of death was under investigation but was not considered suspicious.

Rich had a limited acting career after playing Nicholas Bradford, the youngest of eight children, in the hit ABC comedy-drama that ran from 1977 to 1981.

He had several run-ins with the police related to drugs and alcohol and sought treatment at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage.

Rich suffered from a type of depression that defied treatment and he had tried to erase the stigma of talking about mental illness, publicist Danny Deraney said. He unsuccessfully tried experimental remedies over the years and had remained sober.

Deraney said he and others close to Rich have been worried in recent weeks when they couldn’t reach him.

“He was just a very kind, generous, loving soul,” Deraney told The Associated Press. “Being a famous actor isn’t necessarily what he wanted to be. … He had no ego, not an ounce of it.”

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