Adam Rich, Child Actor Who Starred on ‘Eight Is Enough,’ Dead at 54 - Rolling Stone

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"He truly was America’s small brother,'" rep says of sitcom star

Adam Rich, the kid histrion who starred successful the precocious Seventies bid Eight Is Enough, has died astatine the property of 54.

Rich’s rep Danny Deraney confirmed his client’s decease Saturday connected societal media. An authoritative origin of decease is pending a scheduled autopsy, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office told NBC News.

“Adam was simply a fantastic guy,” Deraney tweeted. “He was kind, generous and a warrior successful the combat against intelligence illness. Adam did not person an ounce of ego. He was unselfish and ever looked retired for those helium cared about, which is wherefore galore radical who grew up with him consciousness similar portion of their puerility gone, and bittersweet today. He truly was America’s small brother.”

Rich was champion known playing the pageboy-haired Nicholas Bradford connected the Dick Van Patten-starring bid Eight Is Enough; Rich — with conscionable a fewer acting credits nether his loop — was conscionable 8 years aged erstwhile helium was formed arsenic the youngest of 8 Bradford siblings, a relation that earned him the nickname “America’s Little Brother.”

Following Eight Is Enough’s five-season run, Rich continued to find acting enactment successful his teens with one-off appearances similar CHiPs, The Love Boat and Silver Spoons, arsenic good arsenic a brace of late-Eighties Eight Is Enough reunion specials.

However, Rich’s consequent vocation ne'er matched his occurrence of the show, and helium faced the aforesaid idiosyncratic issues that plague galore kid actors of the era: Rich struggled with substance issues — helium astir died from a Valium overdose successful 1989 — and run-ins with the law, including an apprehension for breaking into a pharmacy successful 1991.

After fundamentally retiring from acting successful 1993 pursuing an quality connected Baywatch, Rich would sometimes resurface successful ways that touched connected his presumption arsenic a kid actor: He and others similar him cameoed arsenic themselves successful the David Space drama Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, and Rich besides willingly participated successful his ain decease hoax successful 1993 for a Dave Eggers-penned portion successful Might magazine.