Conrad Bain Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Conrad Bain
OCCUPATION: Television Actor
BIRTH DATE: February 04, 1923
DEATH DATE: January 14, 2013
EDUCATION: Banff School of Fine Arts, American Academy of Dramatic Arts
PLACE OF BIRTH: Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
PLACE OF DEATH: Livermore, California
Full Name: Conrad Stafford Bain
AKA: Conrad Bain

Best Known For

Conrad Bain was a Canadian-American actor best known for his role as Philip Drummond on the hit show Diff'rent Strokes.

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Conrad Bain

APA Style

Conrad Bain. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 03:01, May 21, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/conrad-bain-21100317.

Harvard Style

Conrad Bain. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/conrad-bain-21100317 [Accessed 21 May 2013].

MLA Style

"Conrad Bain." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 21 2013, 03:01 http://www.biography.com/people/conrad-bain-21100317.

MHRA Style

"Conrad Bain," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/conrad-bain-21100317 [accessed May 21, 2013].

Chicago Style

"Conrad Bain," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/conrad-bain-21100317 (accessed May 21, 2013).

CBE/CSE Style

Conrad Bain [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 21] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/conrad-bain-21100317.

Bluebook Style

Conrad Bain, http://www.biography.com/people/conrad-bain-21100317 (last visited May 21, 2013).

AMA Style

Conrad Bain. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/conrad-bain-21100317. Accessed May 21, 2013.

Synopsis

Born in Canada in 1923, actor Conrad Bain is best known for playing Philip Drummond on the popular television series Diff'rent Strokes. After serving in the Canadian army during World War II, Bain studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. He later appeared on the All in the Family spin-off Maude (1972-1978) as Dr. Arthur Harmon,

Quotes

"I'm really indulging myself with the kids. I guess that's the way with grandfathers—you can have fun with them."

– Conrad Bain

the comically uptight neighbor of title character Maude Findlay (Bea Arthur). Bain's big break came in '78, when he was cast alongside Charlotte Rae (Edna Garrett), Dana Plato (Kimberly Drummond), Todd Bridges (Willis Jackson) and fan-favorite Gary Coleman (Arnold Jackson) on Diff'rent Strokes. The show was an instant hit, airing for eight seasons before it was canceled in 1986. Bain died in California on January 14, 2013, at age 89.

Early Life and Career

Conrad Stafford Bain, best known for his role as Philip Drummond on the hit show Diff'rent Strokes, was born on February 4, 1923, in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. He was raised in Alberta, along with twin brother Bonar, by parents jean Young and Stafford Bain. Bain attended high school in Calgary, and after graduating, enrolled at the Banff School of Fine Arts. Instead of pursuing a college education, however, he enlisted in the Canadian army during World War II.

Discharged from the army, in 1948, Bain decided to pursue his long-held aspirations to become an actor (while he first became interested in the performance arts as a high school student, he didn't seriously consider an acting career until this time). He moved to New York, where he enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Beginning to land small parts on television and on stage while attending the school, Bain made his acting debut in New York in 1956, playing Larry Slade in the play The Iceman Cometh, penned by Eugene O'Neill.

'Diff'rent Strokes'

In the early 1970s, Bain landed a part on the All in the Family spin-off Maude. He played Dr. Arthur Harmon, the comically uptight neighbor of title character Maude Findlay (Bea Arthur) on the show, which aired on CBS from 1972 to '78.

Bain's big break came in 1978, when he was cast on a new TV sitcom, Diff'rent Strokes. He played the wealthy, New York City-based benefactor Philip Drummond on the show, starring alongside Todd Bridges and fan-favorite Gary Coleman. The show's storyline centers on the lives of two African-American orphans, Willis (Bridges) and Arnold (Coleman) Jackson, who are taken in by Drummond and his daughter, Kimberly (Dana Plato). Actress Charlotte Rae played (Edna Garrett) on the series, which was an instant hit.

Bain, whose naturally authoritative yet pleasant demeanor resonated with viewers, was a perfect fit for the father-figure role of Drummond. On casting the actor, former NBC executive Fred Silverman explained, "[Bain] was kind of aristocratic and bearing. It was just that the combination of him and Gary Coleman was magic."