Adam Rich, ‘Eight Is Enough’ Star, Dead at 54

Adam Rich, a former child actor who starred in the ABC series Eight is Enough, has died. He was 54. Rich played Nicholas Bradford, the youngest son of Dick Van Patten’s Tom Bradford Sr. in the family drama.

A family member told TMZ Sunday that Rich died on Saturday at his Los Angeles home. A cause of death was not revealed, but a law enforcement source told the outlet that someone found Rich “lifeless” at his home. The source said foul play is not suspected.

Rich grew up in Los Angeles and made his acting debut in a 1976 episode of The Six Million Dollar Man. He was eight years old when he was cast as Nicholas in Eight is Enough, which debuted in 1977. Rich went on to star in all 112 episodes, which ended in 1981. He also appeared in the reunion movies Eight Is Enough: A Family Reunion (1987) and An Eight Is Enough Wedding (1989).

Eight is Enough was created by William Blinn and based on the book by Tom Braden. It was set in Sacramento, where Tom Bradford is a newspaper columnist for a fictional paper. He took care of his family of eight children with his wife, Joan. Diana Hyland played Joan, while Grant Goodeve, Lani O’Grady, Laurie Walters, Susan Richardson, Diane Kay, Connie Needham, Willie Ames and Rich played their children.

Eight is Enough was produced by Lorimar Productions and was a big hit for ABC. The show was hit with tragedy partway through Season 1 when Hyland died of breast cancer. Her character was replaced by Tom’s second wife, Sandra Sue “Abby” Abbott, played by Betty Buckley. Although the show was popular when it aired, it is unavailable to stream. The series was released on DVD though. Van Patten died in 2015.

After the show was canceled in 1981, Rich appeared in a handful of other shows, including Code Red, Fantasy Island, CHiPS, Gun Shy, St. Elsewhere, Small Wonder and Silver Spoons. He made his final acting appearance in a 1993 episode of Baywatch before retreating from the Hollywood spotlight.

Rich struggled with substance abuse and legal issues during the 1990s. In 1991, he was arrested for attempted burglary of a pharmacy. Rich was arrested for suspected DUI in 2002. He also sought treatment for drug addiction in rehab.

Rich’s final Instagram post was published in August 2021, after he saw Eight is Enough was included in CNN’s The History of the Sitcom documentary. “Honored to be included! Thx [CNN]!… I’m grateful for the joy felt while working on 8!… I do hope it may have brought you some joy as well,” he wrote. “At 52… I still don’t understand complicated.” 

His final tweet offered a hopeful message to those with mental illness. “Human beings weren’t built to endure mental illness. The mere fact that some people consider those to be weak, or have a lack of will is totally laughable… because it’s the total opposite,” he wrote in September 2022. “[It] takes a very, very strong person… a warrior if you will… to battle such illnesses.”