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IMDbPro

Conrad Bain(1923-2013)

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Conrad Bain
A young man invents a robot dog that has super strength, x-ray vision and can detect crimes being committed. A greedy businessman tries to steal the invention from him.
Play trailer1:57
C.H.O.M.P.S. (1979)
6 Videos
99+ Photos
Usually sized up as an erudite gent, advice-spouting father or uptight, pompous neighbor, the acting talents of Conrad Bain were best utilized on stage and on TV. Born in Lethbridge, Alberta, on February 4, 1923, Conrad Stafford Bain was a twin son (the other was named Bonar) born to Stafford Harrison Bain, a wholesaler, and Jean Agnes (née Young). He enjoyed Canadian sports growing up (ice hockey, speed skating), but picked up an interest in acting while in high school.

Electing to train at Alberta's Banff School of Fine Arts after graduating, he met Monica Marjorie Sloan, an artist, while there. His acting pursuit was interrupted by WWII when he subsequently joined the Canadian army. Picking up here he left off following his discharge, he studied at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He also married Ms. Sloan in 1945 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen the following year. The couple went on to have three children -- Jennifer, Mark and Kent.

Making his stage debut in a Connecticut production of "Dear Ruth" in 1947, Bain also appeared in "Jack and the Beanstalk" and a tour of "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" before making his off-Broadway debut in a 1956 Circle-in-the-Square revival of Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh," a production that made a star out of Jason Robards. Following an inauspicious Broadway bow in "Sixth Finger in a Five Finger Glove", which closed after only one day, he joined the Stratford (Ontario) Shakespeare Festival for their 1958 season, appearing in "A Winter's Tale," "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Henry IV, Part I."

Fair in complexion and exceedingly genial in demeanor, the wry and witty blond actor graduated into other Broadway work, particularly drama, with strong roles in "Candide," "Advise and Consent," "An Enemy of the People," "Twigs" and "Uncle Vanya." He also built up his regional and repertory credits during the early 1960s with parts in "King Lear," "The Firebugs," "Death of a Salesman" and "The Shadow of Heroes" at Seattle Rep. Later in the decade he began to focus more intently on TV, usually playing cerebral, white-collar types (district attorneys, stock brokers, doctors, politicos).

Bain eventually found an "in" with daytime drama, which included a recurring role on Dark Shadows (1966) (as an innkeeper), and a part on The Edge of Night (1956) in 1970. He broke completely away, however, from his trademark dramatics when the 49-year-old actor was "discovered" for prime-time TV by Norman Lear and offered a supporting role opposite Bea Arthur and Bill Macy in Norman Lear's landmark, liberally-sliced comedy series Maude (1972), a spin-off of Lear's equally landmark All in the Family (1971) sitcom. Conrad was cast as Rue McClanahan's stuffy, conservative doctor/husband, Arthur Harmon, who usually was at political odds with free-wheeling feminist Maude Finlay.

The role moved Bain into the prime TV comedy character ranks. Following the show's lengthy run (1972-1978), he was given the green light by Lear to move into his own comedy series with Diff'rent Strokes (1978) as the wealthy father of a girl and adoptive father of two African-American children. While young Gary Coleman, the compact, precocious, mouthy dynamo, may have stolen the show, the good-humored Bain remained a strong center and voice of reason until the show's demise in 1986. Three was not a charm when Bain went into a third new comedy series, Mr. President (1987), with Conrad as a loyal aide-de-camp to "President" George C. Scott. The show, created not by Lear but by Johnny Carson, lasted only 24 episodes.

During and after his lengthy 70s and 80s TV success, Conrad would continue to return to his first love, the stage, in such productions as "Uncle Vanya," "The Owl and the Pussycat," "On Golden Pond," "The Dining Room" and "On Borrowed Time", the last being a 1992 return to Broadway after nearly two decades. Films, on the other hand, were a non-issue at this point. Earlier minor turns included Clint Eastwood's Coogan's Bluff (1968), Gene Hackman's I Never Sang for My Father (1970), Woody Allen's Bananas (1971), Sean Connery's The Anderson Tapes (1971) and Barbra Streisand's Up the Sandbox (1972). His last stop in films was an engaging part as a befuddled grandpa opposite the perennially crusty Mary Wickes in Postcards from the Edge (1990) starring Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine. One of Bain's last on-camera appearances was recreating his Phillip Drummond role from Diff'rent Strokes (1978) on a 1996 episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air".

Other than a stage role in "Ancestral Voices" in 2000, Conrad turned for a time to screen-writing but later comfortably retired to the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. Moving to a Livermore California retirement home in 2008, wife Monica died a year later. Bain passed away there quietly of natural causes on January 14, 2013, less than a month short of his 90th birthday. His twin brother Bonar died in 2005.
BornFebruary 4, 1923
DiedJanuary 14, 2013(89)
BornFebruary 4, 1923
DiedJanuary 14, 2013(89)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 3 nominations

Photos128

Margaret Hamilton, Conrad Bain, Judith Lowry, and Paula Trueman in The Anderson Tapes (1971)
Walter Matthau, Conrad Bain, Mildred Clinton, David Doyle, Graham Jarvis, Elaine May, Jess Osuna, Fred Stewart, Jack Weston, and Cindy Rubenfine in A New Leaf (1971)
Conrad Bain and Gary Coleman in Diff'rent Strokes (1978)
Todd Bridges, Conrad Bain, Gary Coleman, and Charlotte Rae in Diff'rent Strokes (1978)
Todd Bridges, Conrad Bain, and Gary Coleman in Diff'rent Strokes (1978)
Conrad Bain and Gary Coleman in Diff'rent Strokes (1978)
Bonar Bain, Conrad Bain, and Dana Plato in Diff'rent Strokes (1978)
Conrad Bain, Dixie Carter, Gary Coleman, Danny Cooksey, Shavar Ross, Nikki Swasey Seaton, and Emily Yancy in Diff'rent Strokes (1978)
Todd Bridges, Conrad Bain, Gary Coleman, Dana Plato, and Nedra Volz in Diff'rent Strokes (1978)
Hoyt Axton, Conrad Bain, Gary Coleman, and Danny Cooksey in Diff'rent Strokes (1978)
Conrad Bain and Gary Coleman in Diff'rent Strokes (1978)
Conrad Bain, Gary Coleman, and Dana Plato in Diff'rent Strokes (1978)

Known for:

Bea Arthur in Maude (1972)
Maude
7.3
TV Series
  • Dr. Arthur Harmon
Diff'rent Strokes (1978)
Diff'rent Strokes
6.6
TV Series
  • Philip Drummond
Dark Shadows (1966)
Dark Shadows
8.1
TV Series
  • Hotel Clerk
  • Mr. Wells, the clerk at the Collinsport Inn
Bananas (1971)
Bananas
6.9
  • Semple
  • 1971

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Poppy Montgomery in Unforgettable (2011)
    Unforgettable
    • Priest (uncredited)
    • TV Series
    • 2011
  • Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990)
    The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
    • Philip Drummond
    • TV Series
    • 1996
  • The New Adventures of the Black Stallion (1990)
    The New Adventures of the Black Stallion
    • TV Series
    • 1993
  • Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep in Postcards from the Edge (1990)
    Postcards from the Edge
    • Grandpa
    • 1990
  • George C. Scott and Carlin Glynn in Mr. President (1987)
    Mr. President
    • Charlie Ross
    • TV Series
    • 1987–1988
  • Diff'rent Strokes (1978)
    Diff'rent Strokes
    • Philip Drummond
    • TV Series
    • 1978–1986
  • Fred Grandy, Bernie Kopell, Ted Lange, Gavin MacLeod, and Lauren Tewes in The Love Boat (1977)
    The Love Boat
    • Charles Custers
    • Leslie Campbell
    • Les
    • TV Series
    • 1978–1985
  • Helen Hunt and Diane Lane in Child Bride of Short Creek (1981)
    Child Bride of Short Creek
    • Frank King
    • TV Movie
    • 1981
  • The Comedy Shop (1978)
    The Comedy Shop
    • TV Series
    • 1980
  • Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox in CHiPs (1977)
    CHiPs
    • Conrad Bain (uncredited)
    • TV Series
    • 1980
  • Valerie Bertinelli, Red Buttons, and Conrad Bain in C.H.O.M.P.S. (1979)
    C.H.O.M.P.S.
    • Ralph Norton
    • 1979
  • A Pleasure Doing Business (1979)
    A Pleasure Doing Business
    • Herb
    • 1979
  • McLean Stevenson in Hello, Larry (1979)
    Hello, Larry
    • Philip Drummond
    • TV Series
    • 1979
  • Nancy McKeon, Kim Fields, Mindy Cohn, Charlotte Rae, and Lisa Whelchel in The Facts of Life (1979)
    The Facts of Life
    • Philip Drummond
    • TV Series
    • 1979
  • Grandpa Goes to Washington (1978)
    Grandpa Goes to Washington
    • Robert Green
    • TV Series
    • 1978

Soundtrack

  • Bea Arthur in Maude (1972)
    Maude
    • performer: "We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line", "Girls", "America, I Love You"
    • TV Series
    • 1973

Videos6

Trailer
Trailer 1:57
Trailer
Maude
Trailer 0:57
Maude
Diff'rent Strokes
Trailer 0:59
Diff'rent Strokes
Maude
Trailer 0:58
Maude
Diff'rent Strokes: Season 5
Trailer 1:56
Diff'rent Strokes: Season 5
Diff'rent Strokes
Trailer 0:52
Diff'rent Strokes

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative name
    • Conrad & Monica
  • Height
    • 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
  • Born
    • February 4, 1923
    • Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
  • Died
    • January 14, 2013
    • Livermore, California, USA(undisclosed)
  • Spouse
    • Monica SloanSeptember 4, 1945 - February 26, 2009 (her death, 3 children)
  • Other works
    Stage: King of Hesse/Very, very old inquisitor/Captain in "Candide", on Broadway 12/1/56-2/2/57.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Portrayal
    • 2 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    He has an identical twin brother named Bonar Bain

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