Conrad Stafford Bain was a Canadian actor.
His television credits include a leading role as Phillip Drummond in the sitcom Diff'rent
Strokes and as Dr. Arthur Harmon on Maude.
Personal life Conrad Bain was born in Lethbridge, Alberta,
the son of Jean Agnes and Stafford Harrison Bain, who was a wholesaler.
He studied at the Banff School of Fine Arts before serving in the Canadian Army during
World War II.
He later studied in New York at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 1948;
one of his classmates was comedian Don Rickles.
Bain became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1946.
Bain died of natural causes on January 14, 2013, in Livermore, California, three weeks
before his 90th birthday.
Family Bain had two sons and a daughter with Monica
Sloan, to whom he was married in 1945 until her death in 2009.
His identical twin brother is actor Bonar Bain, who once played Arnold Harmon, the twin
brother of Conrad’s Maude character, Dr. Arthur Harmon.
Despite a popular misconception, Conrad was not related to fellow performer Barbara Bain.
Career After a stint at the Stratford,, Shakespeare
Festival, Bain had further success as a stage actor in the 1956 Broadway revival of Eugene
O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh.
The New York Times reviewer noted that his role was “especially well acted.”
Bain’s other Broadway theatre credits include Candide, Advise and Consent, An Enemy of the
People, Uncle Vanya, and On Borrowed Time.
On Off Broadway, he appeared in the original run of Steambath.
While doing stage work in New York City, Bain also found work on television, appearing in
the soap opera Dark Shadows as the town inkeeper, Mr. Wells, during seasons 1 and 2.
His character was killed off by werewolf Chris Jennings.
In the early 1960s, Bain was one of the principal organizers of the Actors Federal Credit Union.
In an article in the Credit Union Times, he recalled that "the effort grew out of the
fact that, at least in the world of financial services, actors and other performers got
no respect and, more importantly, no access to credit."
It was at a meeting of the Actors' Equity [Union] where a member stood up and asked
why we didn’t do something about actors not being able to get any credit, much less
a mortgage or anything like that.
Someone else stood up and echoed what the first member said, pointing out that the issue
really was one of equity and actors didn’t have any when it came to the banks.
He wrote:
Remember this: no share payment is too small.
The main objective should be to establish a consistent habit of saving.
In return, you can have the security of knowing that there is a place to turn to when you
need a loan, a place where you will be met with dignity and respect, rather than suspicion
and prejudice.
Bain served as the credit union’s first president.
In the early 1970s, Bain appeared in New York–based films like Lovers and Other Strangers and
Woody Allen’s Bananas before achieving national recognition for his work in television.
He is best known for his roles as Dr. Arthur Harmon, Bea Arthur’s title character’s
conservative nemesis, who married her best friend, Vivian, in Maude and as Park Avenue
millionaire Phillip Drummond in Diff’rent Strokes, in which he adopted two African-American
orphaned boys from Harlem, Willis and Arnold, to live with him and his daughter, Kimberley,
and housekeeper, Mrs. Garrett.
In 1979, he played Phillip Drummond in an episode of The Facts of Life.
In 1996, Bain reprised his role of Phillip Drummond along with Gary Coleman as Arnold
Jackson on the series finale of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Actor 1953: Studio One .... Dr. Caldwell
1956: Studio One .... Evans 1961: The Defenders
1965: The Trials of O'Brien .... District Attorney
1966: Dark Shadows .... Hotel Clerk / ... 1967: N.Y.P.D.
.... Manager 1967: The Borgia Stick .... Lawyer
1968: A Lovely Way to Die .... James Lawrence 1968: Coogan's Bluff .... Madison Avenue Man
1968: Madigan .... Hotel clerk 1968: Star!
.... Second Salesman at Cartier's 1969: Last Summer .... Sidney
1970: I Never Sang for My Father .... Rev. Sam Pell
1970: Lovers and Other Strangers .... Priest in confessional
1970: The Edge of Night TV series .... Dr. Charles Weldon #1
1971: Bananas .... Semple 1971: Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger
Story 1971: The Anderson Tapes .... Dr. Rubicoff
1971: Who Killed Mary What's 'Er Name?
.... Val 1971: Jump .... Lester Jump
1972-1978: Maude .... Dr. Arthur Harmon 1972: A Fan's Notes .... Poppy
1972: Up the Sandbox .... Dr. Gordon 1975: Twigs .... Swede
1978-1985: The Love Boat .... Charles Custers / ...
1978-1986: Diff'rent Strokes .... Philip Drummond 1978: Grandpa Goes to Washington .... Robert
Green 1978: The Waverly Wonders .... Tate Sr.
1979: A Pleasure Doing Business .... Herb 1979: C.H.O.M.P.S.
.... Ralph Norton 1979: The Facts of Life .... Philip Drummond
1981: Child Bride of Short Creek .... Frank King
1987-1988: Mr. President .... Charlie Ross 1990: Postcards from the Edge .... Grandpa
1992: The Adventures of The Black Stallion ...Racing Legend
1996: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air .... Philip Drummond
References
External links Conrad Bain at the Internet Movie Database
Conrad Bain at the Internet Broadway Database Conrad Bain at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
Conrad Bain at AllMovie