Diff'rent Strokes star dies

'A father figure on and off screen'

Diff'rent Strokes star Conrad Bain has died at the age of 89.

The actor played Phillip Drummond, the rich white businessman who adopted two poor black Harlem kids, for seven years.

His daughter Jennifer led tributes to her father, saying: 'He was an amazing person. He was a lot like Mr Drummond, but much more interesting in real life. He was an amazing father.'

And Todd Bridges, who played his adopted TV son Willis, said: 'In addition to being a positive and supportive father figure both on and off-screen, Conrad was well-loved and made going to work each day enjoyable for all of us. He will be missed, but never forgotten.'

Diff'rent Strokes ran for 189 episodes from November 1978 to March 1986, switching networks from NBC to ABC for the last two of its eight seasons, and was unafraid to tackle serious issues.

Theatrically trained Bain acted as the straight man to Bridges and Gary Coleman, who played the other adopted son Arnold and died in 2010 at the age of 42.

Born in Canada, one of two identical twins, Bain studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where his classmates included comic Don Rickles. His other credits include the Bea Arthur sitcom Maude, which ran for six years before Diff'rent Strokes.

In 1999, Bain said sitcoms had lost their edge, saying: ‘I think they got off the track when they first hired a stand-up comic to do the lead. Instead of people creating real situations, you get people trying to act funny.'