Adam Rich, child star from Eight is Enough, dead at 54

Adam Rich, the little actor with the pageboy haircut who wowed TV audiences as the youngest child in the Eight is Enough, died on Saturday. He is 54 years old.

Rich died at his home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles, said Lt. Aimee Earl of the Los Angeles County Medical-Examiner Coroner’s office. The cause of death is under investigation but is not being treated as suspicious.

Rich had a limited acting career after being cast at the age of eight as Nicholas Bradford, the youngest of eight children, in the hit ABC drama that ran from 1977 to 1981.

Betty Buckley, who played the show’s stepmother, said on Instagram that she was shocked to learn of his death on Sunday and called Rich a light, a young friend on set and a friend ever since.

“I love him and love working with him,” Buckley said. “She’s so sweet, funny, fresh and natural. She brings joy to all of us on the show and the audience.”

Corey Feldman and Todd Bridges, child actors who also suffered end-of-life struggles, expressed their condolences on social media.

‘A generous, loving soul’

Rich’s public life after stardom was similar to that of other child actors whose promising careers were later ruined by drugs and alcohol, and run-ins with the law.

He was arrested for driving under the influence in 2002 after nearly striking a parked California Highway Patrol cruiser on a freeway closed for maintenance. He was arrested in April 1991 for trying to break into a pharmacy, and in October of that year for allegedly stealing syringes filled with medicine from a hospital where he was being treated for a dislocated shoulder.

Rich suffered from depression and unsuccessfully tried experimental treatment for years, said publicist Danny Deraney. She said she and others close to Rich have been worried in recent weeks when they have been unable to reach him.

“He was just a kind, generous, loving soul,” Deraney told The Associated Press. “Being a famous actor is not always what you want… He has no ego, not one ounce of it.”

Rich has discussed his mental health on social media and noted in October that he has been struggling for seven years. He says he’s not perfect — citing arrests, numerous rehabs, multiple overdoses and countless detoxes and relapses — and implores his nearly 19,000 followers not to give up.

Rich is the sister of a generation of TV viewers as the eldest son of a newspaper columnist played by Dick Van Patten, who had to raise eight children only after his wife on the show – and the actress who played her – died during the filming of the first season.

But the balance of his acting career was in one-episode appearances as a youth or young adult in some of the most popular TV shows of the time: The Love Boat, The Six Million Dollar Man, Silver spoonand Baywatch.

Rich starred in the series Code Red from 1981-82 and voiced the character Presto Magician Dungeons & Dragons from 1983-85, according to IMDB.com. He reprized his most famous role in both Eight is Enough TV movie reunion.

Rich made a cameo appearance as himself in 2003 Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star starring David Spade.