Conrad Bain

Conrad Stafford Bain (February 4, 1923 – January 14, 2013) was a Canadian-American actor born in Lethbridge, Alberta, to Jean Agnes (née Young) and Stafford Harrison Bain, a wholesaler. He was an identical twin with actor Bonar Bain. His Broadway career spanned from 1956 to 1991, and he became widely recognized for leading roles in American television sitcoms.

Bain's early exposure to performance came during his senior year of high school, when he appeared in a play for the first time. He subsequently studied at the Banff School of Fine Arts and served in the Canadian Army during World War II. After becoming a naturalized United States citizen in 1946, he enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, graduating in 1948. Among his classmates there was comedian Don Rickles. He went on to work at the Stratford Festival in Canada before pursuing a stage career in New York.

His Broadway work began in 1956 with a revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, in which The New York Times noted his role was especially well acted. That same year he performed in Candide at the Martin Beck Theatre, a run that continued into 1957. He appeared in Advise and Consent in 1961, Hogan's Goat in 1965, The Kitchen in 1966, and Scuba Duba in 1967. His Broadway credits also included The Makropoulos Secret, The Family Reunion, An Enemy of the People, in which he performed in 1971, and Uncle Vanya, performed in 1973. In 1970, he took part in the original Off-Broadway run of Steambath. His final Broadway production was On Borrowed Time, performed in 1991 and 1992.

On television, Bain appeared in the cult supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows in 1966, playing the town innkeeper Mr. Wells during seasons one and two until the character was killed. Producer Norman Lear cast him as Dr. Arthur Harmon in Maude, a role he held from 1972 to 1978. The character served as the conservative nemesis of Bea Arthur's title character and eventually married her best friend Vivian. His performance in Maude led to his casting as Park Avenue millionaire Phillip Drummond in Diff'rent Strokes, which ran from 1978 to 1986. Drummond adopted two African-American orphaned brothers from Harlem, Willis and Arnold, who came to live with him, his daughter Kimberly, and housekeeper Mrs. Garrett. In 1979, Bain reprised the role of Drummond in an episode of The Facts of Life, and in 1996 he appeared alongside Gary Coleman in the series finale of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, again as Phillip Drummond. From 1987 to 1988, he starred as Charlie Ross in the political sitcom Mr. President.

His film work included Lovers and Other Strangers in 1970 and Woody Allen's Bananas in 1971. Off the stage and screen, Bain was one of the principal organizers of the Actors Federal Credit Union in 1962, an effort inspired by an actor who had been unable to obtain credit at a local department store. Bain served as the credit union's first president.

In 1945, Bain married Monica Sloan (1923–2009), with whom he had two sons and a daughter. They remained married until her death in 2009. Bain died from a stroke on January 14, 2013, in Livermore, California, at the age of 89, and his body was cremated.