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1-11 of 11
- Actor
- Soundtrack
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.- She was already a star with a number of films made in Spain, when she moved her residence to Mexico in 1957. There, she would know enormous success in film and television due to her beauty and good acting.
- Bob Oxenbould was an actor, known for Welcome to Woop Woop (1997). He was married to Janice Oxenbould. He died on 14 January 2013 in Manly Hospital, New South Wales, Australia.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Gordon Löwenadler was born on 8 November 1925 in Harrow, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for A Love Story (1970), 13 Demon Street (1959) and Foreign Intrigue (1951). He died on 14 January 2013 in Rönninge, Salem, Sweden.- Prospero Gallinari was born on 1 January 1951 in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. He died on 14 January 2013 in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
- Editorial Department
Lou Cangiano was born on 20 August 1956 in Staten Island, New York, USA. Lou is known for Slow Dancing in the Big City (1978), Aisle Six (1992) and King Crab (1980). Lou was married to Izumi. Lou died on 14 January 2013 in Bayonne, New Jersey, USA.- Tanya Angus died on 14 January 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
- Costume Designer
Connie Wexler was a costume designer, known for Search for Tomorrow (1951) and 3-2-1 Contact (1980). Connie died on 14 January 2013 in New York, USA.- Armando Guevara Ochoa was born on 17 February 1926 in Cuzco, Peru. Armando was a composer, known for Kukuli (1961). Armando died on 14 January 2013 in Lima, Peru.
- A native of Columbia, Missouri, after the end of World War II, Hatton came to California and began acting in college productions and local theatre in the Santa Barbara area. In the early 1950's, he began pursuing a career in motion pictures. While opportunities were slowly emerging for black actors in non-stereotypical roles, because of his very light complexion he was often passed over in favor of his darker-skinned peers such as Sidney Poitier and Greg Morris for parts. He also didn't have the opportunity to play other ethnic types like Frank Silvera, who was often cast as Latinos and occasionally, Asians. After small roles in two films, Hatton gave up acting in the mid-1960's, and found work as an executive for CBS and NBC. From 1968 to 1986, he worked as censor for NBC.
- Felix Lavilla was born on 11 June 1928 in Pamplona, Navarre, Spain. He was married to Teresa Berganza. He died on 14 January 2013 in Madrid, Spain.