Adam Rich, who played Nicholas, the youngest child, on Eight Is Enough, died January 7 at home in Los Angeles. He was 54. No cause of death has been reported.
Rich’s publicist, Danny Deraney, described Rich as “kind, generous and a warrior in the fight against mental illness” on Twitter. He also called him “America’s Little Brother.”
Deraney also shared that Rich had suffered from depression.
ABC drama Eight Is Enough ran from 1977 to 1981 and was about a family with eight children. Nicholas was the youngest, always with a distinctive pageboy haircut. Dick Van Patten played the father and Diana Hyland played the mother. When Hyland died during season one, Van Patten’s Tom eventually married Abby, played by Betty Buckley.
Rich was born in Brooklyn and studied acting at Chatsworth High School in California’s San Fernando Valley. His credits included The Six Million Dollar Man, The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. His last TV credit was Baywatch in 1993, according to CNN.
Rich was not married and did not have children. ■
