January 31, 2013
A Cheery Christmas Tale
A Christmas Home by Greg Kincaid is perfect December reading. This book is a great way to escape the hectic pace of the holidays. It is filled with both goodness and happy endings. The story is about an animal shelter that may be forced to close due to the struggling economy. Todd, who has a disability, works at the shelter. This is a sequel to the equally fine book A Dog Named Christmas. Both books deserve your time.
January 17, 2013
Conrad Bain, Father on ‘Diff’rent Strokes’, Dies at 89
Conrad Bain, an accomplished stage and film actor who was best known for a late-career role on television as the white adoptive father of two poor black boys on the long-running comedy “Diff’rent Strokes,” died on Monday in Livermore, Calif. He was 89.
Mr. Bain had been familiar to television viewers as Dr. Arthur Harmon, a neighbor of Bea Arthur’s title character on “Maude,” when he joined the cast of “Diff’rent Strokes” in 1978, the beginning of an eight-season run. He played Phillip Drummond, a wealthy Manhattan widower who had promised his dying housekeeper, who was black and lived in Harlem, that he would rear her sons, Arnold (Gary Coleman) and Willis (Todd Bridges).
Conrad Stafford Bain was born on Feb. 4, 1923, in Lethbridge, Alberta, in Canada. He attended the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta and served as a sergeant in the Canadian Army from 1943 to 1946. He then moved to New York, where he graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
He spent much of the next 30 years in the theater, making his New York debut Off Broadway in 1956 in “The Iceman Cometh.” In 1971 he appeared in Ibsen’s “Enemy of the People” by the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center.
Besides his daughter Jennifer, he is survived by two sons, Mark and Kent, and a twin brother, Bonar. His wife of more than 60 years, the abstract painter and art collector Monica Bain (born Monica Sloan), died in 2009.
The three child actors who starred alongside Mr. Bain on “Diff’rent Strokes” struggled in their private lives with substance abuse and legal and financial problems. Mr. Coleman died in 2010 at 42. Ms. Plato died of a drug overdose in 1999 at 34. Mr. Bridges was acquitted of attempted murder in 1990.
Mr. Bridges, who remained in contact with Mr. Bain, said in a statement that “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.”
Mr. Bain had been familiar to television viewers as Dr. Arthur Harmon, a neighbor of Bea Arthur’s title character on “Maude,” when he joined the cast of “Diff’rent Strokes” in 1978, the beginning of an eight-season run. He played Phillip Drummond, a wealthy Manhattan widower who had promised his dying housekeeper, who was black and lived in Harlem, that he would rear her sons, Arnold (Gary Coleman) and Willis (Todd Bridges).
Conrad Stafford Bain was born on Feb. 4, 1923, in Lethbridge, Alberta, in Canada. He attended the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta and served as a sergeant in the Canadian Army from 1943 to 1946. He then moved to New York, where he graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
He spent much of the next 30 years in the theater, making his New York debut Off Broadway in 1956 in “The Iceman Cometh.” In 1971 he appeared in Ibsen’s “Enemy of the People” by the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center.
Besides his daughter Jennifer, he is survived by two sons, Mark and Kent, and a twin brother, Bonar. His wife of more than 60 years, the abstract painter and art collector Monica Bain (born Monica Sloan), died in 2009.
The three child actors who starred alongside Mr. Bain on “Diff’rent Strokes” struggled in their private lives with substance abuse and legal and financial problems. Mr. Coleman died in 2010 at 42. Ms. Plato died of a drug overdose in 1999 at 34. Mr. Bridges was acquitted of attempted murder in 1990.
Mr. Bridges, who remained in contact with Mr. Bain, said in a statement that “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.”
January 11, 2013
Maureen O'Hara to Attend John Wayne Birthday Celebration
The John Wayne Birthplace is thrilled to announce that Irish-American screen legend Maureen O'Hara and her family will be joining us in Winterset, Iowa on May 24 & 25, 2013 for our annual John Wayne Birthday Celebration. O'Hara, who starred with Wayne in Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, The Wings of Eagles, McLintock! and Big Jake, considered Duke her best friend and, in this public farewell to her legions of fans, she'll discuss their life-long friendship.
The two-day event will feature all aspects of Wayne's film career including roles as/in U.S. Cavalry, cowboys, World War II and, of course, Ireland. In tribute to Miss O'Hara, this year's dinner gala will reprise many of the highlights of last year's Quiet Man celebration: music from the classic film performed by Irish songstress Catherine O'Connell; Chicago's Shannon Rovers Pipes and Drums; and world champion Irish dancers; the Fabulous McKay Sisters.
For more information, visit www.johnwaynebirthplace.org.
The two-day event will feature all aspects of Wayne's film career including roles as/in U.S. Cavalry, cowboys, World War II and, of course, Ireland. In tribute to Miss O'Hara, this year's dinner gala will reprise many of the highlights of last year's Quiet Man celebration: music from the classic film performed by Irish songstress Catherine O'Connell; Chicago's Shannon Rovers Pipes and Drums; and world champion Irish dancers; the Fabulous McKay Sisters.
For more information, visit www.johnwaynebirthplace.org.
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