Adam Rich: The Former Child Star of TV's "Eight is Enough" and the Cause of His Tragic Death.

Overview

He was best known as the beloved character Nicolas Bradford on the classic TV family series,Eight is Enough. But in January of 2023, Adam Rich died at only 54 years old. And now the cause of his demise is finally confirmed. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's report obtained byTMZ.com, Rich passed away due to an accidental overdose of fentanyl.

A Closer Look

Although the L.A. County Medical Examiner said that Adam Rich's death was due to opioid, the report said the former child star's body also had non-toxic elements of alcohol and lorazepama drug prescribed for anxiety.

Danny Deraney, who was the actor's representative,confirmed his client's cause of death toE! News. In doing so, Deraney also mentioned that the lorazepam was prescribed by Rich's physician and that Rich had not been utilizing drugs "for quite some time."

"If there is any silver lining, it's that our suspicions were correct that it was an accidental overdose from fentanyl and not recreational drugs," Deraney toldE! News.

Conclusion

The sad and tragic death of Adam Rich adds to the long list of former child stars - from the television, film, and music industries - who experienced various life trials and tribulations into adulthood. Those include Gary Coleman and Dana Plato, both from TV'sDiff'rent Strokessitcom, Jack Wild, from Saturday morning TV'sH.R. Pufnstufshow, and Rusty Hamer, from TV'sMake Room For Dannysitcom, among too many others who died too young and too troubled.

[Note: Unless otherwise indicated, certain facts and information in this article were resourced from various entertainment news and media outlets including Britannica.com, History.com, HollywoodReporter.com, IMDb.com, Variety.com, and Wikipedia.org.]