Whatever Happened To: The Cast Of "Eight Is Enough"





Now that Betty Buckley has signed on to do the touring show of Hello, Dolly! this gives us a perfect excuse to look back at one of the best family shows from the 70's that she starred on, Eight Is Enough (and yes, eight is enough to fill our lives with love)


The series that ran on ABC from March 15, 1977 until May 23, 1981 was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Thomas Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book by the same title.  For the series, Dick Van Patten played Tom Bradford, a newspaper columnist for the fictional Sacramento Register. His wife Joan (Diana Hyland) took care of the children..but she was only in four episodes before falling ill. She died soon after, and her character's death was written into the script.  She was dating John Travolta at the time after she played his mother in The Boy In The Plastic Bubble.


The second season began in the fall of 1977 with the revelation that Tom had become a widower. Tom fell in love with Sandra Sue "Abby" Abbott played by Betty Buckley, a schoolteacher who came to the house to tutor Tommy when he broke his leg in a football game. They were married in one of the series' TV movie broadcasts on November 9, 1977. 


My favorites on the show were always Susan, who got married to Meryl the Pearl...who went on to General Hospital fame and pre Karate Kid Ralph Macchio.


Fun fact...in the pilot, the role of David was played by Mark Hamill, but Hamill sought to get out of his 5-year contract on Eight Is Enough to take the opportunity to star in George Lucas' Star Wars. Lorimar Productions granted his request and the role was re-cast with Grant Goodeve....who later went on to star in Dynasty as Steven's lover...and lawyer Chris Deegan.
So whatever happened to everyone?



When Dick Van Patten passed away, the cast members got together to remember him and took this pic:


They reunion included (from L to R) Willie Aames, Dianne Kay, Laurie Walters, Connie Newton, Adam Rich, Betty Buckley, Brian Patrick Clarke(?), Grant Goodeve and Joan Prather. Missing is Lani O’Grady, who passed away in 2001, and Susan Richardson, who has suffered from many health issues.


So yea, those rumors about Adam Rich dying in '96 were false.  Read all about it here

The House:


Do you want to visit the iconic Bradford Home?  Well, ya can't...we think.  According to our pal Lyndsay at Iamnotastalker.com, the house is gone.  Check out her amazing discovery here.  

Eight IS Enough...we ❤️you!!!
Whatever Happened To: The Cast Of "Eight Is Enough" Whatever Happened To: The Cast Of "Eight Is Enough" Reviewed by #IheartHollywood on February 17, 2018 Rating: 5

1 comment

  1. Interesting, I thought I remember reading that Mark Hamil broke his leg in a skiing accident and was replaced by Grant Goodeve.

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