HOLLYWOOD has turned its back on Adam Rich – the beloved mop-topped tot on the hit ’70s series “Eight Is Enough.”
Now 44, the virtually unrecognizable former child star is barely getting by, sources say.
“Adam has been trying to sell script ideas for TV shows and movies,” said an entertainment industry source.
“HE’S desperate to get back into the business, but he mostly exists on piddling payments from TV residuals or loans from friends.”
At the height of his popularity, Adam landed guest gigs on many top TV shows and also did voice work on the cartoon series “Dungeons & Dragons.”
But after his fame as primetime cutie Nicholas Bradford faded, his acting career went nowhere.
He’d started smoking marijuana at age 14, and after dropping out of high school at 17 in 1986, his life began revolving around drugs.
Adam was arrested and charged with attempted burglary of a pharmacy in 1991.
In 1989, he OD’d on Valium and nearly died, and in 2002 he was busted for DUI after nearly hitting a police car.
He’s been in rehab at least three times, and when most of the “Eight Is Enough” cast reunited on the “Today” show in 2010, Adam was a no-show.
Now-defunct “Might” magazine included Adam in a spoof of dead celebrities in 1996, but he was very much alive and had OK’d the piece.
Despite that, the source said: “Many folks are still surprised when they find out Adam is alive today.”
