TV's 'Eight is Enough' Star Lani O'Grady Found Fame Early in Life but Died a Tragic Death

Photo bythemoviedb.org

Hollywood child stardom has taken its toll on many actors through the decades.

Lani O'Grady, for one, found fame in the 1970s on the TV family series, Eight is Enough. O'Grady followed in the footsteps of her brother, actor Don Grady, an original Mouseketeer and member of another popular TV family show: My Three Sons. Their mother, Mary B. Grady, was a talent agent who represented several child actors. But Lani, who would also eventually become an agent, died in 2001 just one week before what would have been her 47th birthday.

A Closer Look

In a 1994 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Lani O'Grady said she had long suffered from severe panic attacks, which led to her abusing prescription drugs and alcohol for more than a decade.

Only a few years later, on September 25, 2001, O'Grady was found dead in her home in Valencia, California. Toxicology reports documented that died of a drug overdose, with fatal levels of Vicodin and Prozac in her bloodstream. It was a sad ending to a once vibrant and very young life.

According to toxicology tests documented on January 6, 2002, O'Grady died of a drug overdose, with fatal levels of Vicodin and Prozac in her bloodstream.

"Name-Changer" Early in Her Career

Lani O'Grady was born Lanita Rose Agrati, on October 2, 1954, in Walnut Grove, CA. She had a low-pitched voice, later changed her name once cast in Eight Is Enough in 1977, and after that, joined her mother's profession as a talent agent.

Changing positions in the entertainment industry added a new layer to her career. She made her TV acting debut at only 13 years old with a brief appearance in the 1960s Western The High Chaparral.

In the early 1970s, the multi-talented actor appeared on Harry O, a short-lived TV detective series starring David Jannsen and co-starring a pre-Charlie's Angels Farrah Fawcett.

In 1975, O'Grady had a role in the TV-movie, Cage Without a Key, which starred Susan Dey (shortly after The Partridge Family, and a few years before L.A. Law).

One year later, O'Grady co-starred in the feature film Massacre at Central High along with Kimberly Beck (who played Nancy in the Eight Is Enough pilot).

Conclusion

Lani O'Grady, like many former child stars, including brother Don Grady, and others, such as Dana Plato, and more, lived a successful, but brief life that ended in tragedy. In many cases, the Hollywood spotlight and the pressures of the entertainment industry simply prove too much to bear.

Such was the tragic case with Lani O'Grady.