Whatever Happened to ‘Eight Is Enough’ Star Susan Richardson?

Dave Sundstrom October 2, 8:00 am

EIGHT IS ENOUGH, Susan Richardson, 1977-1981. — Everett Collection

What To Know

Susan Richardson rose to fame as Susan Bradford on the hit ’70s TV series Eight Is Enough.
Following the show’s end, she struggled to find substantial acting work, faced a difficult divorce, and ultimately prioritized raising her daughter over her career.

Back in the late ’70s, few TV families were as memorable as the Bradfords from the ABC series Eight Is Enough. At the heart of this family was fourth child Susan, played by Susan Richardson. For five seasons, Richardson was a familiar face in American homes. Then, after the show ended, it seemed as if she simply vanished from the public eye.

So, what has the actor been up to since the Bradford family aired on U.S. television screens? Well, to be honest, life hasn’t always been easy for Richardson.

EIGHT IS ENOUGH, Laurie Walters, Susan Richardson, Willie Aames, Dick Van Patten, Grant Goodeve, Adam Rich, Betty Buckley, Dianne Kay, Lani O'Grady, Connie Newton, 1977-1981

Born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Richardson was drawn to acting, performing in high school plays before making the bold move to Hollywood in 1971. Her big break actually came in a bunch of small but significant parts. She landed an uncredited role in George Lucas‘ 1973 movie American Graffiti. And while it was a minor part, it placed her in a film that would launch the careers of numerous stars, including Harrison Ford. Following this, she made guest appearances on some of the biggest television shows of the era, including The Streets of San Francisco and a notable role on Happy Days.

After six years of taking any and every role offered, just before her 25th birthday, Richardson was cast as Susan Bradford in Eight Is Enough. The show centered on a newspaper columnist, Tom Bradford (based on the real-life memoirs of journalist Tom Braden), and his eight children, and it was an instant hit, making Richardson a legitimate TV star.

Susan Richardson and Michael Virden at home circa 1979.

Robin Platzer/Images/Getty Images

On March 15, 1978, she married photographer Michael Virdon, and soon after, she became pregnant. In a move that was relatively progressive for the time, her pregnancy was written into the Eight Is Enough storyline, with her character also getting married and having a child on the show.

When Eight Is Enough ended its run in 1981, the comforting steady work of a weekly TV series gave way to a very uncertain future. Richardson reprised her role in two TV reunion movies, Eight Is Enough: A Family Reunion in 1987 and An Eight Is Enough Wedding in 1989. However, beyond the reunion specials, substantial acting roles became more difficult to find.

Somewhere along the way, Richardson made a conscious decision to step away from her acting career. She’d been through a difficult divorce, and because of that, she realized that she needed to focus on what mattered most to her: raising her child.

Susan Richardson with daughter Sarah September 13, 1980 Credit:

Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch via Getty Images

For a while, Richardson and her daughter were able to comfortably live off her Eight is Enough residuals but then a debilitating tailbone injury, suffered after a fall, marked the beginning of a cascade of health and monetary setbacks that would change everything.

By the early 2010s, the world received a heartbreaking update on the former TV star. A 2013 article in The San Francisco Examiner reported that a major U.S. tabloid was saying that Richardson was “broke, toothless and living in poverty-stricken squalor”.

Additionally, in 2017, Radar reported that Richardson had been diagnosed with a rare and serious disorder that affected the esophagus, making it nearly impossible to swallow or keep food down. Tragically, this was the same condition that had taken the lives of her mother, father, and younger sister. The illness caused her to lose a significant amount of weight, and the resulting malnutrition was a likely contributor to the loss of some of her teeth.

Based on Richardson’s own Facebook page, by 2018, her health appeared to have rebounded somewhat and, according to a recent 2026 update in Entertainment Weekly, she continues to live a quiet and reclusive life in a remote part of Pennsylvania to this very day.