Dick Van Patten, Who Starred in Eight Is Enough and The Love Boat, Dies at 86
People Magazine
6/23/2015
Actor Dick Van Patten, perhaps best known as patriarch Tom Bradford on the '80s series Eight Is Enough, has died. He was 86.
Van Patten died Tuesday morning at Saint John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California, due to complications from diabetes, PEOPLE confirms.
The actor was born in Kew Gardens, New York, in 1928 and began his career as a child star and model. He made his Broadway debut when he was 7 years old in Tapestry in Gray. He went on to appear in nearly 30 more Broadway shows.
Van Patten made the jump to television with the role of Nels Hansen in I Remember Mama, which ran from 1949 to 1957.
He also went on to act in numerous other TV shows including The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Happy Days, The Love Boat and, more recently, Arrested Development, That '70s Show and Hot in Cleveland.
In November, the actor joined his Love Boat castmates for a reunion in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to help christen a new Regal Princess cruise ship and celebrate 50 years of Princess Cruises.
He also acted in various Disney films, along with three movies directed by Mel Brooks (High Anxiety, Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.) In 2009, Van Patten penned an autobiography, Eighty Is Not Enough, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He is survived by his wife Patricia Van Patten, whom he was married to for more than 60 years, and three sons.
VAN PATTEN, Dick (Richard Vincent Van Patten)
Born: 12/9/1928, Kew Gardens, New York, U.S.A.
Died: 6/23/2015, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.
Dick Van Patten’s westerns – actor:
Rawhide (TV) – 1959 (Matt)
Zachariah – 1971 (The Dude)
Dirty Little Billy – 1972 (Berle’s customer)
Joe Kidd – 1972 (hotel manager)
Hec Ramsey (TV) – 1972 (Earl Enright)
Westworld – 1973 (banker)
Treasure of Matecumbe – 1976 (gambler)