| Dick Van Patten  AKA Richard Van Patten
Born: 9-Dec-1928
Birthplace: Queens, NY
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor
Party Affiliation: Republican Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Dad on Eight is Enough Dick Van Patten played Tom Bradford, the somewhat fuddy-duddy newspaper columnist and wise father on the late-'70s comedy-drama Eight Is Enough.
Van Patten started working as a model and actor when he was a toddler, and made his debut on Broadway as "Dickie Van Patten" at the age of seven, playing Melvyn Douglas' son in Tapestry in Gray. As a child actor, he had great success on the New York stage, and appeared in more than a dozen plays before he was a teenager, working with everyone from William Bendix to Tallulah Bankhead to an 11-year-old child actor named Sidney Lumet. Along with sister Joyce Van Patten, he was featured in a radio series based on the comic strip Reg'lar Fellers.
As a young man, he played Nels on the long-running 1950s TV sitcom I Remember Mama, and the role apparently meant so much to him that after he married, he named his firstborn son Nels. He has been a familiar face on television ever since I Remember Mama, including a few years on the daytime soap opera Young Dr. Malone, the cop sitcom The Partners with Don Adams, and The New Dick Van Dyke Show. He played Friar Tuck on Mel Brooks' When Things Were Rotten. His big-screen credits include Charly with Cliff Robertson and Freaky Friday with Jodie Foster.
He now sells Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance dog food, and has written a how-to book, Launching Your Child in Show Biz. Sister: Joyce Van Patten (actress)
Brother: Timothy Van Patten (actor, half brother, b. 1959)
Wife: Patricia Poole (m. 25-Apr-1953, three sons)
Son: Jimmy Van Patten (actor, b. 1956)
Son: Vincent Van Patten (actor, b. 17-Oct-1957)
Son: Nels Van Patten (actor, b. 1955)
John McCain 2008
McCain for Senate '98
Hollywood Walk of Fame 7021 Hollywood Blvd (television)
TELEVISION
Mama Nels Hansen (1949-57)
Young Dr. Malone Larry Renfrew (1961-62)
The New Dick Van Dyke Show Max (1973-74)
When Things Were Rotten Friar Tuck (1975)
Eight Is Enough Tom Bradford (the father, 1977-81)
WIOU Floyd Graham (1990-91)
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (03-Sep-2003) Himself
Groom Lake (21-Sep-2002)
The Price of Air (15-Sep-2000)
Demolition University (1997)
Love Is All There Is (10-May-1996)
Demolition High (1996)
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (28-Jul-1993)
The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (29-Jun-1988)
Spaceballs (24-Jun-1987)
Combat High (23-Nov-1986)
The Midnight Hour (1-Nov-1985)
High Anxiety (Feb-1978)
The Shaggy D.A. (17-Dec-1976)
Freaky Friday (17-Dec-1976)
Gus (7-Jul-1976)
The Strongest Man in the World (6-Feb-1975)
Superdad (14-Dec-1973)
Westworld (21-Nov-1973)
Soylent Green (19-Apr-1973)
Snowball Express (22-Dec-1972)
Joe Kidd (14-Jul-1972)
Beware! The Blob (21-Jun-1972)
Zachariah (24-Jan-1971)
Charly (23-Sep-1968)
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