Dick Van Patten Dies At 86

[thumbnail size=large align=right]

The actor passed away at Saint John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California on the morning of Tuesday, June 23rd, after suffering complications from diabetes, according People.com.  He was 86.

Van Patten began his career on the Broadway stage in a production of Tapestry in Gray aged seven and later switched to television in 1949 after landing a role in comedy drama I Remember Mama.

He is best known for playing family patriarch Tom Bradford in TV show Eight Is Enough, which ran from 1977 to 1981.

Van Patten also enjoyed roles in The Love Boat, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, The Six Million Dollar Man and Happy Days.

During his career, he performed on Broadway almost 30 times and appeared in comedy movies Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

Van Patten, who has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, released the autobiography Eighty Is Not Enough in 2009.

Rest in peace Dick Van Patten.