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Dick Van Patten
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dick Van Patten (born December 9, 1928 in New York City, New York) is an American actor.
He was the son of Josephine Rose Acerno, an Italian American, and Richard Byron Van Patten, who had distant Dutch ancestry from a great-grandfather.[1] He is the older brother of actress Joyce Van Patten and uncle of Talia Balsam. He has been married to the former Patricia Poole since 1954 and is the father of three sons, all actors: Vincent Van Patten, Nels Van Patten, and James Van Patten.
Van Patten started his career in showbiz as a child actor on Broadway in 1937's The Eternal Road as Dickie Van Patten, appearing in 12 more Broadway shows while still in his teens. He moved on to television and movies with the 1949 TV series I Remember Mama which ran from 1949 to 1957, and as patriarch Tom Bradford on Eight is Enough, 1977 to 1981. He has also been in many Mel Brooks films, including High Anxiety and Spaceballs.
Van Patten was in the news in early December 2005 for lending his name to Natural Balance, a line of high-end dog food that is intended to be indistinguishable from stews and other dishes (or table scraps) that are normally intended for human consumption. He has demonstrated this by eating, on at least one occasion, his own brand of dog food in tandem with some pet.
In January 2006, the actor was taken to Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a diabetic stroke. Van Patten, who suffers from Type 2 diabetes, sustained some speech impairment and paralysis from the stroke.
- Dick Van Patten at the Internet Movie Database
- Dick Van Patten at the Internet Broadway Database
- Natural Balance Pet Foods presents food as ready-to-eat, at least by Van Patten