86 is enough -- RIP Dick Van Patten

Dick Van Patten dead: Eight is Enough actor dies at 86 | EW.com

 

Available to comfort Susan.

 

Great title.

 

If you label him, you negate him.

RIP

 

He was very good in "The Client."

 

It really is.

 

RIP. I loved 'Eight is Enough,' when I was a kid, and was also reminded that he was in the Robin Hood-spoofing TV series "When Things Were Rotten," which I also loved as a kid.

Quick TV trivia bit: He played the ship's doctor in the TV movie "The Love Boat," which of course was the de facto pilot for the TV series, which recast the entire crew to the ones we know the best.

Also, the comments in the link above mentioned his relation to actresses Joyce Van Patten (sister) and Talia Balsam (niece), but what hasn't been mentioned is that his half-brother (30 years younger) is Timothy Van Patten, who played Salami in "The White Shadow" and has since made a name for himself as a TV director for "The Sopranos" and numerous other HBO series.

 

Hey, Abbott!!!

I wonder if they'll read the funeral rites in the New Latin.

 

The family humbly requests all-aye our-yay essings-blay.

 

Watched a thing TV Land did a few years back on a day in the life of Dick Van Patten - one of his sons always wondered why they lived in Sherman Oaks, Dick said it was because it was halfway between Santa Anita and Hollywood Park.
Also probably hoodwinked generations of journalists into believing they could raise eight kids and buy a home on a newspaper salary.

 

Had an opportunity to interview Dick Van Patten once many years ago, and then, years later, interviewed his son Nels while the younger Van Patten was serving as a tennis coach for a young player I covered regularly.

Just based on that experience, Dick's reputation as one of the most positive, congenial people one could ever hope to meet was well-deserved, and he apparently passed that outlook on to his son, with whom I also thoroughly enjoyed speaking as we talked at length about tennis, show biz and families.

Youngest son Vince, more widely known as a regular "Wonderful World of Disney" child actor, also was a pretty fair tennis player back in the day, and I watched him play in a tournament once. I believe he pursued a pro-tennis career for a while.

Great family. RIP, Dick.

Thread title is a play not only on the show title but also on a book Van Patten wrote in 2009 called "80 Is Not Enough".