Biography
As a child, Van Patten performed alongside giants of Broadway during its Golden Age in some of the theater's greatest works, became a familiar face nationally in the early days of television, and deftly avoided the "child actor curse" that some of his later co-stars could not, working consistently for six decades. Becoming a patriarch of a prolific show business family of his own, he briefly came to engender an American everydad in the 1970s …
Latest Tv Credits
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Career Milestones
| Broke into show business after winning beautiful child contest | ||
| Screen tested by MGM; failed to impress and did not receive a contract offer | ||
1935 | Made Broadway debut in "Tapestry in Gray" with Melvyn Douglas | |
1936 | Early TV appearance on "Story Hour" | |
1941 | Feature film debut in "Reg'lar Fellers" | |
1941 | Made radio debut on "Young Widder Brown" | |
1948 | Played opposite Henry Fonda in "Mister Roberts" on Broadway | |
1949 | Played Nels on CBS sitcom "Mama" | |
1961 | Appeared on soap opera "Young Dr. Malone" (NBC) | |
1968 | Had role in feature film "Charly" | |
1971 | Co-starred on NBC sitcom "The Partners" | |
1972 | Co-starred on "The New Dick Van Dyke Show" (CBS) | |
1972 | Made TV-movie debut in "Hec Ramsey" (NBC) | |
1975 | Played Friar Tuck on "When Things Were Rotten" (ABC), produced by Mel Brooks | |
1976 | Originated the role of Captain Steubing in "The Love Boat" two-hour pilot (ABC) | |
1977 | Co-starred with Mel Brooks in "High Anxiety" | |
1977 | Starred as Tom Bradford, the head of a family with eight very independent children, on "Eight Is Enough" (ABC) | |
1987 | Starred in first "Eight Is Enough" reunion TV-movie (NBC) | |
1990 | Returned to series TV on the one-hour CBS drama "WIOU" | |
1993 | Returned to Mel Brooks' rep company in "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" | |
1996 | Appeared in national touring company of revival of "Show Boat" as Captain Andy | |
1999 | Headlined the world premiere of the stage musical "Scandals" at Theatre Virginia | |
2001 | Toured in "The Sunshine Boys" with Frank Gorshin | |
2005 | Guest starred on Fox's "Arrested Development" | |
2009 | Co-authored with Robert Baer the memoir Eighty Is Not Enough: One Man's Journey Through American Entertainment | |
2009 | Featured alongside Pauly Shore in the comedy "Opposite Day" | |
2010 | Appeared on an episode of "Celebrity Ghost Stories" (Biography Channel) | |
2011 | Made a guest appearance on TV Land sitcom "Hot in Cleveland" | |