--- title: Celebrity Obituary: Actor Dick Van Patten Dies at 86 description: Van Patten recently starred in 'Arrested Development' and 'That '70s Show' canonical: https://time.com/3932109/dick-van-patten-obituary/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-23T15:27:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:27:05.397Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Eight Is Enough' and 'The Love Boat' Actor Dick Van Patten Dies at 86 og:description: Van Patten recently starred in 'Arrested Development' and 'That '70s Show' og:url: https://time.com/3932109/dick-van-patten-obituary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4db9165a39f1754e/698857ee3c1639159c458832/458524760-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Dick Van Patten at Love Boat Cast Christening Of Regal Princess Cruise Ship at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Nov. 5, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Eight Is Enough' and 'The Love Boat' Actor Dick Van Patten Dies at 86 twitter:description: Van Patten recently starred in 'Arrested Development' and 'That '70s Show' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4db9165a39f1754e/698857ee3c1639159c458832/458524760-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Eight Is Enough_ and _The Love Boat_ Actor Dick Van Patten Dies at 86 by [People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## People Jun 23, 2015 3:27 PM UTC  Dick Van Patten at Love Boat Cast Christening Of Regal Princess Cruise Ship at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Nov. 5, 2014. Dick Van Patten at Love Boat Cast Christening Of Regal Princess Cruise Ship at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Nov. 5, 2014.Gustavo Caballero—Getty Images by [People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## People Jun 23, 2015 3:27 PM UTC Actor [Dick Van Patten](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:DickVanPatten,00.html), perhaps best known as patriarch Tom Bradford on the ’80s series _Eight Is Enough_, has died. He was 86. Van Patten died Tuesday morning at Saint John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California, due to complications from diabetes, PEOPLE confirms. The actor was born in Kew Gardens, New York, in 1928 and began his career as a child star and model. He made his Broadway debut when he was 7 years old in _Tapestry in Gray_. He went on to appear in nearly 30 more Broadway shows. Van Patten made the jump to television with the role of Nels Hansen in _I Remember Mama_, which ran from 1949 to 1957. He also went on to act in numerous other TV shows including _The New Dick Van Dyke Show_, _Happy Days_, _The Love Boat_ and, more recently, _Arrested Development_, _That ’70s Show_ and _Hot in Cleveland_. In November, the actor joined his _Love Boat_ castmates [for a reunion](http://www.people.com/article/the-love-boat-cast-reunion) in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to help christen a new Regal Princess cruise ship and celebrate 50 years of Princess Cruises. He also acted in various Disney films, along with three movies directed by Mel Brooks (_High Anxiety_, _Spaceballs_ and _Robin Hood: Men in Tights_.) In 2009, Van Patten penned an autobiography, _Eighty Is Not Enough_, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is survived by his wife Patricia Van Patten, whom he was married to for more than 60 years, and three sons. _This_ [_article_](http://www.people.com/article/dick-van-patten-dies-eight-is-enough-love-boat) _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3932109/dick-van-patten-obituary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3932109/dick-van-patten-obituary/"},"headline":"Eight Is Enough and The Love Boat Actor Dick Van Patten Dies at 86","datePublished":"2015-06-23T15:27:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:27:05.397Z","description":"Van Patten recently starred in 'Arrested Development' and 'That '70s Show'","url":"https://time.com/3932109/dick-van-patten-obituary/","keywords":["remembrance","movies","obituary","celebrity"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4db9165a39f1754e/698857ee3c1639159c458832/458524760-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"People","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/people/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4db9165a39f1754e/698857ee3c1639159c458832/458524760-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dick Van Patten at Love Boat Cast Christening Of Regal Princess Cruise Ship at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Nov. 5, 2014.","caption":"Dick Van Patten at Love Boat Cast Christening Of Regal Princess Cruise Ship at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Nov. 5, 2014.","creditText":"Gustavo Caballero—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3932109/dick-van-patten-obituary/","name":"Eight Is Enough and The Love Boat Actor Dick Van Patten Dies at 86"}}]}] ```