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Actor Dick Van Patten Dies At 86

Actor Dick Van Patten, who played the father on the TV show Eight Is Enough, died Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., of complications from diabetes. He was 86.

The news was confirmed in a statement by his publicist, Jeff Ballard.

Van Patten began his acting career at the age of 7, moving from roles on Broadway to television. He appeared in I Remember Mama, which ran from 1949 to 1957, as well as The New Dick Van Dyke Show. More recently, Van Patten appeared in Arrested Development and Hot in Cleveland. But it was the role of patriarch Tom Bradford on ABC's Eight Is Enough, which ran from 1977 to 1981, for which Van Patten was most famous.

Van Patten was an animal lover who co-founded Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Pet Foods in 1989; he founded the National Guide Dog Month, which raises awareness and money for nonprofit guide dog schools.

Van Patten is survived by his wife of 62 years, Patricia Van Patten, as well as his three sons, Nels, Jimmy and Vincent.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Krishnadev Calamur is NPR's deputy Washington editor. In this role, he helps oversee planning of the Washington desk's news coverage. He also edits NPR's Supreme Court coverage. Previously, Calamur was an editor and staff writer at The Atlantic. This is his second stint at NPR, having previously worked on NPR's website from 2008-15. Calamur received an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri.

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The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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