Look Who it Was Random video

DICK VAN PATTEN Tribute

4,091 views · Published 24 June 2015 · 1:12 · Indexed 1 November 2026

Channel: daveinprogress3 · 2015 · Howto & Style

Watch on YouTube

I am sad whilst making this tribute, as I reconnect with what endeared me to Dick Van Patten's 'Tom Bradford' on Eight is Enough. He was the role model and father I did not have. He was loving, he was kind, he was fallible, he was fatherly and he was funny. I'm quite sure, as good an actor as he was, there was a lot of Dick Van Patten in Tom Bradford. For five seasons including the first couple which nearly ended its run due to the death of its leading actress Diana Hyland, Dick was a lovable tv dad; stern when he needed to be, and tender when one of his tribe was hurting. 'Eight is Enough' was a rite of passage for me, as I was entering my own adolescence when this show screened in Australia from 1978 to 1982. My sister and I would love the shared experience of Saturday nights with the Bradford clan - the beautiful and mostly troublesome sisters, and the handsome and rascally brothers. Betty Buckley, what a beautiful woman. It was great viewing - an early example of a dramedy and it touched on many social issues during its 5 seasons. At the helm, Dick Van Patten was the moral centre and guiding hand for the clan. His everyman looks and his deft touch at both comedy and drama made him a perfect fit for the role. Despite a career spanning 7 decades, he will probably be best remembered for Eight is Enough - and that is something to be proud of - the much loved and admired tv dad.

More from this channel