Dick Van Patten and his wife, Pat.
(Image credit: David Livingstone/Getty Images)

Actor Dick Van Patten, best known for playing Tom Bradford in the television series Eight is Enough, died Tuesday due to complications from diabetes. He was 86.

Van Patten began acting as a child, and is said to have made his Broadway debut at 7, ABC News reports. He had success in television and film during a career that spanned decades, appearing in High Anxiety, Spaceballs, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Arrested Development, Hot in Cleveland, and That ‘70s Show. Van Patten also was an animal welfare advocate, and founded Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Pet Foods.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.