Vincent Van Patten
| Vincent Van Patten | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 17, 1957 Bellerose, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | actor; tennis player |
| Years active | 1970 – present |
| Height | 6' 1" (1.85 m) |
| Spouse | Eileen Davidson (2003 - present) 1 child Betsy Russell (1989 - 2001) (divorced) 2 children |
Vincent Van Patten (born October 17, 1957) is an American actor and former tour professional tennis player.
Contents |
[edit] Personal life
Van Patten was born in Bellerose, New York. He is the youngest son of actor Dick Van Patten and his wife, Pat, née Poole, a former June Taylor dancer. He is of Dutch and Italian descent. Van Patten was first urged into show business at age nine by his father’s agent. A commercial for Colgate toothpaste was followed by more than thirty other commercials before his father was cast in the TV series, Arnie, and moved his family from Long Island to Los Angeles.
From his first marriage to Betsy Russell he has two sons: Richard and Vince. His second marriage, on April 15, 2003, was to The Young and the Restless actress Eileen Davidson. They have 1 child: Jesse (born in 2003). They met when he appeared briefly on The Young and the Restless as a man she met on a cruise. Her character Ashley pretended he was the father of her baby when, in fact, it was Victor Newman.
Vince is related to several other well-known actors, actresses, and singers through blood and by marriage. Vince is brother of James Van Patten and Nels Van Patten, nephew of actress Joyce Van Patten, nephew of Timothy Van Patten, and cousin of actress Talia Balsam. Talia Balsam's first marriage was to actor George Clooney. Talia Balsam's second husband is actor John Slattery (where Talia and John appear together as husband and wife on Mad Men).
[edit] Acting
Throughout the 1970s, child actor Vincent Van Patten guest-starred in over three dozen classic television series including Bonanza, The High Chaparral, Medical Center, Adam-12, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Wonder Woman and a variety of television movies. At the age of sixteen, he was cast in Apple's Way, a CBS drama series in which he played the son of an architect who leaves the big city to rear his family in rural Appleton, Iowa.
In the fall of 1975, Van Patten, at eighteen, appeared in the role of John Karras in a 12-week CBS drama series Three for the Road, with Alex Rocco as his father, Pete Karras, and Leif Garrett as his younger brother, Endy Karras. The story line is that of a father and two sons, grief stricken over the death of their wife and mother sell their house, buy a recreational vehicle, and roam throughout the United States.[1]
Three years later, Van Patten co-starred in The Bionic Boy, a two-hour ABC spinoff of the popular Lee Majors vehicle, The Six Million Dollar Man. In 1978, he starred in the cult film classic, Rock 'n' Roll High School. He starred in several other films in the 1970s and 1980s, including Yesterday as a Vietnam war veteran with Cloris Leachman and Eddie Albert. More recently, he starred wrote and produced in The Break distributed by Lions Gate with Martin Sheen, and directed the feature film "The Flunky" with Farrah Fawcett. He is currently the host and commentator of the World Poker Tour going in to season ten for Fox Sports and is also the host of "Celebrity Tennis" for the Tennis Channel.
[edit] Tennis
Van Patten was also a professional tour tennis player who in 1979 was awarded the ATP Rookie of the Year award. The highlight of his career came in 1981 when he defeated John McEnroe and two other top ten world ranked pros to win the Seiko World Super Tennis tournament in Tokyo, Japan. His career high ranking in singles was World No.26, which he reached on February 11, 1982. In singles, Van Patten reached the third round of the U.S. Open twice, in 1982 and 1983, and Wimbledon once, in 1985. In doubles his best Grand Slam event result was reaching the quarter-finals of the French Open in 1981, partnering Mel Purcell. His high doubles ranking was World No. 24, reached in September, 1986.
[edit] Poker
Van Patten learned to play poker from his father actor Dick Van Patten at age 14. He's played in some of the biggest cash games in the world and was crowned " king of the Hollywood home games"as the host of the " World Poker Tour" which he has commentated on for nine seasons. The first four seasons were on travel channel, seasons five and six were on GSN and seventh season-Current Season on Fox Sports. He also appears in commercials for Milwaukee's Potawatomi Bingo Casino and the WPT World Poker Room at Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut. He has also written a fictional novel about Vegas poker with Robert J Randisi, titled The Picasso Flop (ISBN 0892960701).[2] Recently,Van Patten finished high in the money at the 2010 world series of poker main event.
[edit] References
- ^ "Three for the Road". Internet Movie Data Base. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072576/. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
- ^ "The Books: The Picasso Flop by Vince Van Patten and Robert J. Randisi". Hachette Book Group USA. http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/books_9780759517073.htm. Retrieved 3-8 2009.
[edit] External links
- 1957 births
- Living people
- Actors from New York
- American people of Dutch descent
- American people of Italian descent
- American film actors
- American male tennis players
- American sports announcers
- American television actors
- People from Nassau County, New York
- People from Hempstead (town), New York
- Poker commentators
- Tennis people from New York
