 Vince
Van Patten, Hollywood Home Game's Patron Saint of Poker
Vince Van Patten, nicknamed "King of the
Hollywood Home Games", is the current host and commentator
for the nationally televised World Poker Tour. Born into an entertainment
family, the youngest son of actor Dick Van Patten, Vince started
out in a Colgate commercial, and went on to appear in more than
30 more.
In the 1970s he guest-starred in three dozen classic
TV shows like "Bonanza," "High Chaparral," "Medical
Center," "Adam 12," "The Courtship of Eddie's
Father" and a whole bunch of telefilms. When he was 16 he landed
a regular job in "Apple's Way," and three years later
he co-starred in "The Bionic Boy," a two-hour spinoff
of the hugely popular "The Six Million Dollar Man." At
age 14, he co-starred with Kurt Russell, Cloris Leachman and Fred
MacMurray in the Disney's "Charlie and the Angel" ; later,
he played a cowboy opposite actor Charles Bronson in "Chino,"
and a jock in "Rock n Roll High School." His real-life
sports passion was tennis: within a year he was ranked among the
Top 30 professional players in the world. In 1979 he was awarded
the Association of Tennis Professionals Rookie of the Year award,
beating out Ivan Lendl for the honor. The pinnacle of his career
came in 1981 when he beat the first-, fourth- and fifth-seeded players
in the world Vitas Gerulitas, Jose Louis Clerk and John McEnroe
to win the $300,000 Seiko World Super Tennis tournament in Tokyo.
After he left tennis he went into movies with
his brother James, and is still doing that. These days, as well
as being on the WPT, Vince's production company Autumn Winds is
developing "Sharpe," a feature film about a professional
poker player from the Midwest who travels to Las Vegas to play in
one of the biggest games in the world.
You can find out more about Vince Van Patten at
the Hollywood Poker web site at Vince
Van Patten Plays Hollywood Poker. |
