Timothy Van Patten (born June 10, 1959) is an American television director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He has received numerous accolades including two

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

, and two Directors Guild of America Awards as well as nominations for two BAFTA Awards. Patten received two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Limited Series for the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

limited series '' The Pacific'' (2010), and Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the

drama series '' Boardwalk Empire'' episode " To the Lost" (2012). He also received Emmy nominations for his work on '' Sex and the City'', ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

'', and ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

''. Patten also directed episodes for '' Deadwood'', ''

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

'', and ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

''. He directed the Netflix series '' Black Mirror'' episode " Hang the DJ" (2018), and the

legal drama series '' Perry Mason'' (2020). Patten started his career as an actor portraying Mario "Salami" Pettrino on '' The White Shadow'' from 1978 to 1981. He also played the villainous teenager Peter Stegman in ''

Class of 1984 ''Class of 1984'' is a 1982 crime thriller film directed by Mark Lester, produced by Arthur Kent, and co-written by Tom Holland and John Saxton, based on a story by Holland. The film stars Perry King, Merrie Lynn Ross (who also served as ...

'' (1982), Max Keller on '' The Master'' (1984), and Sergeant Andy Wojeski in '' True Blue'' (1989–1990).

Personal life

Van Patten was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, to Richard Byron Van Patten (1907 – 1985) and his second wife Eleanor della Gatta Van Patten and grew up in Massapequa, New York. He is the half-brother of Dick Van Patten and Joyce Van Patten, and the uncle of Vincent Van Patten and Talia Balsam. He graduated from Massapequa High School in 1977, in the same class as musician Brian Setzer and football player Brian Baldinger. His daughter is actress Grace Van Patten.

Career

1978–1990: Acting career

Patten started his career as an actor in film and television. He first gained prominence for his role as Mario "Salami" Pettrino in the CBS drama series '' The White Shadow'' from 1978 to 1981 appearing in 54 episodes. He made his feature film debut in the Mark Lester directed crime thriller ''

'' portraying Peter Stegman, the villainous teenager. He acted alongside Michael J. Fox and Roddy McDowell. The film received positive reviews with Roger Ebert writing, " he filmis raw, offensive, vulgar, and violent, but it contains the sparks of talent and wit, and it is acted and directed by people who cared to make it special." Patten then played Max Keller in the NBC action-adventure series '' The Master'' (1984). His other film roles include Joey in the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

science fiction film '' Zone Troopers'' (1985), J.T. in the comedy film '' The Wrong Guys'' (1988), and Father John Durham in the horror film ''

Catacombs Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...

'' (1988). He played Andy Wojeski in the NBC crime drama series '' True Blue'' from 1989 to 1990.

1991–2001: Early directing work

Following the cancellation of ''True Blue'' Patten quit acting and made his directorial film debut with the series ''Home Fries'' in 1991. His other early credits include directing two episodes of the primetime

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

'' Central Park West'' (1995-1996), an episode of the Fox science fiction series '' The Visitor'' (1998), four episodes for the UPN action crime drama series '' The Sentinel'' from 1996 to 1998, and the CBS drama series ''

Promised Land In the Abrahamic religions, the "Promised Land" ( ) refers to a swath of territory in the Levant that was bestowed upon Abraham and his descendants by God in Abrahamic religions, God. In the context of the Bible, these descendants are originally ...

'' also 1996 to 1998. He gained prominence directing episodes for the NBC police drama '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1995-1999), and for the Fox police drama '' New York Undercover'' (1997-1998), both of which were critically acclaimed. Patten directed 31 episodes of the CBS drama series '' Touched by an Angel'' from 1994 to 2000. '' Ed'',

2002–present: Work with HBO

Patten gained greater prominence as a director for a string of critically and commercially successful

projects. He received four nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the HBO crime drama series ''

'' (1999-2007) episodes " Amour Fou" (2001), " Whoever Did This" (2002), " Long Term Parking" (2004), and " Members Only" (2006). During this time he received acclaim for directing numerous episodes of the David Simon crime series ''

'', the Darren Star created romantic comedy series '' Sex and the City'', the John Milius created historical drama series ''

'', and the David Milch created Western series '' Deadwood''. He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

miniseries '' The Pacific'' (2009) for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series alongside producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. During this time he directed two episodes for the

fantasy series ''

'', " The Kingsroad" and " Winter is Coming" receiving a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for the later. Patten went on to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for directing the 2011 '' Boardwalk Empire'' episode " To the Lost". He was also nominated for the episodes " Margate Sands" (2012), " Farewell Daddy Blues" (2013), " Eldorado" (2014). He directed the critically acclaimed episode of '' Black Mirror'', " Hang the DJ" (2017). He also directed and served as an executive producer of the HBO legal drama series '' Perry Mason'' (2020).

Filmography

Director

Actor

Awards and nominations

In 2001, together with Terence Winter, Van Patten won both the

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

and Writers Guild of America Award for Episodic Drama for ''The Sopranos'' episode " Pine Barrens," directed by Steve Buscemi.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Patten, Tim 1959 births Living people 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American people of Dutch descent American male television actors American television directors Edgar Award winners Hugo Award winners Primetime Emmy Award winners Writers Guild of America Award winners Male actors from Brooklyn Writers from Brooklyn People from Massapequa, New York Television producers from New York City American television writers American male television writers American people of English descent Directors Guild of America Award winners Screenwriters from New York (state) Massapequa High School alumni Van Patten family