Bart Patton (born Phillip Bardwell; 11 July 1939 in

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights to the ea ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

), is an American actor, producer, and director.

Biography

Bart's first acting job was as Scampy the Clown in '' Super Circus'' where he was credited as "Bardy Patton". He continued making acting appearances in such television shows as ''

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American private detective crime drama television series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each epis ...

'' while in high school. He replaced

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...

on ''

Riverboat A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury ...

''. Patton attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, where he met his future wife
Mary Mitchel
his best friend Pete (John) Broadrick and

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...

, with whom he and Pete made a student film with. He dropped out after only one semester to make '' Gidget Goes Hawaiian'', marrying Mitchel in 1961 after completion of the film. They had two children and divorced in 1980. Coppola cast the couple in his ''

Dementia 13 ''Dementia 13'' (released in the United Kingdom as ''The Haunted and the Hunted'') is a 1963 Horror film, horror Thriller (genre), thriller film written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola in his feature film directorial debut, and starring Wi ...

'' that introduced him to producer

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

and

Jack Hill Jack Hill (born January 28, 1933) is an American filmmaker, known for his work in the exploitation genre. He was an early associate of Francis Ford Coppola and Roger Corman, and worked on many films distributed by American International Pictur ...

, who reshot some of the film. Patton moved behind the camera in Hill's '' Spider Baby'' as production manager and

assistant director The role of an assistant director (AD) on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have ...

whilst Mary Mitchel co-starred. Corman used Patton to produce additional footage for some of his films for television release. Corman financed Patton's first film, '' Beach Ball'', as a producer.

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

was impressed, with Universal and MCA signing a contract in 1965 for Patton and director Lennie Weinrib to make 14 rock and roll films in a two-year period.''Billboard'' Magazine, October 30, 1965
/ref> However, the only ones produced were a ski party type film, '' Wild Wild Winter'', and a spy spoof, ''

Out of Sight ''Out of Sight'' is a 1998 American action comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Scott Frank, adapted from Elmore Leonard's 1996 novel. The first of several collaborations between Soderbergh and actor George Clooney, it was ...

''. Patton also produced Coppola's '' The Rain People''. He made his directorial debut with '' Unshackled'' in 2000.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Patton, Bart Film directors from California American male actors American film producers 1939 births Living people University of California, Los Angeles alumni