William Fagerbakke ( ; born October 4, 1957) is an American actor. He voices Patrick Star in the ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...

'' franchise, and played Michael "Dauber" Dybinski on the sitcom '' Coach''. He also appeared in 12 episodes of the sitcom ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...

'' as Marshall Eriksen's father Marvin.

Early life and education

Bill Fagerbakke was born on October 4, 1957, in Fontana, California, and moved to

Rupert, Idaho Rupert is the county seat and largest city of Minidoka County, Idaho, United States. It is part of the Burley, Idaho, Burley Burley micropolitan area, Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,082 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

, as a youth. He graduated from Minico High School in Rupert in 1975, where he was a three-sport athlete for the Spartans in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and track. Although he had multiple scholarship offers for

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

, including Pac-8 schools, Fagerbakke decided to stay in state and attended the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He was a

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

for the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

and was ticketed to

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

in 1976, but was called into action in the fourth game of his sophomore season. The Vandals went 7–4 in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, their first winning season in five years, and were 5–2 in the seven games that Fagerbakke started. Head coach Ed Troxel planned on moving him to the offensive line in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, but a knee injury in spring drills ended Fagerbakke's athletic career, which turned his focus to theater. Fagerbakke's first theatrical role was in a campus production of '' Godspell''. He was a member of the Delta Tau Delta

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

and earned his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in 1981, a result of "two years of football and four years of school." He later attended graduate school at Southern Methodist University in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Career

Fagerbakke has appeared on television in roles such as assistant coach "Dauber" Dybinski on '' Coach'', and in films, including '' Funny Farm''. He had a role as the mentally disabled Tom Cullen in the 1994 mini-series '' Stephen King's The Stand''. In 1999, he had a role in

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 ...

's original series '' Oz'' as Officer Karl Metzger. Since 1999, he has provided the voice of Patrick Star for the Nicktoon ''

''. His character on ''Coach'' was based on a former assistant coach at Idaho, a graduate assistant nicknamed "Tuna." In 2007, he made a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

on the show '' Heroes'' as Steve Gustavson in the episodes "Run" and "Unexpected." In 2009, he had a role in the film '' Jennifer's Body''. He also played the role of Marvin Eriksen Sr. in the CBS sitcom ''

''. In 2012, he made a cameo appearance in the TV show '' Weeds''. In 2022, Fagerbakke guest-starred in the fifth season of ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

'' as Peter de Viblis. His daughter Carson portrays Peter's daughter Patty.

Personal life

In 1989, Fagerbakke married actress Catherine McClenahan, with whom he had two daughters, one of which is actress Carson Fagerbakke. In September 2012, he filed for legal separation from McClenahan, citing irreconcilable differences.

Filmography

Television voice roles

Video games

Television live action roles

Film

Other

* '' Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast'' (2003) - Patrick Star * '' SpongeBob SquarePants 4D: The Great Jelly Rescue'' (2013) - Patrick Star

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fagerbakke, Bill 1957 births 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male actors American male comedians American male film actors American male musical theatre actors American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors Comedians from California Comedians from Idaho Idaho Vandals football players Living people Male actors from California Male actors from Idaho Nickelodeon people People from Fontana, California People from Rupert, Idaho Southern Methodist University alumni University of Idaho alumni