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Tim Van Patten

Timothy Van Patten (born June 10, 1959) is an American director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He has received numerous accolades including two Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, 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 limited series The Pacific (2010), and Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the HBO drama series Boardwalk Empire episode "To the Lost" (2012). He also received Emmy nominations for his work on Sex and the City, The Sopranos, and Game of Thrones. Patten also directed episodes for Deadwood, Rome, and The Wire. He directed the Netflix series Black Mirror episode "Hang the DJ" (2018), and the HBO 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 (1982), Max Keller on The Master (1984), and Sergeant Andy Wojeski in True Blue (1989–1990).

Personal life[edit]

Van Patten was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Richard Byron Van Patten 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[edit]

1978–1990: Acting career[edit]

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 Class of 1984 portraying Peter Stegman, the villainous teenager. He acted alongside Michael J. Fox and Roddy McDowell. The film received positive reviews with Roger Ebert writing, "[the film] is 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."^[1] 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 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 (1988). He played Andy Wojeski in the NBC crime drama series True Blue from 1989 to 1990.

1991–2001: Early directing work[edit]

Patten 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 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 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[edit]

Patten gained greater prominence as a director for a string of critically and commercially successful HBO projects. He received four nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the HBO crime drama series The Sopranos (1999-2007) episodes "Amour Fou" (2001), "Whoever Did This" (2002), "Long Term Parking" (2004), and "Members Only" (2006).^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]} During this time he received acclaim for directing numerous episodes of the David Simon crime series The Wire, the Darren Star created romantic comedy series Sex and the City, the John Milius created historical drama series Rome, 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 HBO 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 HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones, "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[edit]

Director[edit]

Actor[edit]

Awards and nominations[edit]

In 2001, together with Terence Winter, Van Patten won both the Edgar Award and Writers Guild of America Award for Episodic Drama for The Sopranos episode "Pine Barrens," directed by Steve Buscemi.^[33]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Tim Van PattenatIMDb
• Timothy Van PattenatThe Interviews: An Oral History of Television