Eddie Applegate, Actor on 'The Patty Duke Show,' Dies at 81

by Mike Barnes

He portrayed Richard Harrison, the easygoing boyfriend of the Brooklyn-born Patty Lane, on the 1960s ABC sitcom.

Eddie Applegate, who played Richard Harrison, the high school boyfriend of Patty Lane, on The Patty Duke Show, died Monday. He was 81.

Applegate died at a nursing home in Los Angeles after a long illness, his friend, Lizzie Maxwell, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Applegate appeared in 88 of the ABC sitcom's 104 episodes as Richard, who dated the 
Brooklyn-born Patty (Duke). Of course, Duke also played an identical cousin, Cathy Lane, on the series, which aired from 1963-66.

In CBS' 1999 reunion telefilm, The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' in Brooklyn Heights, Applegate returned as Harrison; now, he was Patty Lane's ex-husband.

While starring in a Las Vegas stage production of Bye Bye Birdie, Applegate was approached by a producer to appear in the 1963 romantic comedy A Ticklish Affair, starring Shirley Jones, Carolyn Jones, Gig Young and Red Buttons.

A native of Wyncote, Pa., Applegate also appeared on such shows as The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Lucy Show, Daktari, Gunsmoke and the short-lived comedy Nancy, created by Sidney Sheldon and featuring Celeste Holm.

More recently, Applegate played a grandfather in the Emma Stone starrer Easy A (2010) and appeared in the crime film Rain From Stars (2013). He also worked as an agent, artist and carpenter.

Survivors include his children Heather and Michael, their respective spouses Eric and Julie and grandchildren Jenna, Zack, Katie, Lauren, Kyle and Mia.