who was the father on 8 is enough
Eight Is Enough The show centers on a Sacramento, California family with eight children (from oldest to youngest: David, Mary, Joanie, Susan, Nancy, Elizabeth, Tommy, and Nicholas). The father, Tom Bradford (Dick Van Patten), was a newspaper columnist for the fictional Sacramento Register. His wife Joan (Diana Hyland) was a homemaker and took care of the children. Hyland was only in four episodes before falling ill. She died soon after, and her character's death was written into the script.