Acclaimed character actor Pat Finn died last Monday, December 22, in his Los Angeles home after battling cancer for three years, Deadline reported. Finn was most well known from his reoccurring role on the ABC sitcom The Middle where he portrayed the friendly neighbor, Bill Norwood. He was 60 years old at the time of death.
Andrea Pett-Joseph, Finn’s manager, said in a statement to Deadline, “Finn was the kindest, most joyful person in any room.”
According to Deadline, Finn was diagnosed with bladder cancer three years ago in 2022. Even though he went into remission, the cancer returned and metastasized. Ironically, Finn’s family and friends just launched a GoFundMe page to help with medical costs just a few months ago. To date, they raised over $118,000 in donations.
Deadline stated that Finn was born in Evanston, Illinois on July 31, 1965. A graduate of Marquette University, he then went on and joined the cast of Second City in Chicago where he became friends with future SNL cast member, Chris Farley (Dirty Work, Almost Heroes) in 1987. Finn’s “big break” came in the 1990’s when he landed the reoccurring roles on The George Wendt Show and Murphy Brown. Then in 1998, he played the character Joe Mayo in the Seinfeld episode, “The Reverse Peephole.” His other credits include That 70’s Show, The King of Queens, Friends, Third Rock From The Sun. In 2001, he played Jim Frost in eight episodes of the comedy-drama, Ed.
Deadline reported that Finn had recently portrayed Bill Norwood in 23 episodes of The Middle. Norwood was the nice neighbor to the main family of the sitcom. On the show Marvin Marvin, he portrayed Bob Forman on 18 episodes. Deadline also mentioned that Finn was also starred on the big screen as well, appearing in more than a dozen films including, Dude, Where’s my car, I love You, Beth Cooper, and he worked with Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada, Hoppers), Steve Martin (Cruel Shoes, Parenthood) and Alec Baldwin (Rust, Kid Santa) in the film It’s Complicated.
Finn is survived by his wife Donna and their three children, and his parents.