William Fagerbakke ( ; born October 4, 1957) is an American actor. He voices Patrick Star in the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise, and played Michael "Dauber" Dybinski on the sitcom Coach. He also appeared in 12 episodes of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother as Marshall Eriksen's father Marvin.
Early life and education
Fagerbakke was born on October 4, 1957, in Fontana, California, and moved to Rupert, Idaho, 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, basketball, and track.
Although he had multiple scholarship offers for college football, including Pac-8 schools, he decided to stay in state and attended the University of Idaho in Moscow. He was a defensive lineman for the Vandals and was ticketed to redshirt in 1976, but was called into action in the fourth game of his sophomore season. The Vandals went 7–4 in 1976, 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, but a knee injury in spring drills ended Fagerbakke's athletic career, which turned his focus to theater (the Vandals went 3–8 in 1977 and Troxel was fired; then 2–9 in 1978 under Jerry Davitch, one of the wins being a "no-show" forfeit).
Fagerbakke's first theatrical role was in a campus production of Godspell. He was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and earned his bachelor's degree 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, Texas.
Career
Fagerbakke has appeared on television in roles such as assistant coach "Dauber" Dybinski on Coach, and in movies, 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's original series Oz as Officer Karl Metzger. Since 1999, he has provided the voice of Patrick Star for the Nicktoon SpongeBob SquarePants. 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 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 How I Met Your Mother. In 2012, he made a cameo appearance in the TV show Weeds.
In 2022, Fagerbakke guest-starred in season 5 of Dynasty portraying Peter De Vilbes while his daughter Carson portrays Peter's daughter Patty.
Personal life
Fagerbakke married actress Catherine McClenahan in 1989, together they have two daughters. In September 2012, he filed for legal separation from McClenahan, citing irreconcilable differences.
Filmography
Television voice roles
Video games
Television live action roles
Coach (1989–1997) (TV Series) Stephen King's The Stand (1994) (TV Series) - Tom Cullen Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996) (TV Series) - Dirk Oz (TV Series) (1998–1999) - Karl Metzger The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (TV Series) - Thud Jackie Chan Adventures (2001) (voice) - Butch Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast (2003) (voice) - Patrick Star SpongeBob SquarePants B.C. (Before Comedy) (2004) - Patar (Caveman version of Patrick Star), Caveman How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014) - Marvin Eriksen Sr. A.T.O.M. (2005–2006) - Albert "Flesh" Family Guy (2007) (voice) - Patrick Star (archive footage from The Campfire Episode; uncredited) - Road to Rupert Kim Possible (2007) (voice) - Myron According to Jim (2007) (TV Series) - Howard Shrieking Violet (2007) - Larchmont Phineas and Ferb (2009) - Frosty the Snowman Handy Manny (2010) - Roland Weeds (2012) - Police Academy Instructor Robot and Monster (2012) - Lev Krumholtz Growing Up Fisher (2014) - Ken Fisher Crash & Bernstein (2014) - Jeff Black-ish (2017) - Tom Avery Mom (2018) - Sergeant Gene Rubenzer I'm Dying Up Here (2018) - Chris Beverly Young Sheldon (2021) - Officer Jake Dynasty (2022) - Peter De Vilbes