Categories: News

Gene Patton, ‘The Gong Show’s Gene Gene Dancing Machine, Dies At 82

Gene Gene Dancing Machine from The Gong Show, Gene Patton, died Monday in Pasadena. He was 82.

Gene Patton Dies

Patton’s family announced his death Friday. A spokeswoman at the local Woods-Valentine Mortuary confirmed his passing, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Patton had long suffered from diabetes, losing both of his legs to the disease in 2001.

During The Gong Show’s run from 1976-78, Patton would shuffle out from backstage to the tune of count Basie’s “Jumpin’ at the Woodside.” When Gene Gene Dancing Machine busted a move, host Chuck Barris, the talent competition judges and the audience all followed suit. Patton’s boogie was incorporated into the show when he was spotted dancing while working as a stagehand during rehearsal.

“One day, during rehearsal, I saw Gene dancing by himself in a dark corner. The huge stagehand never moved his feet; just his body from the waist up. He was terrific,” Barris wrote in his 1984 memoir, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

Patton went on to reprise his moves in The Gong Show Movie and in George Clooney‘s feature film Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

Patton was predeceased by his wife Doris. He is survived by his sister Henrietta, children Bonnie, Carol, Sidney and Courtney, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Chelsea Regan

Recent Posts

‘Very Disillusioned’ With America, Ellen DeGeneres & Wife Portia De Rossi Move To England After Trump’s Election

Former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, Portia de Rossi, have moved to…

3 hours ago

Madonna Says Producers Want To ‘Downsize’ Her Biopic: ‘We Cannot Make Our Lives Smaller’

Madonna has shared her frustrations over the progress of her biopic after producers told her…

3 hours ago

Bruce Willis & Demi Moore’s Daughter, Tallulah Willis, Honored At Autism Gala After Late-Life Diagnosis

She said, “All of these things I thought made me dramatic or demanding or high…

6 hours ago

VIDEO: Amazing Footage Shows Crews Rescue Man Trapped On Side of Cliff Near Beach In San Francisco

https://youtu.be/aTcWp5QpDWQ Emergency crews from two agencies rescued a hiker clinging to the side of a…

17 hours ago

VIDEO: Duct-Taped Banana Artwork Sells For $6.2 Million At Sotheby’s

https://youtu.be/aKLnXehYRpc The viral duct-taped banana artwork by Maurizio Cattelan sold for $6.2 million during a…

17 hours ago

‘New York Post’ Columnist To Martha Stewart: ‘I’m Alive, B—’ After Mogul Said She Was Dead In Netflix Doc

Martha Stewart rejoiced in falsely claiming Andrea Peyser, a New York Post columnist who covered…

18 hours ago