Pat Finn, actor from ‘The Middle,’ dies at 60 after bladder cancer diagnosis
- - Pat Finn, actor from ‘The Middle,’ dies at 60 after bladder cancer diagnosis
Kaitlin ReillyDecember 25, 2025 at 12:43 AM
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Pat Finn, the actor who played Bill Norwood on the long-running sitcom The Middle, has died, according to family members and multiple news outlets. He was 60.
Finn died on Monday night after being diagnosed with cancer, TMZ reported on Wednesday. In a statement to the New York Post, a representative for Finn, who also starred on The George Wendt Show and appeared on series like Friends and Murphy Brown, was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2022, and the cancer went into remission before returning and metastasizing. Yahoo reached out to Finn’s rep for comment.
Finn is survived by his wife, Donna, whom he married in 1990, and their kids and children, Cassidy, Caitlin and Ryan. On Tuesday, Finn’s daughter Cassidy posted a tribute to her late dad on Instagram, sharing several throwback photos.
“Dad… you were and are a role model and an inspiration to everyone you met. I tried to think of a word to describe you, but no word could ever do it justice. You are Pat Finn,” Cassidy wrote. “The least shocking thing was hearing the nurses say they have never seen so many people show up at a hospital for someone. That was my dad.”
Cassidy said that her life is “forever changed” because of her father. “He taught me to be funny, positive, humble, to listen, to always try my best, to love, and to surround myself with the best people. But most importantly—you taught me kindness,” she wrote. “I’ve never met a single person who had a bad thing to say about my dad. I feel like the luckiest person in the world that I got to call you my dad.”
On Wednesday, his daughter Caitlin Finn also shared photos of her and Finn on Instagram along with an emotional caption.
“It’s difficult to put into words how to describe someone like my dad. Mostly because there really was no one like him. But lately, I’ve found myself saying the word proud a lot,” she began the lengthy post. “I’m proud of the life he created. I’m proud of him for following his dreams. I’m proud of him for marrying the love of his life. I’m proud of him for being the most genuine and selfless person every day. I’m proud of him for the fight he fought and never giving up. But most of all, I am so proud to be his daughter.”
Comedian Jeff Dye also shared a photo with Finn in a Wednesday post on X, writing alongside the pic of him lifting the actor at a barbecue, “I don’t like to be the guy who post pics with celebrities that pass. But this guy wasn’t just a celebrity to me. He was a friend. One of the best dudes I knew with a PERFECT sense of humor. I love you Pat Finn and I’ll see again in the after , we can sing together and shake our heads about all the meannes in the used to be.”
(From left): Jen Ray, Sean O'Bryan, Patricia Heaton, Neil Flynn, Julie Brown, Pat Finn in "The Middle" in 2012. '(Richard Foreman/ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Finn, an Evanston, Ill., native, was a longtime friend of the late Chris Farley, with whom he played rugby at Marquette University. Along with Farley, he was an improv performer at Chicago’s famed Second City.
In addition to appearing in a slew of sitcoms like 2 Broke Girls, The Bernie Mac Show and 3rd Rock From the Sun over the course of his three-decade-long career, he also appeared in films like Dude, Where’s My Car? and It’s Complicated. Later in his career, he taught at different universities, including the University of Colorado Boulder, Indiana University, UCLA, Pepperdine and Marquette, per the Hollywood Reporter.
Finn’s last onscreen appearance was in the 2023 Anna Camp film Unexpected, which his The Middle costar Patricia Heaton produced.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
