This is news that shakes everyone who followed the actor from the small screen to the big screen. Patrick Muldoon, an American actor known for his roles in several cult TV series and in the film Starship Troopers, died suddenly on Sunday, April 19, 2026 from a heart attack, at the age of 57. For an entire generation of viewers raised on 1990s American series, his abrupt passing feels like the end of an era.
William Patrick Muldoon III was born in 1968 in San Pedro, a coastal neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. He grew up in a household where creativity was central to family life: his parents pursued painting, music, and writing. That artistic milieu naturally steered him in his twenties toward modeling (he notably posed for Calvin Klein) before turning to acting.
Her first TV appearances came in popular 1980s and 1990s series, including Who's the Boss? alongside Tony Danza. It was then the Days of Our Lives soap that earned her real recognition, playing Austin Reed, a role crowned with a Soap Opera Digest Award for Best New Actor. Building on that success, he joined the cast of Melrose Place in the role of Richard Hart, from 1992 to 1995, becoming one of the most recognizable faces on American television. He also appears in Saved by the Bell and Palm Beach Secrets, two other emblematic series of the era.
On the big screen, it’s his role as Zander Barcalow in Starship Troopers (1997), Paul Verhoeven’s sci‑fi film, that earned him international recognition. A memorable on‑screen death, in a movie that remains a genre classic to this day. He went on to total about thirty productions, spanning independent films and TV movies, before making one last big‑screen appearance in Marlowe (2022), directed by Neil Jordan, alongside Liam Neeson.
Beyond his acting career, Patrick Muldoon has also made headlines for his romances with famous actresses: Tori Spelling, Stacy Sanches, Denise Richards (met on the set of Starship Troopers), and later, Juliette Binoche. In 2003, the actor and the French star formed a discreet yet highly covered couple for three years. The actress, who had just separated from Benoît Magimel, has not yet publicly reacted to the news of his death.
Few realize it, but Patrick Muldoon led a double artistic life off screen. He was singer and guitarist for the band The Sleeping Masses, proof of a creative temperament that extended far beyond acting. Those close to him describe a man of rare generosity, who "loved animals as much as people" and possessed "that rare quality of making others feel safe and truly seen." He leaves behind his partner Miriam Rothbart, his parents, his sister Shana Muldoon — married to director Ahmet Zappa, son of the legendary Frank Zappa — as well as many friends and relatives. His filmography comprises no fewer than 99 titles, a dense and passionate body of work that 1990s fans won’t soon forget.
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