During the late 1970s, as networks scrambled to find enough child actors to fill their "after school special" kid-angst movies, Brothers Chris and Pat Petersen (no relation to the 1950s teen idol
Paul Petersen) were important players.
Chris, the oldest (born in 1963), was everywhere in 1978 and 1979, on tv (
Little House on the Prairie, The Incredible Hulk, The Baxters) and in movies (
When Every Day was the Fourth of July, The Swarm). His roles often involved buddy-bonds:
1. Playing baseball with Larry B. Scott in
The Rag-Tag Champs, an
ABC Afterschool Special (1978)
2. Lost in the Colorado Rockies with Guillermo San Juan in
Joey and Redhawk on
CBS Afternoon Playhouse. This one had a "boys alone" gay subtext.
3. Karate-kicking with younger brother Pat in the precursor to the 1990s
ninja kid craze,
The Little Dragons (1979).
4. Fighting racism with
Moosie Drier in
The House at 12 Rose Street (1980).When Chris hit his teen years, the roles dried up, and he retired from acting.
His brother Patrick (born in 1966) had a longer career, starting with the tv series
The Kallikas (1977),
How the West was Won (1979), and
Shirley (1980), plus some gay-subtext after school specials of his own:
1.
The Ransom of Red Chief (1977, 1979), an
ABC Schoolbreak Special about a boy terrorizing his kidnappers.
2.
The Contest Kid (1978, 1979), an
ABC Schoolbreak Special about a boy who enters contests, and his best friend (
Ronnie Scribner).In 1979, he landed the role of Michael Fairgate on the evening soap
Knot's Landing. Michael provided shirtless teen-idol photos and tight jeans as the teenage son of Sid and Karen Fairgate, who worked in an auto garage and kept getting dumped by girls.
When
Knot's Landing ended in 1991, Pat retired from acting and opened a health food store.
