Comic actor Dave Madden, who played the child-hating agent in 1970s TV sitcom The Partridge Family, has died at a Florida hospice at 82.

Towering and rumpled, Madden was best known for his role as Reuben Kinkaid, who managed the Partridge family band and regularly clashed with its impish pre-teen bassist, played by Danny Bonaduce.

While the series starred Shirley Jones, with her real-life stepson David Cassidy as the resident heartthrob, it was Madden and freckle-faced Bonaduce who became the reigning comic duo.

“His relationship with Bonaduce is what made the show work: this strange, mad little boy and the grown man who was even worse as a father figure. It was hysterical,” Jones said.

Before The Partridge Family, Madden was part of the ensemble on the Laugh-In comedy series, sipping and sometimes spitting milk along with joining in the show’s zany sketches and crazy jokes. He later had a recurring role as one of the customers at Mel’s Diner on the sitcom Alice.

He leaves his wife, a daughter and a son.