Eugene Patton, the stagehand who earned fame as “Gene Gene The Dancing Machine” on NBC’s quirky television talent program “The Gong Show,” has died, his family announced.

He died Monday, March 9, 2015, in Pasadena, Calif., after suffering from diabetes, his family said. He was 82.

The show, hosted by creator and producer Chuck Barris, featured acts by amateurs who auditioned for three celebrity judges. The judges would bang a gong onstage to send the bad acts packing. The show aired from 1976 to 1978.

At spontaneous moments in the show, Count Basie’s upbeat “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” would blast out and Mr. Barris, the host, would bellow out “Gene Gene the Dancing Machine,” setting the stage for Mr. Patton.

Mr. Patton, usually wearing a green windbreaker, painter’s hat and bell bottom pants, would dance his way on stage, show off his moves and ignore a volley of items thrown his way, ranging from clothing to rubber fish.

His dance would prompt everyone on the set — from Mr. Barris, the show’s B-list celebrity judges and the audience — to join in.

Mr. Patton appeared in “The Gong Show Movie” in 2000, and briefly in “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” a 2002 movie about Mr. Barris directed by George Clooney.

A native of Berkeley, Calif., Mr. Patton was a former janitor at John Muir High School in Pasadena. In 1969, he became the first African-American member of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees, Local 33.

“You are a legend in our eyes,” the stage technicians union wrote on its Facebook page.

Mr. Patton later had to have both legs amputated because of diabetes.

Survivors include four children, a sister, nine grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.