Jerry Van Dyke
Encyclopedia
Jerry Van Dyke is an American
comedian
and actor
. He is the younger brother of comedian and actor Dick Van Dyke
, and made his acting debut on The Dick Van Dyke Show
with several guest appearances as Rob Petrie's brother, Stacey. Later in his career, he was one of the stars in the TV sitcom Coach
(1989–1997).
in 1931 to Loren (nickname “Cookie”) and Hazel (née McCord) Van Dyke. He is of Dutch descent on his father's side and of English
and Scottish
descent on his mother's side. His mother is a Mayflower
descendant.
career while still in high school
in Danville
, and was already a veteran of strip joints and nightclubs when he joined the Air Force
Tops In Blue
in 1952. During the mid-Fifties, Van Dyke worked at WTHI-TV
in Terre Haute, Indiana
. The "Jerry Van Dyke Show," which included future CBS News Early Show news anchor Joseph Benti, Nancee South and Ben Falber, was popular fare. In the service he performed at military bases around the world, twice winning the All Air Force Talent Show. Following his first guest appearances on The Dick Van Dyke Show
and two appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show
, CBS
made him a regular on The Judy Garland Show
. He was also given hosting chores on the 1963 game show Picture This. In that same year, movie audiences saw him in supporting roles in the films McLintock!
, Palm Springs Weekend
and The Courtship of Eddie's Father
.
, and rejecting an offer to replace Don Knotts
on The Andy Griffith Show
, Van Dyke accepted the lead role of attorney David Crabtree in the short-lived sitcom My Mother the Car
(1965), the misadventures of a man whose deceased mother Gladys (voiced by Ann Sothern
) is reincarnated as a restored antique car. Although the series was a commercial failure, Van Dyke continued to work steadily in supporting television
and film
roles through the rest of the decade. He starred in another short-lived situation comedy, Accidental Family
(1967), as widowed comedian Jerry Webster who buys a farm to raise his son while he's not professionally touring.
During the 1970s, Van Dyke returned to stand-up comedy. He spent much of the decade touring Playboy Club
s around the country and headlining venues in Las Vegas, Nevada
, Reno
and Atlantic City. He returned to television for guest appearances on The Mary Tyler Moore Show
, Love, American Style
and Fantasy Island
, and roles in The Amazing Cosmic Awareness of Duffy Moon (1976) and 13 Queens Boulevard (1979).
In 1989 Van Dyke portrayed Luther Van Dam, a beloved, yet befuddled assistant coach on the long-running series Coach
(1989–1997). He received four consecutive Emmy nominations (1990 through 1993) for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series."
commercials to promote the Big Hardee
, then in the late 1990s acted as the spokesperson for Big Lots
. He appeared in the 2000s sitcom Yes, Dear
as a recurring character
, "Big Jimmy," the father of Jimmy Hughes. He made a guest appearance
on a September 2008 episode of My Name Is Earl
and in 2010, he made an appearance on the second season episode, "A Simple Christmas" of the television series, The Middle
, playing Frankie's father, Tag Spence. He returned in the third season Thanksgiving episode, "Thanksgiving III," in November 2011. Van Dyke also played the object of Maw Maw's affections on the 18th episode of Raising Hope
s first season.
in 1991, after an emotional phone call with her husband Jack Nance
. Van Dyke is the great uncle of Shane Van Dyke
.
Jerry and wife Shirley live on his 800-acre ranch near Malvern, Arkansas
.
Van Dyke is an avid poker player and announced a number of poker tournaments for ESPN
in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He is also a 4-string banjo
player with several performances on the Dick Van Dyke Show to his credit.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He is the younger brother of comedian and actor Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...
, and made his acting debut on The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
with several guest appearances as Rob Petrie's brother, Stacey. Later in his career, he was one of the stars in the TV sitcom Coach
Coach (TV series)
Coach is an American television sitcom that aired for nine seasons on ABC from 1989 to 1997. The series starred Craig T. Nelson as Hayden Fox, head coach of the fictional Division I-A college football team, the Minnesota State University Screaming Eagles...
(1989–1997).
Early life
Van Dyke was born in Danville, IllinoisDanville, Illinois
Danville is a city in Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is the principal city of the'Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Danville and Vermilion County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 32,467. It is the county seat of...
in 1931 to Loren (nickname “Cookie”) and Hazel (née McCord) Van Dyke. He is of Dutch descent on his father's side and of English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
and Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
descent on his mother's side. His mother is a Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
descendant.
Early career
Van Dyke began his stand-up comedyStand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
career while still in high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Danville
Danville High School (Illinois)
Danville High School is a public high school located in Danville, Illinois. DHS is part of Danville District 118, which also includes two middle schools and eight elementary schools....
, and was already a veteran of strip joints and nightclubs when he joined the Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
Tops In Blue
Tops In Blue
Tops In Blue is a touring performance ensemble made up of active duty members of the United States Air Force formed in 1953. For the past 57 years, Tops In Blue has traveled to more than 20 countries to perform more than 120 times each year for airmen and families around the world...
in 1952. During the mid-Fifties, Van Dyke worked at WTHI-TV
WTHI-TV
WTHI-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station in Terre Haute, Indiana. Owned by LIN TV Corporation, it operates on VHF digital channel 10. Its transmitter is located in Farmersburg, Indiana...
in Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
. The "Jerry Van Dyke Show," which included future CBS News Early Show news anchor Joseph Benti, Nancee South and Ben Falber, was popular fare. In the service he performed at military bases around the world, twice winning the All Air Force Talent Show. Following his first guest appearances on The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
and two appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
made him a regular on The Judy Garland Show
The Judy Garland Show
The Judy Garland Show is an American musical variety television series that aired on CBS on Sunday nights during the 1963-1964 television season. Despite a sometimes stormy relationship with Judy Garland, CBS had found success with several television specials featuring the star...
. He was also given hosting chores on the 1963 game show Picture This. In that same year, movie audiences saw him in supporting roles in the films McLintock!
McLintock!
McLintock! is a 1963 comedy Western starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, and loosely based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The film is notable, perhaps even infamous, for its two spanking scenes, in which mother and daughter are each paddled with coal shovels: the daughter by her...
, Palm Springs Weekend
Palm Springs Weekend
Palm Springs Weekend is a 1963 Warner Bros. bedroom comedy film directed by Norman Taurog. It has elements of the beach party genre and has been called “a sort of Westernized version of Where the Boys Are" by Billboard Magazine...
and The Courtship of Eddie's Father
The Courtship of Eddie's Father (film)
The Courtship of Eddie's Father is a 1963 romantic comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Glenn Ford as a widowed father, with a young son to care for, played by Ron Howard....
.
Television career
Eager to capitalize on his exposure, CBS made plans to set him up in his own series. After turning down the role of Gilligan in Gilligan's IslandGilligan's Island
Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...
, and rejecting an offer to replace Don Knotts
Don Knotts
Jesse Donald "Don" Knotts was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards...
on The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
, Van Dyke accepted the lead role of attorney David Crabtree in the short-lived sitcom My Mother the Car
My Mother the Car
My Mother the Car is an American fantasy sitcom which aired for a single season on NBC between September 14, 1965 and September 6, 1966. A total of thirty episodes were produced by United Artists Television....
(1965), the misadventures of a man whose deceased mother Gladys (voiced by Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern was an American film and television actress whose career spanned six decades.-Early life and career:...
) is reincarnated as a restored antique car. Although the series was a commercial failure, Van Dyke continued to work steadily in supporting television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
roles through the rest of the decade. He starred in another short-lived situation comedy, Accidental Family
Accidental Family
Accidental Family is an American sitcom broadcast on NBC during the first part of the 1967-68 U.S. television season.-Synopsis:The series stars Jerry Van Dyke as a widowed comedian, Jerry Webster, who bought a farm in the San Fernando Valley to serve as a place for him to raise his son, Sandy, when...
(1967), as widowed comedian Jerry Webster who buys a farm to raise his son while he's not professionally touring.
During the 1970s, Van Dyke returned to stand-up comedy. He spent much of the decade touring Playboy Club
Playboy Club
The Playboy Club initially was a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first club opened at 116 E. Walton Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States, on February 29, 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room...
s around the country and headlining venues in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, Reno
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
and Atlantic City. He returned to television for guest appearances on The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...
, Love, American Style
Love, American Style
Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974...
and Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:...
, and roles in The Amazing Cosmic Awareness of Duffy Moon (1976) and 13 Queens Boulevard (1979).
In 1989 Van Dyke portrayed Luther Van Dam, a beloved, yet befuddled assistant coach on the long-running series Coach
Coach (TV series)
Coach is an American television sitcom that aired for nine seasons on ABC from 1989 to 1997. The series starred Craig T. Nelson as Hayden Fox, head coach of the fictional Division I-A college football team, the Minnesota State University Screaming Eagles...
(1989–1997). He received four consecutive Emmy nominations (1990 through 1993) for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series."
Later career
Van Dyke continues to make frequent television appearances and performs stand up comedy in major venues around the country. In 1995 he appeared in a series of Hardee'sHardee's
Hardee's is a restaurant chain, located mostly in the Southeast and Midwestern regions of the United States. It has evolved through several corporate ownerships since its establishment in 1960. It is currently owned and operated by CKE Restaurants. Along with its sibling restaurant chain, Carl's...
commercials to promote the Big Hardee
Big Hardee
The Big Hardee is a hamburger sandwich offered by Hardee's. The original Big Hardee was introduced in 1995 and was designed to compete against McDonald's Big Mac or Burger King's Whopper....
, then in the late 1990s acted as the spokesperson for Big Lots
Big Lots
Big Lots, Inc. is a Fortune 500 retail corporation with annual revenues well over $4 billion.Its department stores focus mainly on selling closeout and overstock merchandise. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio, USA and currently operates over 1,400 stores in 47 states...
. He appeared in the 2000s sitcom Yes, Dear
Yes, Dear
Yes, Dear is a television sitcom that aired from October 2, 2000, to February 15, 2006, on CBS. It starred Anthony Clark, Jean Louisa Kelly, Mike O'Malley and Liza Snyder....
as a recurring character
Recurring character
A recurring character is a fictional character, usually in a prime time TV series, who appears from time to time during the series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in an episode, sometimes being the main focus...
, "Big Jimmy," the father of Jimmy Hughes. He made a guest appearance
Guest appearance
In show business , a guest appearance is a participation of an outsider performer , usually called guest artist , in an event , i.e., the participation of a performer which does not belong to the regular crew In performance...
on a September 2008 episode of My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...
and in 2010, he made an appearance on the second season episode, "A Simple Christmas" of the television series, The Middle
The Middle (TV series)
The Middle is an American situation comedy television series that premiered on ABC on September 30, 2009. The show features Frances "Frankie" Heck , a working-class, Midwestern woman married to Mike Heck who resides in the small fictional town of Orson, Indiana. They are the parents of three...
, playing Frankie's father, Tag Spence. He returned in the third season Thanksgiving episode, "Thanksgiving III," in November 2011. Van Dyke also played the object of Maw Maw's affections on the 18th episode of Raising Hope
Raising Hope
Raising Hope is a television comedy program first aired on September 21, 2010 on Fox. The series airs on Tuesdays at 9:30 pm. On January 10, 2011, Fox renewed Raising Hope for a second season, which premiered on September 20, 2011....
s first season.
Personal life
Van Dyke has married twice, and has three children from the first - daughters Jerri Lynn and Kelly Jean, and son Ronald. His daughter Kelly Jean Van Dyke, who worked in the adult film industry under the name Nancee Kelly, committed suicideSuicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in 1991, after an emotional phone call with her husband Jack Nance
Jack Nance
Marvin John Nance , known professionally as Jack Nance and occasionally credited as John Nance, was an American actor of stage and screen, primarily starring in offbeat or avant-garde productions...
. Van Dyke is the great uncle of Shane Van Dyke
Shane Van Dyke
Shane Van Dyke is an American television and film actor, best known for playing Dr. Alex Smith on the television series Diagnosis: Murder on CBS Television.-Background:...
.
Jerry and wife Shirley live on his 800-acre ranch near Malvern, Arkansas
Malvern, Arkansas
Malvern is the county seat of Hot Spring County, Arkansas. The city had a population of 10,318 at the time of the 2010 census and is also called the "Brick Capital of the World" because of the three Acme Brick plants in the area...
.
Van Dyke is an avid poker player and announced a number of poker tournaments for ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He is also a 4-string banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
player with several performances on the Dick Van Dyke Show to his credit.