Jerry Van Dyke

Jerry Van Dyke
Born	July 27, 1931 (1931-07-27) (age 80) Danville Illinois, USA
Occupation	Actor/Comedian
Years active	1962—present

Jerry Van Dyke (born July 27, 1931) 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).

Early life

Van Dyke was born in Danville, Illinois 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.

Early career

Van Dyke began his stand-up comedy 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.

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 Island, 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 Clubs 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."

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's 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 in a Christmas episode of the television show The Middle. He also played the object of Maw Maw's affections on the 18th episode of Raising Hope'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 suicide 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.^[1] He is also a 4-string banjo player with several performances on the Dick Van Dyke Show to his credit.

References

1. ^ Press release discussing poker commentating

External links

• Jerry Van Dyke at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Van Dyke, Jerry
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 27, 1931
Place of birth	Danville, Illinois, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death