Dick Van Dyke
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Autobiography: My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business: A Memoir
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from the Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television
Dick Van Dyke's entertainment career began during World War II when he participated in variety shows and worked as an announcer while serving in the military. That career has continued with five decades of work as an actor on network and local television, the stage and in motion pictures. The television work started with his role as host of variety programs in Atlanta, Georgia, and his first foray into network television came in 1956 as the emcee of CBS Television's Cartoon Theater.
But it was his role as Rob Petrie on the classic CBS situation comedy The Dick Van Dyke Show that insured his place in television history. He was cast by series creator Carl Reiner and series producer Sheldon Leonard in the role of a television comedy writer (Reiner himself played in the series pilot Head of the Family). He was selected over another television pioneer, Johnny Carson. Plucked from a starring role on the Broadway stage in Bye Bye Birdie, Van Dyke used his unique talent for physical comedy, coupled with his ability to sing and dance, to play Robert Simpson Petrie, the head writer of the Alan Brady Show. Complementing Van Dyke was a veteran cast of talented comedic actors including Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Jerry Paris, Carl Reiner (as Alan Brady), as well as a newcomer to television Mary Tyler Moore, who played Rob's wife Laura Petrie.
In many ways The Dick Van Dyke Show broke new ground in network television. The series created quite a stir when, in the early 1960s, husband and wife, though still sleeping in separate beds, were shown to actually have a physical relationship, and Mary Tyler Moore was even shown wearing Capri pants, unheard of at the time. But the quintessential example of the innovations offered by The Dick Van Dyke Show occurred when, after the network rejected the script, only an appeal from Sheldon Leonard himself secured permission to film the episode "That's My Boy??" In this episode, Rob (Van Dyke) is convinced that the baby he and Laura brought home from the hospital was not theirs, but a baby belonging to another couple, the Peters. Constant mix-ups with flowers and candy at the hospital, caused by the similarity in names (Petrie and Peters), convinced Rob that the babies were somehow switched, and he decided to confront the Peters family. Only when the Peters show up at Rob and Laura's house does Rob learns that the Peters are African American. Some have speculated that the overwhelming positive reaction by audiences to this episode led Sheldon Leonard to eventually cast another future television megastar, Bill Cosby, in I Spy.
Dick Van Dyke won three Emmy Awards for his role in TDVDS, and the series received four Emmy Awards as outstanding comedy series. The series, which began in 1961, ended its network television run in 1966, although audiences have enjoyed the program through its extended life in syndication.
Although Dick Van Dyke went on to star in such feature films as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins and The Comic, he has continued to be a staple on network television with The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Van Dyke and Company (for which he received his fourth Emmy) and a critically-acclaimed and Emmy-nominated dramatic performance in the made-for-television movie The Morning After. In his fifth decade in television, Van Dyke has been seen in the 1990s prime time series Diagnosis Murder for CBS, in which he co-starred with his son Barry Van Dyke.
-Thomas A. Birk
DICK VAN DYKE. Born in West Plains, Missouri, U.S.A., 13 December 1925. Married: Marjorie Willett, 1948; three daughters and two sons. Served in U.S. Army Air Corps, during World War II. Founded advertising agency with Wayne Williams, Danville, Illinois, 1946; appeared with Phillip Erickson in pantomime act The Merry Mutes, Eric and Van, 1947-53; television master of ceremonies, The Music Shop, Atlanta; hosted television variety show The Dick Van Dyke Show, New Orleans; master of ceremonies, The Morning Show, CBS, 1955, and The Cartoon Show, 1956; hosted weekly television show Flair, ABC, 1960; performed on Broadway in Bye Bye Birdie, 1960-61; starred in weekly television sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, CBS, 1961-66; performed in such films as Mary Poppins, 1965, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 1968; returned to television series format with Diagnosis: Murder, 1994; chair, Nick at Nite, since 1992. Recipient: Theater World Award, 1960; Antoinette Perry Award, 1961; four Emmy Awards.
TELEVISION SERIES
1955 The Morning Show
1956 Cartoon Show
1958-59 Mother's Day
1959 Laugh Lines
1960 Flair
1961-66 The Dick Van Dyke Show
1971-74 The New Dick Van Dyke Show
1976 Van Dyke and Company
1988 The Van Dyke Show
1994- Diagnosis: Murder
MADE-FOR-TELEVISION MOVIES
1974 The Morning After
1977 Tubby the Tuba (voice only)
1982 Drop-Out Father
1983 Found Money
1987 Ghost of a Chance
FILMS
Bye Bye Birdie, 1963; What a Way To Go, 1964; Lt. Robin Crusoe, USN, 1965; Mary Poppins, 1965; Divorce American Style, 1967; Never a Dull Moment, 1967; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 1968; The Comic, 1969; Some Kind of Nut, 1969; Cold Turkey, 1971; The Runner Stumbles, 1979; Drop-Out Father, 1982; Dick Tracy, 1990; Freddie Goes to Washington (voice only), 1992.
STAGE
The Girls Against the Boys, 1959; Bye Bye Birdie, 1960-61.
PUBLICATIONS
Faith, Hope, and Hilarity. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1970.
Karlen, Neal. "A Familiar Face Introduces himself to a New Generation" (interview). The New York Times, 21 October 1992.
Highlights
Dick Van Dyke on the "thrill" of working in live television
Clip begins at: 03:38, Duration: 00m 27s
Dick Van Dyke on how
The Dick Van Dyke Showcame about, originally written for and by and starring Carl Reiner
Clip begins at: 00:28- Dick Van Dyke on the physical comedy aspect on the
Dick Van Dyke Show; the pratfalls
Clip begins at: 04:36 
Dick Van Dyke on making the transition from comedy to drama with Diagnosis Murder, and playing "a 65-year old Rob Petrie"
Clip begins at: 00:34- Dick Van Dyke on how The Dick Van Dyke show impacted television
Clip begins at: 12:58
Interview
- Part 1
- On his childhood in Illinois; early influence from physical comedians such as Laurel & Hardy; on his military service and learning about acting and performing while there;
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On early jobs in Radio and advertising; on teaming up with Phil Erickson for the comedy team the Merry Mutes; later "Erik and Van";
Clip begins at: 08:10 - On filling an hour of live television at his first job as host of a morning television show The Merry Mutes and The Music Shop in Atlanta; on getting hired as the host of The Morning Show on CBS in New York; the Hollywood Blacklist; working on CBS' Cartoon Theater
Clip begins at: 14:18 - Part 2
- On the CBS Cartoon Theater; on live television in the 1950s; on leaving CBS; working on Broadway
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On guest-starring on television variety shows with Pat Boone and Andy Williams; appearing on the Phil Silvers Show, The Trouble with Richard, and discovering his comedic talents; working with Carol Burnett and Mike Nichols; on the U.S. Steel Hour with George C. Scott; Bye Bye Birdie;
Clip begins at: 08:03 - On being approached by Sheldon Leonard and Carl Reiner to do The Dick Van Dyke show after they saw him in "Bye Bye Birdie" on Broadway
Clip begins at: 23:06 - Part 3
- On The Dick Van Dyke Show; the pilot; working with Carl Reiner and Sheldon Leonard
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On the process of writing for The Dick Van Dyke Show; on interference from the network; on the show's writers; on the cast -Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam;
Clip begins at: 08:45 - On Mary Poppins and working with Julie Andrews; his British accent
Clip begins at: 26:41 - Part 4
- On working on Mary Poppins while still starring in the Dick Van Dyke show; on the specials he did with much of the crew and cast from that show
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On The New Dick Van Dyke show and how that came about; on his movie career
Clip begins at: 08:42 - On the series Jake and the Fatman; he played a doctor who solves crimes
Clip begins at: 27:15 - Part 5
- On Diagnosis Murder; working with his son Barry Van Dyke; Fred Silverman; Tim Conway and Harvey Korman; on changes in the television industry
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On how The Dick Van Dyke show impacted television; on being inducted into the Television Hall of Fame; on working with Garry Moore, Gower Champion, Sheldon Leonard, Carl Reiner, Danny Thomas, and more
Clip begins at: 12:58 - Part 6
- On Bud Yorkin, Norman Lear; Carol Burnett; Julie Andrews; Stan Laurel; his family
Clip begins at: 0:0
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I would love to see Mr. Van Dyke interviewed by a better interviewer. Very disappointing. This guy was insufferable. Too many "what was it like to work with..." kinds of questions. Those are junior high school journalism classes kinds of questions. To his credit, Mr. Van Dyke continued - in his humble way - to answer these questions thoughtfully and without making it terribly apparent that he knew he was being interviewed by someone in need of a bit more "seasoning". Dick Van Dyke is a very important figure in world television and motion picture history. He is nearly universally loved and admired and has provided countless hours of entertainment and joy to hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of people. How I would LOVE to sit and have coffee with him. I'd even buy. I can't imagine having grown up without experiencing the work of Dick Van Dyke. Long may you live, sir, and thank you for all the happiness you have brought to me and now to my three year old twin daughters who LOVE Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
From a purely technical standpoint, why - oh why - was Mr. Van Dyke so poorly mic'ed?!?!
This is the first such "EmmyTVlegends" interview that I've seen.
What's wrong with it?!?! The interviewer is the LEAST important part of the conversation and, yet, the SUBJECT (Mr. Van Dyke) is badly mic'd.
Why isn't Mr. Van Dyke's audio designed to be at the forefront? He IS, after all, the intimate and true "subject" of this interview!!!!
Also, unless so directed, the interviewer should NOT talk-over the subject in ANY situation. Keep their thoughts "in the clear" (for later "sound bites")!
Maybe, with my decades in this biz, I have more hard-knocks learning. But this interview could have gone from "meh" to OUTSTANDING...by removing ego and the need to "be heard" by the interviewer.
On the "plus" side, you clearly did major research...so for that, I give you kudos.
During World War II, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps where he became a radio announcer and served in Special Services entertaining troops in the Continental United States. While Van Dyke appeared at the Chapman Park Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, he and the former Margerie Willett were married on the radio show Bride and Groom in 1948. They had four children. Did you know all that? I am the biuggest Van Dyke fan!
Johnie Flakne from hosted PBX Toronto
Thanks for this - great document - of a natural sincere human being - who we all warm to - so fortunate to have had him in business for so long...
Sharlana Lungford
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I absoutely love,love,love Dick Van Dyke.....Diagnosis Murder needs to come back!! Happy Bday Dick...you make me so happy:-)
After all these years he has so much humility with all of his great work, and probably doesn't even know it! ha ha -What a brilliant and talented person.
A great man ... a truly great man ... I still love the Dick Van Dyke show ...to this day ... it makes some of today's comedy shows seem lame !
a true TV legend sure hope his comments are really true and not just made up to please the fans.
@ironman711 Without Stan Laurel there would be no Van Dyke.
Without DVD, we wouldn't have Jim Carey....
I liked his Cockney accent thankyou. Sounded good to me.
Mic yourself!
@cheeriosinabowl The failure of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang killed off his film career.
Thank you , I actually discovered this by accident , and am I ever glad I did . Dick has been my idol since I was 6 , and that was 50 years , ago .
Dick's career went for a nosedive and stayed there after the Dick Van Dyke Show ended.
He only got bits and pieces after that -- it's strange Mary Tyler Moore didn't at least guest-star him on her own show MTM show in the 1970's. Dick's career was floundering badly.
@RichardElden Well, unless you're just trying to rile me up, that's your opinion, and I have my own. What I meant was that though he's 85 now, he still looks at least 10 years younger. It appears he's hardly aged in 13 years. Check out some recent pictures of him. If you still don't see what I mean, you're either blind or obnoxious.
"i've never been bitten by an animal" of course he hasn't, who would hurt dick van dyke? He's just so polite and cool
I watched him as a child on The Dick Van Dyke Show. he is 2 years older than my dad. But I must say Dick your as cute now as you were on your show. I will always love you. I watch all of your old shows still. So handsome..... God Bless you and may you have many more years in life..... :)
@YourFaceWillDie396 He had just tuned 72 when this interview was filmed in January 1998. Dick Van Dyke has very bad breathing from fifty years of chain smoking.
@RichardElden Is that you ever talk about? Correct me if I am wrong, but you've done this with Richard Burton, Jeremy Irons, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and countless others. Not ONCE have you ever remarked about their talent, ability, and character. What is your problem? Do you have a smoking problem yourself? Look at this man! He's 85 and he doesn't look and sound a day over 70, and don't you try to deny it. I have a strong feeling no one will agree with you. You and Juan need to go fuck yourselves.
I wish he had talked more about chitty chitty bang bang... but this was a wonderful interview
Name another Dutch-American born in Missouri.
Hey, Dick. If I take my glasses off, you look just like Caesar Romero.
Excellent interview, and excellent interviewer, too. Nice job.
Speaking of which, considering he was a chain smoker, it's miraculous not only how good he looks and sounds, but the mere fact that he lived to 85! For that reason, no one has a good rationale for vilifying him.
@MichaelCrawfordsFan Oh my goodness, thank you for saying that. I'm praying for the same thing, he always struck me as the epitome of a gentlemen very classy, intelligent and witty yet simple-minded at the same time. In other words, so down to earth...I would love to meet him... soon., and Julie Andrews.
@rltuthill Did Dick take care of himself by smoking 60 cigarettes a day?
I love him!!!!!!!!!!!!
@JayFoxFire He is still alive :P
D'aww, Dick. <3
Someday, I'd like to shake his hand and tell him how much I enjoy his acting.
i love dick van dyke such a great guy and a great person
what a legend, but what a terrible interviewer and technique. dick van dyke needs better. talking over responses is not good
Dick Van Dyke is a national treasure! So, charming and talented. Truely a classy guy. I'm 53 now and I used to love the Dick Van Dyke show when I was a kid. I've probably seen every episode many times over the years. That show was one of the best sitcoms ever made and still holds up today! He was great in Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Comic etc.
@JuanMacready Why is it amazing? He's only 84. Ernest Borgnine is still going strong at 93! I think it's down to taking care of yourself and good genes and luck too, I suppose.
I LOVE him so much!! He is amazing!
He has a great memory, i cant remember what i ate last tuesday!
He's a legend, one of the greatest actor ever lived
i wonder if today he looks like his older version from mary poppins
Dick's sound is bad.....
At 10 years old, I loved Dick Van Dyke & Mary & Morrie.....
sir dick van wane dike is the best
Dick Van Dyke has great talent, class and universal appeal. He is a true entertainment legend.
Thanks for this - great document - of a natural sincere human being - who we all warm to - so fortunate to have had him in business for so long
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