Dick Van Dyke Movies
Born in Missouri, entertainer Dick Van Dyke was raised in Danville, Illinois, where repeated viewings of Laurel & Hardy comedies at his local movie palace inspired him to go into show business. Active in high school and community plays in his teens, Van Dyke briefly put his theatrical aspirations aside upon reaching college age. He toyed with the idea of becoming a Presbyterian minister; then, after serving in the Air Force during World War II, opened up a Danville advertising agency. When this venture failed, it was back to show biz, first as a radio announcer for local station WDAN, and later as half of a record-pantomime act called The Merry Mutes (the other half was a fellow named Philip Erickson). While hosting a TV morning show in New Orleans, Van Dyke was signed to a contract by the CBS network. He spent most of his time subbing for other CBS personalities and emceeing such forgotten endeavors as Cartoon Theatre. After making his acting debut as a hayseed baseball player on The Phil Silvers Show, Van Dyke left CBS to free-lance. He hosted a few TV game shows before his career breakthrough as co-star of the 1959 Broadway review The Girls Against the Boys. The following year, he starred in the musical comedy Bye Bye Birdie, winning a Tony Award for his portrayal of mother-dominated songwriter Albert Peterson (it would be his last Broadway show until the short-lived 1980 revival of The Music Man). In 1961, he was cast as comedy writer Rob Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, which after a shaky start lasted five seasons and earned its star three Emmies.He made his movie bow in the 1963 filmization of Bye Bye Birdie, then entered into a flexible arrangement with Walt Disney Studios. His best known films from that era include Mary Poppins (1964), Lt. Robin Crusoe, USN and The Comic, in which he played an amalgam of several self-destructive silent movie comedians. His TV specials remained popular in the ratings, and it was this fact that led to the debut of The New Dick Van Dyke Show in 1971. Despite the creative input of the earlier Dick Van Dyke Show's maven Carl Reiner, the later series never caught on, and petered out after three seasons. A chronic "people pleaser," Van Dyke was loath to display anger or frustration around his co-workers or fans, so he began taking solace in liquor; by 1972, he had become a full-fledged alcoholic. Rather than lie to his admirers or himself any longer, he underwent treatment and publicly admitted his alcoholism -- one of the first major TV stars ever to do so. Van Dyke's public confession did little to hurt his "nice guy" public image, and, now fully and permanently sober, he continued to be sought out for guest-star assignments and talk shows. In 1974, he starred in the TV movie The Morning After, playing an ad executive who destroys his reputation, his marriage and his life thanks to booze. After that Van Dyke, further proved his versatility when he began accepting villainous roles, ranging from a cold-blooded wife murderer in a 1975 Columbo episode to the corrupt district attorney in the 1990 film Dick Tracy. He also made several stabs at returning to weekly television, none of which panned out--until 1993, when he starred as Dr. Mark Sloan in the popular mystery series Diagnosis Murder. As gifted at writing and illustrating as he is at singing, dancing and clowning, Van Dyke has penned two books, Faith, Hope and Hilarity and Those Funny Kids. From 1992 to 1994, he served as chairman of the Nickelodeon cable service, which was then sweeping the ratings by running Dick Van Dyke Show reruns in prime time. Van Dyke is the brother of award-winning TV personality Jerry Van Dyke, and the father of actor Barry Van Dyke. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
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The first season of The Dick Van Dyke Show finds all the familiar ingredients firmly in place, even if they haven't completely jelled yet. Dick Van Dyke is given ample opportunity to show off his genius for physical comedy in the role of Rob Petrie, head writer for TV's "The Alan Brady Show." Morey Amsterdam is already delivering a fully-rounded characterization as Rob's coworker, "human joke machine" Buddy Sorrell, while Rose Marie has got a lock on her character as Rob's other coworker, bachelor gal Sally Rogers, a heady combination of salty sarcasm and wistful pathos (especially in her efforts to land the "perfect fella"). Additionally, Larry Mathews is as good as he'll ever be as Rob's son, Ritchie Petrie. Curiously, Mary Tyler Moore plays the role of Rob's wife, Laura, as a much younger, more petulant and less mature character than she'd be in subsequent seasons, as indicated by the fact that Rob refers to her as "Laurie" in many scenes. Also, she isn't given much of an opportunity to display her own considerable comic prowess -- with the spectacular exception of her riotous performance in the episode "The Blonde-Haired Brunette," in which she goes into hysterics while trying to explain to her husband why her hair has been dyed half-blonde, half-brown. (Significantly, Mary Tyler Moore has cited this as her favorite episode.) And to a lesser extent, Laura Petrie is showcased in "The Curious Thing About Women," wherein she comes to grief by trying to peek into a mysterious package that has been delivered to Rob (it contains an inflatable life raft).
Interestingly, in the last-mentioned episode, semi-regular Ann Morgan Guilbert (as Millie Helper) is very obviously pregnant; however, nothing is ever said again about her condition or its possible outcome. Like Mary Tyler Moore, Richard Deacon hasn't completely gotten a handle his character, "Alan Brady Show" producer Mel Cooley during season one. In fact, he comes off as something of a comic villain, superciliously putting down the literary efforts of the writing staff, and thus fully deserving of the insults laden upon him by quick-witted Buddy Sorrell. In later years, Mel would mellow into a more likeable character, as the role of heavy was shifted to boss Alan Brady (who is never seen full-face during the first season, though he is obviously being played by series creator Carl Reiner). Of the series' first 30 episodes, several stand out, most notably "I Am My Brother's Keeper" and "The Sleeping Brother," which comprise a two-part story introducing the character of Rob's neurotic brother Stacey Petrie -- played by Dick Van Dyke's brother Jerry Van Dyke. Literally dying in a suicidal Tuesday-night slot opposite Laramie and Bachelor Father, The Dick Van Dyke Show might have completely disappeared from view after its first season had not one of its sponsors picked up the series for a second year -- and in the bargain, insisted that CBS locate a better time slot. (Which it definitely did!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Interestingly, in the last-mentioned episode, semi-regular Ann Morgan Guilbert (as Millie Helper) is very obviously pregnant; however, nothing is ever said again about her condition or its possible outcome. Like Mary Tyler Moore, Richard Deacon hasn't completely gotten a handle his character, "Alan Brady Show" producer Mel Cooley during season one. In fact, he comes off as something of a comic villain, superciliously putting down the literary efforts of the writing staff, and thus fully deserving of the insults laden upon him by quick-witted Buddy Sorrell. In later years, Mel would mellow into a more likeable character, as the role of heavy was shifted to boss Alan Brady (who is never seen full-face during the first season, though he is obviously being played by series creator Carl Reiner). Of the series' first 30 episodes, several stand out, most notably "I Am My Brother's Keeper" and "The Sleeping Brother," which comprise a two-part story introducing the character of Rob's neurotic brother Stacey Petrie -- played by Dick Van Dyke's brother Jerry Van Dyke. Literally dying in a suicidal Tuesday-night slot opposite Laramie and Bachelor Father, The Dick Van Dyke Show might have completely disappeared from view after its first season had not one of its sponsors picked up the series for a second year -- and in the bargain, insisted that CBS locate a better time slot. (Which it definitely did!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, (more)
- 1960
Approximately 18 months before launching his own sitcom, Dick Van Dyke appears in this episode as Thomas Craig, who finds out that his millionaire uncle intends to leave all his money to his pet dog Casper. As disappointed as Thomas is by this news, Thomas' gold-digging girlfriend Judy (Stella Stevens) is even more so. Upon learning that Thomas will get all the money upon the death of Casper, Judy begins cooking up schemes to bump off the dog, all of which fail miserably -- and worst of all, the unwitting Casper has taken quite a liking to the mercenary Judy! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
