Many of you may remember Jerry Van Dyke as the befuddled assistant coach Luther Van Dam from the 1990s sitcom, Coach. The above photo is from the red carpet at the 1990 Emmy Awards, where he was nominated for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series".
He would be nominated for the following 3 years, though he would never win the Emmy. Still, 4 consecutive Emmy nominations was an unexpected high for an actor, who was generally known as "Dick Van Dyke's brother".
Unlike Dick, Jerry struggled for 35 years, suffering through one disastrous movie or TV role after another. It wasn't for lack of talent, nor lack of trying. But somehow, he just couldn't seem to land a project that stuck. That all changed with Coach, but it was a long, hard road getting there.
1. He began as a stand up comedian in the late 1940s.
At that point, Jerry was still in high school, but he was already performing in nightclubs. Back then, they weren't big on checking IDs, so if you looked 18 or over, they would let you on stage to keep crowds entertained in between big numbers.
In the mid 1950s, he joined the United States Air Force Tops In Blue, a performance ensemble made up of active duty members. That led to a radio career, where he had success with The Jerry Van Dyke Show.
However, television was the primary medium for entertainment in the 50s, so Jerry worked hard on making the switch from radio to TV. His big break didn't happen until Dick was given his own show, The Dick Van Dyke Show on CBS.
2. His TV career looks promising at first.
Jerry made a handful of appearances as the brother of Dick's character, Rob Petrie. This got him two appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, followed by a regular guest spot on the Judy Garland Show.
He was getting movie roles as well, the most notable being a supporting role in the 1963 John Wayne Western comedy, McLintock! The film was a box-office success, and launched the careers of up-and-comers Andrew McLaglen and Stephanie Powers.
3. But then, it all goes downhill.
The Judy Garland Show was already in trouble by the time Jerry started appearing. When revamping the show's format failed to garner ratings, Jerry decided to cut ties with show. At that point, he had lots of options, including offers for several sitcoms. Unfortunately, this is where it all went wrong.
In 1963, he turned down the lead role for Giligan's Island, which of course, made Bob Denver a huge star. The following year, he rejected an offer to replace Don Knotts on The Andy Griffith Show.
Instead, he signed on for the 1965 sitcom, My Mother the Car. For those of you who've never heard of this show, it was ranked as the second worst show of all time by TV Guide in 2002. The only show it beat out was The Jerry Springer Show.
I imagine the chance to play the lead on an NBC sitcom was pretty tempting. Plus, the premise wasn't any more implausible than some of the other sitcoms at the time. The show was about David Crabtree, an attorney who goes to buy a new station wagon for his family. Instead, he's compelled to buy a dilapidated 1928 Porter touring car.
Porter was such a short lived automobile maker, you'd be hard pressed to find one anywhere in the world at this point. But the car on the show looked very similar to this 1928 Ford Model A.
To make a long story short, the car is the reincarnation of his mother, so it talks, but only to David. One of the running gags is a mentally imbalanced car collector named Captain Manzini, who keeps trying to steal the car from David. Frankly, that's about as good (or bad) as it gets.
4. He continues to star in one bomb after another.
My Mother the Car folded after the first season, but Jerry kept hustling and finding work. He was feature in the 1965 comedy film Love and Kisses, and co-starred with Andy Griffith in his 1969 film, Angel in My Pocket.
Those gigs paid the bills, but didn't get him any further in his Hollywood career. During the late 60s, he tried one more time with sitcoms, as the lead role in Accidental Family. While the role of a single dad/comedian, was a good fit for Jerry, the show was canceled after one season.
5. Jerry goes back to his first love - standup.
Knowing that he was a washout in Hollywood, Jerry went back on the road and worked pretty steadily in clubs throughout the country. During the 70s, he headlined venues in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, while making occasional appearances on shows, including Fantasy Island, Love, American Style and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
His TV career started to pick up again in the late 80s when he appeared on an episode of Charles in Charge. The following year, he got the role he had been waiting for all his life on the ABC sitcom, Coach.
6. He becomes the breakout star of "Coach".
Finally, after 30 plus years, Jerry became a household name as the bumbling, elderly bachelor, Luther Van Dam on Coach. He scored some major endorsement deals in the upcoming years, including a series of Hardees' commercials. You may also remember him as the spokesperson for Big Lots in the late 1990s.
After Coach ended in 1997, Jerry made appearances on shows such as My Name is Earl, Raising Hope, and The Millers. His final TV role in 2015, in the ABC sitcom The Middle, featured his brother Dick, playing the brother of his character.
It was a touching way to end a long, hard-won career in a business that destroyed many of his contemporaries. Jerry probably would have continued working, but he suffered a serious car accident in 2016. His health never recovered afterwards, and he died as a result of related complications on January 5, 2018 at the age of 86.