Dick Van Dyke: That infectious laugh

Dick Van Dyke, at right, guest starring as an evil judge in an episode of "Matlock", with Andy Griffith in 1986.

Source: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0559218/trivia/?ref_=ttch_ql_3

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As the decade of the 1980s opened, I best knew Dick Van Dyke from two things – a couple “Wonderful World Of Disney” movies I saw, and a sitcom I knew more by reputation than I actually saw.

However, as the decade progressed, I would see him in different roles, including as a villain trying to get away with murder.

It is Dick Van Dyke’s birthday today, and it inspired me to reflect on my memories of Dick Van Dyke.

Early memories
My earliest memories of Dick Van Dyke are my Mom telling me about him. Every Sunday night CBC Channel 9 on the peasant vision dial played “The Wonderful World of Disney.” They aired movies but, because the show was an hour long, they would show them in two parts.

Two such movies starred Dick Van Dyke – “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” about a flying car; and “Mary Poppins” about a nanny who could fly, co-starring Julie Andrews.

I don’t recall either of those movies very well. I’m sure it didn’t help they were aired in two halves a week apart.

There were two movies I remember much better, that both aired on Channel 7 on the peasant vision dial.

In the “The Comic”, released in 1969, Van Dyke turns in a masterful performance as a silent film star who cannot and will not adapt to the advent of talking pictures. When I saw it, I had always seen Van Dyke as a comedic actor. His character, Billy Bright, was anything but funny. He was sad and a bit pathetic. It showed Van Dyke’s range as an actor.

“Cold Turkey” came out in 1971, and it is a comedy. Van Dyke plays a minister in a town that takes up the challenge by a tobacco company to quit smoking for 30 days. That means the entire community must quit for a month, and they will win $25 million. This was another movie in that era where I saw the first half a bunch of times but did not see the end. Either I fell asleep or I had to go to bed because I had school in the morning.

Comic genius
Eventually, I did get to see how he made a name for himself as a comedic actor. Channel 7 was celebrating an anniversary, so over the course of a few months or it may have been an entire year, the station aired a bunch of old TV shows.

One of the shows they re-ran on more than one Friday night was “The Dick Van Dyke Show”, where Van Dyke played Rob Petrie, Mary Tyler Moore played his wife Laura, and Carl Reiner played a co-worker.

It was very well written and there are a couple episodes I remember well. In one, Rob gets excited when Laura is about to give birth. The other involved a nightmare where the Petries are obsessed by large walnuts. Everything is a walnut. Laura even cracks one like she would an egg into a frying pan.

The next time I would see him regularly was as one of the cast of “The Carol Burnett Show”, along with the likes of Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, and Vicki Lawrence. That was a show I saw at too young an age, and am sure I would get much more out of it today.

A family affair
Van Dyke is kind of a unique name in Hollywood, so when it pops up chances are the other Van Dykes are related to Dick.

The first one I encountered was Barry Van Dyke. I first saw him as one of two Colonial Warriors trying to learn about Earth in “Galactica 1980”. Van Dyke played Dillon opposite Kent McCord who played Troy in the short-lived sequel to “Battlestar Galactica.”

He guest-starred in a lot of shows in the 1980s>. He was also in another short-lived series in 1983 called “Gun Shy” where he plays a gambler who wins two children in a poker game. Then, in 1987, I was at university and home for a bit and saw a fourth season of “Airwolf” had been made. It was the story of a high-tech helicopter, and the search by a man for his brother who was missing in action in Vietnam. In the fourth season, that long lost brother is not only found, but becomes the lead character. Barry Van Dyke played that character.

The second Van Dyke I encountered was Jerry, who was Dick’s brother. I had never really heard of him until he played Luther Van Dam on “Coach”, assistant coach to the title character Hayden Fox, played by Craig T. Nelson. Only later did I learn he not only had a long career as an actor, but played Rob Petrie’s brother Stacey in “The Dick Van Dyke Show”.

TV in the 1980s
The role I remember Dick Van Dyke best in was in the first episode of “Matlock” in 1986 where he again showed his range. Instead of being the fun-loving good guy, Van Dyke played an evil judge trying to get away with murder.

He also appeared in a number of TV movies, and guest starred in shows such as “Highway to Heaven”, and “The Golden Girls” where he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

The years after
Dick Van Dyke keeps acting to this day. He had his biggest success since “The Dick Van Dyke Show” from 1992 to 2002 when he played Dr. Mark Sloan in the “Diagnosis: Murder”. He also appeared in a number of television movies before and after the series which ran for 178 episodes. He played another doctor in “Murder 101” in four television movies.

Van Dyke was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995. In 1998, he earned the Disney Legends Award; earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012; received a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2013; and was inducted into “Kennedy Center Honors” in 2020.

These are all among his many awards and honours on top of his Emmy, Grammy, People’s Choice, Tony and Golden Globe Awards.

Parting thoughts
Dick Van Dyke is one of those actors who was just always around when I was growing up, whether it was movies, his turns on “The Carol Burnett Show” or guest spots on TV.

He was a versatile actor who just keeps on plugging away.

Perhaps what I remember best, and I saw it often while I was looking him up, is this infectious laugh he has.

When I look at his picture, I can hear the “hee hee hee.”