Jerry Van Dyke

 Jerry Van Dyke (July 27, 1931 – January 5, 2018)

Jerry was a comedian and actor as well as the younger brother of Dick Van Dyke. He made his television acting debut on The Dick Van Dyke Show with several guest appearances as Rob Petrie's brother, Stacey. Later in his career from 1989 to 1997, he portrayed Luther Van Dam on the ABC sitcom Coach. Following his first guest appearances on The Dick Van Dyke Show and two others on CBS's 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. He turned down the offer to play Gilligan on Gilligan's Island, a role which went instead to Bob Denver. He also rejected an offer to replace Don Knotts as Sheriff Andy Taylor's deputy on The Andy Griffith Show. Van Dyke finally 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. 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 and Reno, Nevada, Summerfest in Milwaukee and in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He returned to television for guest appearances on Love, American Style and Fantasy Island.[8] In 1973, he portrayed Wes Callison, News Writer, on the season four episode, "Son of 'But Seriously, Folks'" on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He also had roles in The Amazing Cosmic Awareness of Duffy Moon (1976) and 13 Queens Boulevard (1979). n 1988, he made a guest appearance on Scott Baio's sitcom Charles in Charge as Jamie Powell's health teacher, Mr. Merkin.

In 1989, Van Dyke began portraying Luther Van Dam, a beloved, yet befuddled assistant coach on the long-running series Coach. 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. Van Dyke was an avid poker player and announced a number of poker tournaments for ESPN in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Van Dyke died on January 5, 2018 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, aged 86. He had been in declining health since a car accident two years earlier.