published on in Breaking News

What Dick Van Dyke Really Thought About His Brother Jerry's Talent

Jerry Van Dyke, according to All Movie Guide (posted by The New York Times), was younger than his famous sibling. Growing up in Illinois' Danville, he discovered a talent for entertaining and amusing as a student in high school, and would go on to make a career out of it. This was a craft he honed in the Air Force Special Services, which he joined in the early 1950s. There his ability to raise morale proved a huge boon. It was Ed Sullivan, per All Movie Guide), who acknowledged the younger Van Dyke's talent in the field, which led to a gig as Stacey Petrie, the brother of Dick's character, Rob, on "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

As the Los Angeles Times reported in 2015, Jerry Van Dyke's biggest role was surely his stint as Luther in the comedy "Coach," which ran from 1989 to 1997. His brother, however, admired Jerry's prowess as an entertainer from the very first time he saw him at work. Dick told the Los Angeles Times that he watched Jerry's own take on a Dick Shawn sketch in Atlanta (Jerry was in the military service at the time), and was blown away. His naturally-hilarious brother topped Shawn's own performances, he said.

Jerry had a stage act involving comedy and playing the banjo. He also worked in several TV sitcoms over the years, most of which faded quickly — perhaps most famously in the universally reviled "My Mother the Car" (per The New York Times).

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