Christopher Van Dyke Popular Books

Christopher Van Dyke Biography & Facts

Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor and comedian. His career has spanned over seven decades in film, television, and stage. Van Dyke is the recipient of a Golden Globe, Tony, Grammy, a Daytime Emmy, and four Primetime Emmys. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012. He was honored with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2013, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2021, and was recognized as a Disney Legend. Van Dyke began his career as an entertainer on radio and television, in nightclubs, and on the Broadway stage. In 1960, he starred in the original production of Bye Bye Birdie, a role which earned him the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Carl Reiner then cast him as Rob Petrie on the CBS television sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show from 1961 to 1966, which made him a household name. He went on to star in the movie musicals Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Mary Poppins (1964), and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), and he starred in the comedy-drama The Comic (1969). Van Dyke also made guest appearances on television programs Columbo (1974) and The Carol Burnett Show (1977), and he starred in The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971–74), Diagnosis: Murder (1993–2001), and Murder 101 (2006–08). Van Dyke has also made appearances in the films Dick Tracy (1990), Curious George (2006), Night at the Museum (2006), its 2014 sequel, and Mary Poppins Returns (2018). Early life and education Richard Wayne Van Dyke was born on December 13, 1925, in West Plains, Missouri to Hazel Victoria (née McCord), a stenographer, and Loren Wayne "Cookie" Van Dyke, a salesman. He grew up in Danville, Illinois. He is the older brother of actor Jerry Van Dyke, who appeared as his brother in The Dick Van Dyke Show. Van Dyke is a Dutch surname, although he also has English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. His family line traces back to Mayflower passenger John Alden. Van Dyke graduated from Danville High School in 1944, where he participated in the a cappella choir and dramatic club. His involvement in the drama program convinced him to become a professional entertainer, although he also considered a career in the ministry. Van Dyke left high school during his senior year to join the United States Army Air Forces for pilot training during World War II. Denied enlistment several times for being underweight, he was eventually accepted for service as a radio announcer before transferring to the Special Services and entertaining troops in the continental United States. He was discharged in 1946. Van Dyke received his high school diploma in 2004. Career 1940–1959: Early work and Broadway debut During the late 1940s, Van Dyke was a radio DJ on WDAN in Danville, Illinois. In 1947, Van Dyke was persuaded by pantomime performer Phil Erickson to form a comedy duo called "Eric and Van—the Merry Mutes." The team toured the West Coast nightclub circuit, performing a mime act and lip synching to 78 rpm records. They moved to Atlanta, Georgia, in the early 1950s and performed on a local television show featuring original skits and music called "The Merry Mutes". Van Dyke's start in television was with WDSU-TV New Orleans Channel 6 (NBC), first as a single comedian and later as emcee of a comedy program. Van Dyke's first network TV appearance was with Dennis James on James' Chance of a Lifetime in 1954. He later appeared in two episodes of The Phil Silvers Show during its 1957–58 season. He also appeared early in his career on ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom and NBC's The Polly Bergen Show. During this time a friend from the Army was working as an executive for CBS television and recommended Van Dyke to that network. Out of this came a seven-year contract with the network. During an interview on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! program, Van Dyke said he was the anchorman for the CBS Morning Show during this period with Walter Cronkite as his newsman. In November 1959, Van Dyke made his Broadway debut in The Girls Against the Boys which ran at the Alvin Theatre. The production was a revue in two acts and featured performances from Van Dyke, Shelley Berman, Bert Lahr, Nancy Walker among many others. The production ran on Broadway for sixteen performances from November 2 to November 14, 1959. 1960–1968: Career stardom Bye Bye Birdie (1960–1963) He played the lead role of Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie, which ran from April 14, 1960, to October 7, 1961. Van Dyke starred alongside Chita Rivera, Barbara Doherty, and Paul Lynde. The production received mixed reviews from critics including from Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times who praised Van Dyke as "likable" but opined, "As a production it's neither fish fowl nor good musical comedy. It needs work." Despite this the musical won four Tony awards including for Van Dyke who won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, in 1961. Van Dyke began his film career by playing the role of Albert J. Peterson in the film version of Bye Bye Birdie (1963). Despite his unhappiness with the adaptation—its focus differed from the stage version in that the story now centered on a previously supporting character—the film was a success. The film starred Ann-Margret, Janet Leigh, and Maureen Stapleton with Van Dyke and Lynde reprising their roles. Variety wrote of Van Dyke's performance, "Van Dyke displays a showbiz knowhow far more extensive than his television outings communicate". The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–1966) From 1961 to 1966, Van Dyke starred in the CBS sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, in which he portrayed a comedy writer named Rob Petrie. Carl Reiner conceived the program and cast himself as the lead in the pilot, but CBS insisted on recasting, and Reiner chose Van Dyke to replace him in the role. Complementing Van Dyke was a veteran cast of comic actors including Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Jerry Paris, Ann Morgan Guilbert, Richard Deacon, and Carl Reiner (as Alan Brady), as well as 24-year-old Mary Tyler Moore, who played Rob's wife Laura Petrie. Van Dyke won three Emmy Awards as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and the series received four Emmy Awards as Outstanding Comedy Series. The Dick Van Dyke Show received positive reviews from its start, with The Hollywood Reporter praising Van Dyke's comedic performance writing, "Sure to catch on as a new personality is Dick Van Dyke who, though he can play it straight when need be, proves a master of the double take, juicing up to solid laughs what would possibly be just amusing lines with his physical reactions. Yet, he doesn't over-mug. In this one, his "drunk husband" bit was a masterpiece of timing and ingenuity." Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly reviewed the series following its Blu-ray boxset release in 2012 writing, "The Dick Van Dyke Show certainly wasn't the first sitcom featuring a lead character who presided over a TV-show-within-the-TV-show — Jack Benny's The Jack Benny Program, among other.... Discover the Christopher Van Dyke popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Christopher Van Dyke books.