Dick Van Dyke

Actor
Bob Hope Comedy Collection
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The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About
About this interview

In his two-and-a-half-hour interview, Dick Van Dyke describes starting on Broadway, working into television, and the immediate success of The Dick Van Dyke Show, as well as The New Dick Van Dyke Show, regular appearances on The Carol Burnett Show, and his then-current hit Diagnosis Murder. Lee Goldberg conducted the interview on January 8, 1998 in Santa Monica, CA.

All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.

"It was an impossible dream to think of ever actually going into show business. There was no television, so you had a choice between Vaudeville and movies. I didn't really think that it would ever happen."

People Talking About ...
Dick Van Dyke
Highlights
Dick Van Dyke on how The Dick Van Dyke Show came about, originally written for and by and starring Carl Reiner
Dick Van Dyke on the physical comedy aspect on the Dick Van Dyke Show ; the pratfalls
Dick Van Dyke on making the transition from comedy to drama with Diagnosis Murde r, and playing "a 65-year old Rob Petrie"
Dick Van Dyke on the "thrill" of working in live television
00:27
Dick Van Dyke on how The Dick Van Dyke show impacted television
Dick Van Dyke on learning from Phil Silvers and discovering his love of comedy and his "funny bone"
Full Interview

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Chapter 1
On his childhood in Illinois; early influence from physical comedians such as Laurel & Hardy; on his military service and learning about acting and performing while there;  
On early jobs in Radio and advertising; on teaming up with Phil Erickson for the comedy team the Merry Mutes; later "Erik and Van"; 
On filling an hour of live television at his first job as host of a morning television show The Merry Mutes and The Music Shop in Atlanta; on getting hired as the host of The Morning Show on CBS in New York; the Hollywood Blacklist; working on CBS' Cartoon Theater

Chapter 2
On the CBS Cartoon Theater; on live television in the 1950s; on leaving CBS; working on Broadway
On guest-starring on television variety shows with Pat Boone and Andy Williams; appearing on the Phil Silvers Show, The Trouble with Richard, and discovering his comedic talents; working with Carol Burnett and Mike Nichols; on the U.S. Steel Hour with George C. Scott; Bye Bye Birdie; 
On being approached by Sheldon Leonard and Carl Reiner to do The Dick Van Dyke show after they saw him in "Bye Bye Birdie" on Broadway

Chapter 3
On The Dick Van Dyke Show; the pilot; working with Carl Reiner and Sheldon Leonard 
On the process of writing for The Dick Van Dyke Show; on interference from the network; on the show's writers; on the cast -Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam;
On Mary Poppins and working with Julie Andrews; his British accent

Chapter 4
On working on Mary Poppins while still starring in the Dick Van Dyke show; on the specials he did with much of the crew and cast from that show
On The New Dick Van Dyke show and how that came about; on his movie career
On the series Jake and the Fatman; he played a doctor who solves crimes

Chapter 5
On Diagnosis Murder; working with his son Barry Van Dyke; Fred Silverman; Tim Conway and Harvey Korman; on changes in the television industry
On how The Dick Van Dyke show impacted television; on being inducted into the Television Hall of Fame; on working with Garry Moore, Gower Champion, Sheldon Leonard, Carl Reiner, Danny Thomas, and more

Chapter 6
On Bud Yorkin, Norman Lear; Carol Burnett; Julie Andrews; Stan Laurel; his family
Shows

Diagnosis Murder

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Dick Van Dyke on making the transition from comedy to drama with Diagnosis Murde r, and playing "a 65-year old Rob Petrie"

Dick Van Dyke Show, The

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Dick Van Dyke on how he was approached by Sheldon Leonard and Carl Reiner to star in what became The Dick Van Dyke Show, formerly called Head of the Family starring Reiner
05:54
Dick Van Dyke on how The Dick Van Dyke Show came about, originally written for and by and starring Carl Reiner
Dick Van Dyke on the physical comedy aspect on the Dick Van Dyke Show ; the pratfalls
Dick Van Dyke on the only script he didn't like "Art v. Baloney"
00:15
Dick Van Dyke on how The Dick Van Dyke show impacted television

Jake and the Fatman

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Dick Van Dyke on Jake and the Fatman, where he played "Mark Sloan" a detective

Mike Stokey's Pantomime Quiz aka Stump the Stars

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Dick Van Dyke on appearing on Mike Stokey's Pantomime Quiz with Carol Burnett

Morning Show, The

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Dick Van Dyke on hosting The Morning Show, a daytime show on CBS, pitched by Byron Paul (then a director at CBS) in 1955
09:46

Phil Silvers Show, The aka You'll Never Get Rich aka Sergeant Bilko

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Dick Van Dyke on working on The Sgt. Bilko show with Phil Silvers and learning from watching the other performers

United States Steel Hour, The

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Dick Van Dyke on appearing on The U.S. Steel Hour with George C. Scott

Van Dyke and Company

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Dick Van Dyke on how Van Dyke and Company came about
Topics

Bloopers

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Dick Van Dyke on some mishaps on the early days on television involving sled dogs

Creative Influences and Inspiration

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Dick Van Dyke on being influenced by the physical comedy of Laurel & Hardy, and Buster Keaton
01:12

Emmy Awards

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Dick Van Dyke on winning an Emmy award in 1963

Pivotal Career Moments

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Dick Van Dyke on being influenced by the physical comedy of Laurel & Hardy, and Buster Keaton
01:12

TV's Golden Age (1940s & '50s)

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Dick Van Dyke on the early days of television 
07:12
Dick Van Dyke recalls the first time he appeared on television
Professions

Comedian

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Dick Van Dyke on learning from Phil Silvers and discovering his love of comedy and his "funny bone"
Genres

Comedy Series

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Dick Van Dyke on why The Dick Van Dyke show was filmed in front of a live audience and why he prefers it for comedies
Dick Van Dyke on the advice Sheldon Leonard gave him about acting on The Dick Van Dyke Show

Drama Series

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Dick Van Dyke on the differences between working on comedy and drama
People

Andy Williams

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Dick Van Dyke on working with Andy Williams on his variety show

Bill Persky

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Dick Van Dyke on Bill Persky

Carl Reiner

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Dick Van Dyke on his first impression of Carl Reiner
04:08
Dick Van Dyke on the talents of Carl Reiner; writing to actors' strengths
Dick Van Dyke on Carl Reiner
00:13

Carol Burnett

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Dick Van Dyke on working with Carol Burnett
01:16

Fred Silverman

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Dick Van Dyke on working with executive Fred Silverman on Diagnosis Murder; 

Garry Moore

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Dick Van Dyke on why he owes so much to Garry Moore
00:37

Harvey Korman

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Dick Van Dyke on working with Tim Conway and Harvey Korman on Diagnosis Murder; and other guest-stars

John Rich

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Dick Van Dyke on one of the best comedy directors-- John Rich
00:22

Julie Andrews

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Dick Van Dyke on working with Julie Andrews
00:47

Mary Tyler Moore

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Dick Van Dyke on the initial chemistry between himself and Mary Tyler Moore, on The Dick Van Dyke Show
Dick Van Dyke on his relationship with Mary Tyler Moore

Merv Griffin

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Dick Van Dyke on Merv Griffin being a regular and one-time standin host on The Morning Show which Van Dyke hosted, on CBS
00:58

Morey Amsterdam

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Dick Van Dyke on Morey Amsterdam- the happiest guy you'll ever meet
00:29

Oliver Hardy

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Dick Van Dyke on being influenced by the physical comedy of Laurel & Hardy
01:12

Phil Silvers

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Dick Van Dyke on working on The Sgt. Bilko show with Phil Silvers and learning from watching the other performers
Dick Van Dyke on what he learned from Phil Silvers: timing
00:15

Rose Marie

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Dick Van Dyke on what he learned from working with Rose Marie, and Morey Amsterdam

Sheldon Leonard

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Dick Van Dyke on his impression of Sheldon Leonard, who could be intimidating
Dick Van Dyke on Sheldon Leonard
00:27

Sid Caesar

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Dick Van Dyke on getting to work with Sid Caeasar, and early comedic hero, on his variety show

Stan Laurel

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Dick Van Dyke on being influenced by the physical comedy of Laurel & Hardy
01:12
Dick Van Dyke on how he met Stan Laurel; he got his name out of the phone book
02:00

Steve Martin

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Dick Van Dyke on working with Steve Martin on his variety show

Tim Conway

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Dick Van Dyke on working with Tim Conway and Harvey Korman on Diagnosis Murder; and other guest-stars

All Interviews

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