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Jerry Van Dyke is remembered for playing the defensive coach on Coach in the 1990s, and starring in the 1960s short-lived sitcom, My Mother the Car. He’s also remembered for being Dick’s brother.

Van Dyke passed away in 2018 at age 86. He had been retired for a number of years, living on his farm in Arkansas.

If you watch other television programs and films from the early 1960s, Jerry Van Dyke was everywhere, usually with his banjo, playing one goofy, accident-prone character after another. That was his shtick, and he was good at it.

Every decade there seems a group of comedians that make the leap to acting from nightclubs and TV variety shows. In the 1960s, it was Van Dyke, Bob Newhart, Shelley Berman, Don Rickles, Rich Little, Ronnie Schell, Buddy Hackett, Woody Allen, Shecky Greene, Phyllis Diller, Frank Gorshin, John Byner, Dick Martin, Paul Lynde, Dom DeLuise, Jonathan Winters, Jack Burns and others who popped up on television shows and small, but visible film roles.

Vaudeville and radio were the training group the prior generation of comedians, who moved on to the early days of television or films. Broadway also served as a launching pad for young comedians. The 1960s saw a different kind of comedian, edgier, who took more chances with topical material, and whose mannerisms and delivery connected with 1960s audiences. It wasn’t just the comedians and their humor that changes, so did the audiences.

Jerry Van Dyke was far from edgy or controversial, in fact he had a milk and cookies delivery, but he could turn on a dime and be zany, and he had that damn banjo. He was great as the silly guy, the comic relief. Van Dyke was a more tolerable version of Jerry Lewis.

Van Dyke came to the public’s attention by guesting on his older brother’s show as Rob Petrie’s shy brother, Stacey. Van Dyke and his trusty banjo, appeared in four episodes. Van Dyke created his well-meaning, but socially awkward character that followed him throughout his career. Van Dyke would also turn up as Dr. Mark Sloan’s brother, also known as Stacey, on Diagnosis Murder.

Although he had a few dramatic roles, usually he was a befuddled comic relief. He fit in perfectly as the potential suitor to Stefanie Powers in John Wayne’s film McClintock!

Being cast in McClintock! was a big break for a young performer who learned on his own, using his hitch in the military to travel and perform at different camps. Van Dyke shared the screen with Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, singing, dancing and playing dude with little familiarity with the Wild West. The light-comedy film was a big success.

Van Dyke was up for two comedy television series: Gilligan’s Island and My Mother the Car. The role of Gilligan went to Bob Denver and became a television classic. My Mother the Car ran for the 1965-1966 season, 30 episodes about a talking car. Van Dyke had a mostly straight role as the son whose mother inhabits the vintage car. The show came from talented writer/producers (Allan Burns, Chris Hayward and Rod Amateau) but was generally recognized as one of the worst television shows ever.

In Accidental Family (1967-1968), Van Dyke starred as comedian and widower Jerry Webster who buys a farm for him and his son. It is managed by a divorcee who takes care of the son, potentially Jerry. Sixteen episodes and out. Again, the show was blessed with great writer/producers including Mel Shavelson, James L. Brooks and Sheldon Leonard, to no effect.

Van Dyke would guest star on a bunch of sitcoms like The Andy Griffith Show, That Girl, Gomer Pyle and Good Morning World, along with a few films (Palm Springs Weekend, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Angel in My Pocket) as the comic relief.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Van Dyke would guest star on all the popular television shows, have roles in a couple of short-lived series, and a few films. He would also take his act around the country and perform on stage.

Then in 1989, he landed the role of Luther Van Dam on Coach. This sitcom ran for 199 episodes and is obviously his most famous role. If you persevere, good things happen, and Van Dyke was rewarded with a successful series.