# Jerry Van Dyke
**Jerry Van Dyke** (Jerry McCord Van Dyke; July 27, 1931 – January 5, 2018) was an American comedian and actor, the younger brother of [Dick Van Dyke](https://www.edgepedia.org/dick-van-dyke), best known for his Emmy-nominated role as assistant coach Luther Van Dam on the ABC sitcom *[Coach](https://www.edgepedia.org/coach-tv-series)* (1989–1997) and for starring in the 1965–66 NBC sitcom *My Mother the Car*.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jerry-van-dyke)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | July 27, 1931, Danville, Illinois; January 5, 2018, Malvern, Arkansas, at age 86[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jerry-van-dyke) |
| Breakthrough role | Stacey Petrie, Rob Petrie's brother, on his brother's CBS sitcom *The Dick Van Dyke Show*, first appearing in 1962[2](https://time.com/5091311/jerry-van-dyke-dead/) |
| Notorious starring role | *My Mother the Car* (NBC, 1965–66), 30 episodes, as lawyer Dave Crabtree whose late mother speaks from a 1928 Porter[3](https://www.memorabletv.com/tv/mother-car-nbc-1965-1966-jerry-van-dyke-maggie-pierce/) |
| Defining role | Luther Van Dam on *Coach* (ABC, 1989–1997); four Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jerry-van-dyke) |
| Declined roles | The title role in *Gilligan's Island* (which went to Bob Denver) and replacing Don Knotts as Deputy on *The Andy Griffith Show*[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jerry-van-dyke) |
| Arkansas life | 800-acre ranch in Hot Spring County; restored the Royal Theatre in Benton; Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame, 1998[4](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/jerry-van-dyke-4386/) |
## Early life and stand-up comedy
Jerry McCord Van Dyke was born in Danville, Illinois, on July 27, 1931, to Loren and Hazel Van Dyke, six years after his brother Dick.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jerry-van-dyke-comic-actor-in-tvs-coach-and-my-mother-the-car-dies-at-86/2018/01/06/2cfe8776-f33b-11e7-97bf-bba379b809ab_story.html) He began performing stand-up comedy while still at Danville High School, and the brothers performed in local nightclubs.[4](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/jerry-van-dyke-4386/) After graduating, he joined the Air Force in 1952 with his comedy act and twice won the All Air Force Talent Show.[6](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-st-jerry-van-dyke-obituary-20180106-story.html) He also traveled with the Air Force's Tops in Blue entertainment unit, performing at military bases, and his sleepwalking habit later fed into his first acting role.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-jerry-van-dyke-appreciation-20180107-story.html)
## Television career in the 1960s
**The Dick Van Dyke Show.** His first television appearance came in 1962 as a guest on his brother's CBS sitcom, playing Rob Petrie's shy, banjo-playing military-veteran brother Stacey, a recurring role that continued into 1965.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-jerry-van-dyke-appreciation-20180107-story.html) He later said the role got him signed to a contract.[8](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/brother-can-you-spare-time) Guest appearances on *The Ed Sullivan Show* followed, and CBS made him a regular on *The Judy Garland Show* in 1963.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jerry-van-dyke) His notices for the Garland show were poor and he left the cast before the season ended; he later complained that the writers produced material he was forced to perform.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-jerry-van-dyke-appreciation-20180107-story.html)
**My Mother the Car.** In 1965 he accepted the lead in the NBC sitcom *My Mother the Car*, playing small-town lawyer Dave Crabtree, who buys a 1928 Porter and finds his deceased mother Gladys speaking to him through its radio; [Ann Sothern](https://www.edgepedia.org/ann-sothern) supplied the mother's voice.[3](https://www.memorabletv.com/tv/mother-car-nbc-1965-1966-jerry-van-dyke-maggie-pierce/) The series ran one season, from September 14, 1965 to September 6, 1966, producing 30 episodes.[3](https://www.memorabletv.com/tv/mother-car-nbc-1965-1966-jerry-van-dyke-maggie-pierce/) It became a byword for improbable television premises; the *Los Angeles Times* television critic Robert Lloyd wrote that it is sometimes used to characterize television at its nadir, at times by Van Dyke himself, though he found the actor appealingly low-key in the part.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-jerry-van-dyke-appreciation-20180107-story.html)
**The decisions that shaped the decade.** The *Car* role was one of two or three consequential choices in the mid-1960s. He turned down the title role in *Gilligan's Island*, saying the script was too silly to work, and the part went to [Bob Denver](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-denver); he also declined the chance to replace [Don Knotts](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-knotts) as Sheriff Taylor's deputy on *The Andy Griffith Show*.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jerry-van-dyke) The Associated Press obituary called taking the *Car* role and passing on *Gilligan's Island* his two disastrous career moves of the period.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jerry-van-dyke-comic-actor-in-tvs-coach-and-my-mother-the-car-dies-at-86/2018/01/06/2cfe8776-f33b-11e7-97bf-bba379b809ab_story.html)
## The lean years
After *My Mother the Car*, short-lived series followed: *Accidental Family* (1967), in which he played a nightclub comic and single father, and *Headmaster* (1970), an [Andy Griffith](https://www.edgepedia.org/andy-griffith) series in which he played a physical education coach.[9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0886733/) Through the 1970s and 1980s he returned to stand-up, touring nightclubs across the United States while making television guest appearances, including two on *The Mary Tyler Moore Show*.[10](https://www.arentertainershalloffame.org/classes/vandyke.html) He also appeared in films including *[McLintock!](https://www.edgepedia.org/mclintock)* with [John Wayne](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-wayne) and *The Courtship of Eddie's Father*.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-jerry-van-dyke-appreciation-20180107-story.html)
## Coach and later work
In 1989 he was cast as Luther Van Dam, the befuddled assistant football coach and comic foil to [Craig T. Nelson](https://www.edgepedia.org/craig-t-nelson)'s Hayden Fox on ABC's *Coach*, a part series creator Barry Kemp wrote for him.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-jerry-van-dyke-appreciation-20180107-story.html) The series ran from 1989 to 1997, and the role brought him four Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, in 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1994.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jerry-van-dyke) He told the Associated Press in 1994 that he finally had a job he enjoyed that was not hard to do, and that paid well.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jerry-van-dyke-comic-actor-in-tvs-coach-and-my-mother-the-car-dies-at-86/2018/01/06/2cfe8776-f33b-11e7-97bf-bba379b809ab_story.html)
After *Coach* he took recurring roles as fathers and grandfathers on series including *Yes, Dear*, *Teen Angel*, *My Name Is Earl*, and *Raising Hope*.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-jerry-van-dyke-appreciation-20180107-story.html) His final television role came in April 2015 on *[The Middle](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-middle-tv-series)*, reprising his part as Tag Spence, father of [Patricia Heaton](https://www.edgepedia.org/patricia-heaton)'s Frankie, in an episode that also featured Dick Van Dyke as Tag's estranged brother, the brothers' only joint sitcom work since *The Dick Van Dyke Show* five decades earlier.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jerry-van-dyke)
## Life in Arkansas and death
Van Dyke and his wife, Shirley Ann Jones, owned an 800-acre ranch in Hot Spring County, Arkansas, between Benton and Malvern, which they had owned for 35 years at his death.[6](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-st-jerry-van-dyke-obituary-20180106-story.html) In the late 1990s the couple bought and renovated a city block in Benton, including the old Royal Theatre movie house, which became the home of the local acting company The Royal Players, and a soda shop bearing his name.[4](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/jerry-van-dyke-4386/) He was inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame in 1998.[4](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/jerry-van-dyke-4386/)
He died on January 5, 2018, at the ranch, at age 86; his manager, John Castonia, confirmed the death and said the cause was not immediately known.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jerry-van-dyke-comic-actor-in-tvs-coach-and-my-mother-the-car-dies-at-86/2018/01/06/2cfe8776-f33b-11e7-97bf-bba379b809ab_story.html) His wife told the *Los Angeles Times* that he had been convalescing for two years after a 2015 car accident from which his health never fully recovered.[6](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-st-jerry-van-dyke-obituary-20180106-story.html)
## References
1. [Jerry Van Dyke, Television Academy biography](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jerry-van-dyke)
2. [Comedian and Actor Jerry Van Dyke of 'Coach' Dies at 86](https://time.com/5091311/jerry-van-dyke-dead/)
3. [My Mother the Car (NBC 1965-1966), Memorable TV](https://www.memorabletv.com/tv/mother-car-nbc-1965-1966-jerry-van-dyke-maggie-pierce/)
4. [Van Dyke, Jerry, Encyclopedia of Arkansas](https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/jerry-van-dyke-4386/)
5. [Jerry Van Dyke, comic actor in TV's 'Coach' and 'My Mother the Car,' dies at 86, The Washington Post (Associated Press)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jerry-van-dyke-comic-actor-in-tvs-coach-and-my-mother-the-car-dies-at-86/2018/01/06/2cfe8776-f33b-11e7-97bf-bba379b809ab_story.html)
6. [Jerry Van Dyke, comic actor known for TV's 'Coach,' dies at 86, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-st-jerry-van-dyke-obituary-20180106-story.html)
7. [Appreciation: Remembering the one-of-a-kind Jerry Van Dyke, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-jerry-van-dyke-appreciation-20180107-story.html)
8. [Brother, Can You Spare the Time?, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/brother-can-you-spare-time)
9. [Jerry Van Dyke, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0886733/)
10. [Jerry Van Dyke, Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame](https://www.arentertainershalloffame.org/classes/vandyke.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Do to Es*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license