A whole bunch of his friends — and he had a lot of them — said farewell to Jerry Van Dyke today. It was a by-invitation-event on the Universal Studios lot in Stage 43 where he (and many of those in attendance) spent many years doing the TV series, Coach.
His older brother Dick spoke and lightly hosted. His wife of many years Shirley produced and performed. There were film clips of his career, most of them expertly selected and edited by Shirley and our pal Stu Shostak. Announcer Christopher Bay skillfully introduced speakers from offstage and narrated clips. A great Dixieland band — the Hollywood Hot Shots — played highly appropriate (i.e., banjo) music. And Wolfgang Puck did the catering. (Well, not Wolfgang himself…)
Shirley led off the proceedings with a well-selected song — appropriate since she was a singer when she and Jerry met in Vegas in the seventies and they often performed together. They were married in 1977 and many folks there spoke of what an ideal couple they were and how she took such loving care of a man who could be…we'll be polite and say "disorganized."
Then came the speakers amidst the film clips: Mike O'Malley and Greg Garcia from the series, Yes, Dear; Barry Kemp, Craig T. Nelson, Shelley Fabares, Bill Fagerbakke and Kenneth Kimmins from Coach; Eileen Heisler, DeAnn Heline and Neil Flynn from The Middle. If I'd been running things, they would have rolled in the 1928 Porter from My Mother, the Car to say a few words.
Early in the program, they showed Jerry's TV debut appearing with his brother on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Late in the program, they showed Jerry's last TV appearance, which was with his brother on The Middle. It was a nice bit of bookending for a long, lovely career. And then Dick closed by reading "God Bless the Clowns," a piece that he famously read at the funeral of his hero, Stan Laurel.
Everyone on stage and everyone I spoke to during the pre-show and post-show mingling spoke of Jerry being a natural clown — a fellow who was funny, on-stage and off. And they had the anecdotes to prove it. A fine afternoon.