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Jerry Van Dyke passes

by Jonn Lilyea••21

Top Kone tells us the sad new that Jerry Van Dyke, brother of Dick Van Dyke has passed. Most recently, he portrayed Luther Van Dam on the ABC sitcom Coach, I’m old enough to remember him in a starring role in “My Mother the Car” – a short-lived and improbable sitcom about a fellow whose mother is reincarnated as his antique automobile.

There was hardly a comedy show on TV that he didn’t appear in during the early 60s.

He was also a veteran, enlisting in the Air Force after the Korean War, he was in the Tops in Blue entertainment group. That’s him crouching in the front row;

Thanks to Ms. Theresa Doyle-Nelson for the use of her photo above from her website about her father who was also a member of Tops in Blue while Mr Van Dyke performed with the group.

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21 thoughts on “Jerry Van Dyke passes”

  1. He was hilarious as the 1880s version of the east coast big city metrosexual wussy boy in John Wayne’s “McClintock”. He will be missed…

        1. You are absolutely correct, my mistake entirely.

          ”
          Home / Browse / Van Dyke, Jerry

          Jerry Van Dyke (1931–)

          Jerry Van Dyke was a famous comedian and actor who lives in Arkansas; he was inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame in 1998. He was perhaps most noted for his Emmy-nominated performance as Luther Van Dam on the television show Coach. Van Dyke and his second wife, Shirley Jones (not the famous actress of that name), owned a ranch in Hot Spring County, and, in the late 1990s, they purchased and renovated a city block in Benton (Saline County), including the Royal Theatre and a soda shop that bears his name.

          Jerry Van Dyke was born in Danville, Illinois, on July 27, 1931..”

          1. Started college with a guy from there who told some hilarious stories about shenanigans Jerry and Dick pulled as kids. All the usual dye in the fountain sort of things, and some more imaginative things as well.

            Looks like they both left at their first opportunity and did not go back.

    1. I didn’t see it mentioned but what rank was he when he retired? Are Astronauts simply “Astronaut Bob” or is their military rank from their branch carried over and they get promotions all along.

        1. Why would such an accomplished man like him only retire as a Capt? That just seems odd.
          Any Astronaut that walked on The Moon should be retired at General or Admiral in my opinion

          1. Astronauts have reached general/flag rank, but it seems it’s pretty rare. For Astronauts it’s very challenging to secure the rotation of key command & staff assignments to get groomed for stars. A few examples who made it:

            Alan Sheperd – RADM
            James McDivitt – Brig. Gen
            Kevin Chilton – General
            Susan Helms – Lt. Gen

          2. Many that still had multiple active astronaut years ahead of them have tended to get out and transition as astronauts in USG status as GG-15 and SES levels. Capt. Young did 28 years at NASA as a senior civilian after he left uniform service, flying two times as the shuttle.

            I have a friend who is an SES at NASA, who I asked, “how do you fill in the time card for a NASA civilian assigned to the space station?”. Answer…….”they can do it from space, and you don’t want to know how much they get given overtime, weekend, and off hour differential, lets just say that they build up allot of comp time.”

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