OT- RIP Jerry Van Dyke

Submitted by You Only Live Twice on

Saddened to hear of the passing of Jerry Van Dyke at age 86 yesterday.  Best known for his portrayal of lovable Defensive Coordinator Luther Van Dam on "Coach",  Jerry was nominated for 4 Emmys during the show's run.  

RIP Jerry, I will be binge watching episodes of Coach in your honor.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/06/obituaries/jerry-van-dyke-dead.html

You Only Live Twice

January 7th, 2018 at 10:52 AM ^

Still 86 is pretty good innings, apparently Jerry and his wife were in a car accident in 2015 and not been in the best health since then.  

Robbie Moore

January 7th, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^

One of my all time favorite horrible shows...My Mother the Car. The concept? A woman is reincarnated as a 1928 Packard which is driven by her son. Who thinks of this stuff? Better still, who finances it?

You Only Live Twice

January 7th, 2018 at 11:07 AM ^

Minnesota State was a ficitious university at the time of the show's run; eventually 2 colleges in MN were re-named.

The show's creator, Barry Kemp, is an Iowa alum; hence the nod to Hayden Fry in naming Coach as Hayden Fox.  The show's theme song (and Screaming Eagles fight song) was played by the Iowa marching band.

Bill Fagerbakke, who played Special Teams assistant coach Dawber, is the voice of Patrick on "Sponge Bob."

Shelley Fabares, who played Coach's girlfriend and eventual wife Christine Armstrong, was a teen actress and singer.  She had a #1 hit in 1962, "Johnny Angel." 

Apparently NBC was considering a Coach revival a couple of years ago.  I'm sort of glad it fell through.  It was a great series and ended in a great way - let it be NBC.  Edit:  Shelley is alive but not in excellent health; the reboot would have killed off her character.

 

Eng1980

January 7th, 2018 at 11:10 AM ^

RIP - One of my favorite character actors as a child.  My Mother the Car was my favorite show on television when I was in first grade.  I have not been able to sit through an episode of the show as an adult.

LSAClassOf2000

January 7th, 2018 at 11:11 AM ^

"Coach" was a great show, and Luther was arguably the character that made it as great as it was. I actually heard yesterday afternoon while watching a few episodes of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" on one of the many retro stations, a show on which Jerry Van Dyke once made a guest appearance. Still, Luther Van Dam is far and away the role that I'll remember first when I hear his name. 

I'll watch some "Coach" today - I have the box set. The kids really need to see the "Pencil Trick" episode.

RIP Jerry Van Dyke.

theintegral

January 7th, 2018 at 12:46 PM ^

For those of us who are ancient, he was Dick Van Dyke's (Rob Petri) sleepwalking brother who was extremely shy when awake and crazy wild when asleep.  Continuously played Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey on the banjo.

GoBlueBill

January 7th, 2018 at 2:38 PM ^

Since we are doing  some trivia on Jerry Van Dyke. Kelly Jean Van Dyke , his daughter was an adult fim star . She acted under the name Nancee Kelly . She also appeared in a few episodes of My Mother The Car , when she was 8  .

Sadly she took her own life in 1991