[1] Van Dyke had a long and successful career mostly as a character actor in supporting and guest roles on popular television series.

He made his television acting debut on The Dick Van Dyke Show with several guest appearances as Rob Petrie's brother, Stacey.

[3] Van Dyke pursued a stand-up comedy career while still in Danville High School and was already a veteran of strip joints and nightclubs when he joined the United States Air Force Tops In Blue in 1954 and 1955.

[6] Though the series was a commercial failure, Van Dyke continued to work steadily in supporting television and film roles through the rest of the decade.

[6] He starred in another short-lived situation comedy Accidental Family (1967) as widowed comedian Jerry Webster who buys a farm to raise his son while he is not away on professional tours.

He spent much of the decade touring Playboy Clubs around the country and headlining venues in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, Summerfest in Milwaukee, and in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

[9] In 1973 he portrayed Wes Callison, Children's Comedy Writer,[13] on the season three episode "But Seriously, Folks" on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

In 1988, Van Dyke made a guest appearance on Scott Baio's sitcom Charles in Charge as Jamie Powell's health teacher Mr.

[10] For this role, Van Dyke received four Emmy Award nominations from 1990 through 1994 for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series".

[3] On January 5, 2018, Van Dyke died at his Hot Spring County, Arkansas, ranch from heart failure at the age of 86.