Alan Brady

Alan Brady was an Australian professional rugby league footballer of the 1920s and '30s. A New South Wales representative three-quarter back, he played in the NSWRFL Premiership for Sydney's the Western Suburbs and Canterbury-Bankstown clubs, with both of whom he won premiership titles.

In his first professional season, 1929, Brady was the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership's top try-scorer with 11 tries. A year later, Brady was the star of the first rugby league grand final ever played in Australia, scoring 3 tries in the match that gave the Magpies their first premiership success. Four years later, he was a member of the club's second grand final win when they defeated the Roosters 15-12. He scored 71 tries in his time with the Magpies, at the time a club record, later eclipsed by Peter Dimond.

Joining the recently formed Canterbury-Bankstown DRLFC in 1936, Brady captain-coached the club to victory in the 1938 NSWRFL season's premiership final, giving him the rare achievement of playing in the first premiership victory for two different clubs. He was coach of the Canterbury side that lost the 1940 NSWRFL season's premiership final.

Dick Van Dyke

Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, comedian, writer, singer, dancer, and producer whose career in entertainment has spanned almost seven decades. He is also a World War II United States Army Air Corps veteran. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke and father of Barry Van Dyke.

Van Dyke starred in the films Bye Bye Birdie, Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and in the TV series The Dick Van Dyke Show and Diagnosis: Murder. He recently appeared in supporting roles in Night at the Museum and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.

Recipient of five Emmys, a Tony and a Grammy, Van Dyke was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995. He received the Screen Actors Guild's highest honor, the SAG Life Achievement Award, in 2013. Van Dyke has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard and has also been recognized as a Disney Legend.

Early life

Dick Van Dyke was born on December 13, 1925, in West Plains, Missouri, to Hazel Victoria (née McCord; 1896–1992), a stenographer, and Loren Wayne Van Dyke (1900–1976), a salesman. He grew up in Danville, Illinois. He is the older brother of actor Jerry Van Dyke, who is best known for a role on the TV series Coach. Van Dyke's grandson, Shane Van Dyke, is also an actor and directed Titanic II. Van Dyke has Dutch, Scotch-Irish and English ancestry, with a family line that traces back to Mayflower passenger John Alden.

Carl Reiner

Carl Reiner (born March 20, 1922) is an American actor, director, producer, and writer of comedy whose career spans nearly seven decades.

During the early years of television comedy, from 1950 to 1957, he co-wrote and acted on Caesar's Hour and Your Show of Shows, starring comedian Sid Caesar. In the 1960s Reiner was best known as the creator, producer, writer, and actor on The Dick Van Dyke Show. He also had great success as a film director and writer, and partnered with Steve Martin in the 1970s when Reiner co-wrote and/or directed some of Martin's most successful films, including 1979's The Jerk.

He did a comedy duo in the "2000 Year Old Man" with Mel Brooks, and acted in films such as the The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966) and the Ocean's Trilogy. Reiner has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during his career. He is the father of actor and director Rob Reiner and author Annie Reiner.

Early life

Reiner was born on March 20, 1922, in The Bronx in New York City, the son of Bessie (née Mathias; 1880-1965) and Irving Reiner, a watchmaker. His parents were Jewish immigrants, his father from Romania and his mother from Austria. At age 16, his older brother Charlie read in the New York Daily News about a free dramatic workshop being put on by the Works Progress Administration and told him about it. His uncle Harry Mathias was the first entertainer in his family. Carl had been working as a machinist repairing sewing machines. He has credited Charlie with changing his career plans. His older brother Charlie served in the 9th Division's 39th Infantry at 11 major World War II battles and had his ashes buried at Arlington National Cemetery. During World War II, Reiner served in the United States Army from 1943 until 1946 where he trained as a radio operator but was transferred to serve under Major Maurice Evans in the Army Entertainment Section.

The Dick Van Dyke Show

The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Larry Mathews, and Mary Tyler Moore. It centered on the work and home life of television comedy writer Rob Petrie (Van Dyke). The show was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff. The music for the show's theme song was written by Earle Hagen.

The series won 15 Emmy Awards. In 1997, the episodes "Coast-to-Coast Big Mouth" and "It May Look Like a Walnut" were ranked at 8 and 15 respectively on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2002, it was ranked at 13 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time and in 2013, it was ranked at 20 on their list of the 60 Best Series.

Premise

The two main settings show the work and home life of Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke), the head writer of a comedy/variety show produced in Manhattan. Viewers are given an "inside look" at how a television show (the fictitious The Alan Brady Show) was written and produced. Many scenes deal with Rob and his co-writers, Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam) and Sally Rogers (Rose Marie). Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon), a balding straight man and recipient of numerous insulting one-liners from Buddy, was the show's producer and the brother-in-law of the show's star, Alan Brady (Carl Reiner). As Rob, Buddy, and Sally write for a comedy show, the premise provides a built-in forum for them to be making jokes constantly. Other scenes focus on the home life of Rob, his wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore), and son Richie (Larry Mathews), who live at 148 Bonnie Meadow Road in suburban New Rochelle, New York. Also often seen are their next-door neighbors and best friends, Jerry Helper (Jerry Paris), a dentist, and his wife Millie (Ann Morgan Guilbert).

The Van Dyke Show

The Van Dyke Show is an American situation comedy, starring Dick Van Dyke and his son Barry Van Dyke. The series marked the first time the real-life father-son actors worked together.The Van Dyke Show premiered on CBS in October 1988.

Synopsis

The series centers on Matt Burgess (Barry Van Dyke), who runs a small regional theater in Pennsylvania, and his father Dick Burgess (Dick Van Dyke), a Broadway musical star. Dick decided to give up Broadway to live and work with his son at the theater. The theater's staff included Doc, the stage manager, Jillian, Matt's secretary, and Eric, Matt's helper.

Cast

Guest stars

Reception and cancellation

The series was generally panned by critics and failed to generate sufficient ratings. CBS announced the series' cancellation on December 14, 1988, one week after the sixth episode aired. The remaining four episodes of the ten produced were never aired.