Early Career
Van Dyke began his stand-up comedy career while still in high school in Danville, and was already a veteran of strip joints and nightclubs when he joined the Air Force Tops In Blue in 1952. During the mid-Fifties, Van Dyke worked at WTHI-TV in Terre Haute, Indiana. The "Jerry Van Dyke Show," which included future CBS News Early Show news anchor Joseph Benti, Nancee South and Ben Falber, was popular fare. In the service he performed at military bases around the world, twice winning the All Air Force Talent Show. Following his first guest appearances on The Dick Van Dyke Show and two appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, CBS made him a regular on The Judy Garland Show. He was also given hosting chores on the 1963 game show Picture This. In that same year, movie audiences saw him in supporting roles in the films McLintock!, Palm Springs Weekend and The Courtship of Eddie's Father.
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