The Dick Van Dyke Show - Characters

Characters

Main:

• Rob Petrie (Robert Simpson Petrie; played by Dick Van Dyke) – Head comedy writer for a fictional New York television variety series called The Alan Brady Show. The role of Rob Petrie was almost given to Johnny Carson, but Sheldon Leonard, the show's executive producer, suggested Van Dyke.
• Laura Petrie (née Laura Meehan; played by Mary Tyler Moore) – Rob's wife. As a 17-year-old dancer in the U.S.O., she met and married Rob; then she became a stay-at-home mom. About 60 actresses auditioned for the part before Moore was signed. Moore later wrote that she almost skipped the audition.
• Buddy Sorrell (Maurice Sorrell; played by Morey Amsterdam) – an energetic (and at times facetious) "human joke machine", one of the comedy writers. Amsterdam was recommended for the role by Rose Marie as soon as she had signed on to the series. Buddy is constantly making fun of Mel Cooley, the show's producer, for being bald and dull. His character is loosely based on Mel Brooks who also wrote for Your Show of Shows. He makes frequent jokes about his marriage to his wife "Pickles." In several episodes, it is mentioned that Buddy is Jewish. He was identified by his Yiddish name, Moishe Selig, when he had his belated bar mitzvah in "Buddy Sorrell – Man and Boy." Additionally, Buddy owns a large German Shepherd named Larry and plays the cello. Buddy made a guest appearance on the Danny Thomas Show episode, "The Woman Behind the Jokes" that aired October 21, 1963.
• Sally Rogers (played by Rose Marie) – another of the comedy writers (and the comedy trio's designated typist), who is always on the lookout for a husband. The character was loosely based on Selma Diamond and Lucille Kallen, both writers for Your Show of Shows. She never drinks and quotes frequently from her "Aunt Agnes in Cleveland". She has an on-again/off-again relationship with her boyfriend Herman Glimscher, who seems to be too much of a mama's boy to get married. She frequently scares men off with her sense of humor and strong personality.
• Ritchie Petrie (Richard Rosebud Petrie; played by Larry Mathews) – Rob's and Laura's son. (His middle name is an acronym for "Robert Oscar Sam Edward Benjamin Ulysses David," all the names suggested by members of Rob's and Laura's families in the episode "What's in a Middle Name?".)

Supporting:

• Melvin "Mel" Cooley (Richard Deacon) – the balding producer of The Alan Brady Show (and Brady's brother-in-law), who is constantly at odds with Buddy, who often makes insulting comments about Mel's baldness, to which Mel often responds with a simple "Yechh!"
• Millie Helper (Ann Morgan Guilbert) – the Petries' neighbor and Laura's best friend.
• Jerry Helper (Jerry Paris) – Millie's husband, Rob's best friend, and a dentist.
• Alan Brady (Carl Reiner) – the egocentric, toupee-wearing star of The Alan Brady Show. Originally an off-screen character, then shown only with his back to the camera or only in voice, Brady began to make full-face appearances in season four. Alan appeared on the Mad About You episode, "The Alan Brady Show", named after the fictional show within The Dick Van Dyke Show, that aired February 16, 1995.

Secondary characters:

• Stacey Petrie (Jerry Van Dyke) – Rob's brother, banjo player, and onetime sleepwalker, played by Dick Van Dyke's real-life brother.
• Fiona "Pickles" Conway Sorrell (Barbara Perry/Joan Shawlee) – Buddy's slightly nutty wife. She becomes an off-screen character after season two.
• Herman Glimscher (Bill Idelson) – Sally's occasional and nerdy boyfriend. In the 2004 reunion special, Sally and Herman had been married for years. (In an early episode, Sally mentioned having dated a Woodrow Glimscher, presumably a relative, until Woodrow's overbearing mother arranged for her to date Herman instead.)
• Sam (or Edward) and Clara Petrie – (Will Wright/J. Pat O'Malley/Tom Tully and Carol Veazie/Isabel Randolph) are Rob's parents.
• Mr. and Mrs. Alan Meehan – (Carl Benton Reid and Geraldine Wall) are Laura's parents.
• Freddie Helper (Peter Oliphant) – Millie and Jerry Helper's son and Richie's closest friend.
• Sol/Sam Pomeroy/Pomerantz – Rob's army buddy in flashback episodes, was originally played by Marty Ingels. The character's names changed over the course of the series. Ingels left the role in 1962 to star in I'm Dickens, He's Fenster. In 1963, the character was played by two actors, Allan Melvin and Henry Calvin.
• Delivery Boy – originally a nameless character played by Jamie Farr in four season one episodes. Subsequently, he was given the name Willie and Herbie Faye played the role. (Faye also played other characters in later episodes.)

A group of character actors played several different roles during the five seasons. Actors who appeared more than once, sometimes in different roles, included Johnny Silver, Amzie Strickland, Eleanor Audley, Sandy Kenyon (who also appeared in the 2004 reunion special), Jackie Joseph, Doris Singleton, Peter Hobbs, Len Weinrib, Burt Remsen, George Tyne, Bella Bruck, Jerry Hausner, Herb Vigran, Alvy Moore, Jane Dulo, Bernard Fox, Dabbs Greer, Elvia Allman (as Herman Glimscher's mother), and Tiny Brauer. Frank Adamo, who served as Van Dyke's stand-in, also played small roles on several episodes throughout the show's five years.