Jerry Van Dyke died on Friday, February 5, 2018 from congestive heart failure. According to his wife, Shirley Ann Jones, Van Dyke’s health had been deteriorating since a traffic accident in 2015 when he was “injured very badly”. The four-time Emmy nominee was 86 years old.

Jerry Van Dyke’s career began at much the same time as the career of his older brother, Dick Van Dyke. Jerry appeared on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” in 1962 as Stacey Petrie, and though their careers eventually diverged, the Van Dyke brothers remained close. They were later reunited on screen when they played a pair of fighting brothers in the ABC sitcom “The Middle.”

While Dick Van Dyke went on to become a household name, Jerry never achieved the same level of career success. Jerry gravitated toward projects that would turn out to be short-lived, such as “Accidental Family,” “Headmaster” and “13 Queens Boulevard.” He also turned down a starring role in “Gilligan’s Island” to work on “My Mother the Car,” a show which focused on Jerry Van Dyke’s character after his mother is reincarnated as an automobile. It would go on to be named the second worst television show of all time by TV Guide, eclipsed only by “The Jerry Springer Show.”

Jerry Van Dyke did have success later in life, however, when he began playing the role of Assistant Coach Luther Van Dam on the 1989 show “Coach.” Unlike a number of Van Dyke’s previous gigs, “Coach” was not a short-lived phenomenon. The show ran until 1997, and Van Dyke’s work on “Coach” earned him Emmy nominations for supporting actor in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1994. On an interview on the “Late Show with David Letterman,” Van Dyke joked that it was better that he reached the height of his career in his later years. “When you make it as an older [guy] the people know you as getting older,” Van Dyke said. “I don’t have to worry about people saying, ‘Jeez, he’s getting old.’”

During years when television or film roles were scarce, Van Dyke supported himself with a banjo-and-comedy stage act in Las Vegas, Playboy Clubs and on cruise ships. These acts harkened back to his early years as a teenager, when he honed his comedy skills at nightclubs and stripclubs. “I couldn’t do anything else,” Van Dyke joked in 1990. “Had I known how to do anything else, I would have quit.” Dick Van Dyke, however, gave his brother more credit. After seeing Jerry’s stand-up act for the first time, Dick stated in an interview that he “didn’t realize how good [Jerry] was. The main thing about Jerry is that he’s funny from the inside out.”

Jerry Van Dyke’s death is the second to strike the family of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” in the last month. Rose Marie, who played Sally Rogers, died on December 28^, 2017. Dick Van Dyke, the titular star of the show, survives Jerry as does Jerry’s wife, Shirley Ann Jones; his children from his first marriage, Jerri Lynne and Ronald; and two grandchildren. Jerry Van Dyke’s other daughter, Kelly Jean Van Dyke-Nance, committed suicide in 1991.