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DANVILLE
A Pictorial History of Dick and Jerry Van Dyke in
Their Hometown of Danville, Illinois.
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GROWING UP
Dick was born Richard Wayne Van Dyke on December 13, 1925 in West Plains,
Missouri. The family moved to Danville when Dick was very young.
Jerry was born in Danville on July 27, 1931. By all accounts,
Danville still holds a special place in their hearts.
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Left: a young Dick Van Dyke on
pony-back.
Above: Jerry Van Dyke's 1950 high
school graduation photo and description. |
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| Above
left: Dick and
Jerry's first house at 930 Hazel St. Above right:
their second house at 923 Grant St. (House photos courtesy Danville Area Convention & Visitors' Bureau) |
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Above: One of Dick's early dramatic appearances, as
the character "Bob Morris" in the Danville High School
production Midnight, circa 1941.
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| Right: The Kathryn Randolph Theater,
home of the Red Mask Players since the 1960's. Dick and Jerry
performed with Red Mask before it was located here. Jerry
performed at a dinner in October 1962 to raise money for a down
payment on this building. Likewise, Dick contributed funds
during a visit
to Danville in 1963. It was built in 1902 as the
Cumberland (later Immanuel) Presbyterian Church -- coincidentally, Dick and Jerry's
childhood church. |
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| Above Left: a fanciful
self-portrait sketch Dick made when working at Danville radio
station WDAN (above right). Chief Engineer Don
Russell recently restored a rare early sound recording
of the 21 year-old Dick co-hosting "Banker's Hours," a
1946 show broadcast from Danville's Wolford Hotel. Years
later, Jerry played banjo on the air.
(Sketch courtesy WDAN/WDNL). |
RETURNING
Dick and Jerry have returned to Danville throughout the years for
family visits, benefits, and to be honored for their work.
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Dick first returned to Danville in March 1963,
at the height of his success on The Dick Van Dyke Show.
A downtown parade held in his honor attracted thousands.
Home-movie footage from the parade appears in the E!
Celebrity Profile of Dick.
Below:
during the visit he was presented with the key to the city.
Left: Dick and his wife were so overwhelmed by the warm
reception they wrote a letter of thanks to the local paper.
(Letter and photo courtesy Danville Commercial
News). |
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| Jerry returned to Danville several times in the early
1970's. On October 4, 1971, he came to present "Jerry Van
Dyke and His Hollywood Friends," a benefit for the Danville
Tennis Club held at Danville High School. The performers --
all friends of Jerry -- included actors George Lindsey, Maggie
Peterson, Denver Pyle, and Danville native Gene
Hackman. Right: In 1973, Jerry and his family actually moved
back to Danville for a brief time. Saying he "didn't like what California
was doing to [my] kids," he moved into a large home on Logan
Avenue with his wife and three children. But Jerry's work
forced them to leave the area after only a year. |
(Photo courtesy Danville Commercial News)
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Above:
In May 1988, Dick and Jerry joined Danville natives (from left) Donald
O'Connor, Bobby
Short, and Gene Hackman for a benefit to raise money for the city's
Fischer Theatre. (Photo by Chuck Cannady, courtesy Vermilion
County Museum)
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By mayoral proclamation, June 4, 1994 was Jerry Van Dyke Day in
Danville. Above left: Jerry was honored with a parade in downtown Danville, an
event featured in People magazine. A dance concert at
Danville High School and a dinner at the Lamplighter restaurant
completed the busy day. Above right: Jerry
"directs" traffic on Vermilion St. during his visit. (Left
photo by Chuck Cannady, right photo by Roy Dabner, both courtesy
Danville Commercial News).
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| Above: In his first
visit to Danville in 16 years, Dick returned from April 29-May 2,
2004. Though he came primarily to attend two Danville
High School performances of Bye Bye Birdie (the show
that launched his career in 1960), the weekend was packed
with other events: |
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| Left: the events
began with a press conference featuring
"The Burfords," the nickname Dick and his
childhood friends used to describe their tight-knit
group in high school. From left, Jerry Seawright,
Dick, Harold Brown, and Bob Hackman (uncle of Danville
native Gene Hackman). |
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| Above left: Dick
takes to the Danville High School stage to rehearse a number
with the students. The 78-year old demonstrated that he
still has a dancer's moves. Above right: After
the rehearsal, Danville Public Library Director Barb Nolan
(right) presents Dick with the Danville
Community Encyclopedia and a library tote bag. |
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| The busy day continued with a tour
of the WDAN/WDNL studios, where Dick worked as an announcer in
the early 1940's. Above left: Station
owner Geoff Neuhoff presents Dick with a broadcasting
award. Above right: Dick records sound
bites for this website, for the station, and for the Red Mask Players
website. |
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(Photo by Rick Danzi, courtesy The
News-Gazette)
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| Dick attended both sold-out
performances of Bye Bye Birdie on Friday and
Saturday night. Left: At the end
of each performance, he took to the stage to perform a
number with the students. Afterward, a
specially-commissioned documentary short about Dick
and his friends, created by award-winning filmmaker
Craig Lindvahl, was screened. |
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| Dick was presented with awards and
honors both evenings:
Right: Because he enlisted in the Air
Force several months before his high school graduation
ceremony, Dick never picked up his diploma.
Danville School District Superintendent Gary Tucker
remedied the problem by presenting Dick with his
diploma after the performance. |
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(Photo by Matt Huber, courtesy Danville
Commercial News)
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| Danville Mayor Scott
Eisenhauer, who proclaimed April 30 and May 1 "Dick
Van Dyke Days," presented Dick with the key to the
city because, although Dick received the key during a
visit in 1963, "the locks have been changed since
then." Danville High School Principal Mark
Denman used the opportunity to announce the creation of
the Dick Van Dyke Scholarship for the Performing
Arts. The first four winners -- Rhoda Lewis,
Graham Peck, Emily Hoffman, and Scott Turner -- were
presented with the award by Van Dyke himself. |
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(Photo by Matt Huber, courtesy Danville
Commercial News)
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Left: On Saturday, Dick continued his demanding schedule with more appearances, including a visit to the
Fischer Theatre, where his feet and handprints were pressed in
cement.
The busy weekend was covered extensively in the
local press. The Danville Commercial News
produced an 8-page Special
Section incorporating photos, reminiscences by Dick and his friends and
fans, a quiz, and the videography
from this website.
(The section is a 1
MB .pdf file and make take some time to download).
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| Below: The Bye
Bye Birdie playbill included an article from the
January 31, 1944 issue of the Danville High School
newspaper, announcing Dick's departure from school to
join the Air Force. Note the prescient final line: |
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Below: In 2005, the
McDonald's restaurant on Gilbert Street in Danville was
remodeled to showcase an impressive salute to famous
Danville natives, including Dick and Jerry, with permanent
displays of photographs and memorabilia.
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Glass etching of Dick Van Dyke
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Photo of Dick and Jerry from 1968
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Below: On
June 17, 2006, Dick participated live via
speakerphone in a book
signing promoting To Twilo and Beyond! My Walnut Adventures with 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' Cast
by David Van Deusen. The author also talked live
with Rose Marie. The event was broadcast on WDAN, Dick's old
employer.
The one-hour radio interview is available for
downloading here: Part 1
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(The sound files total 48 MB and are broken into10 parts
for quicker downloading. Rose Marie's interview
begins with Part 3 and Dick's interview begins with Part
4. Special thanks to WDAN and David Van Deusen for
these files).
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The two DVDs: author David Van Deusen talks with
Dick Van Dyke by phone.
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WDAN Station Manager Mike Hulvey
broadcasts the interviews.
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Dick's lifelong friend, Bob
Hackman, talks with Dick.
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HIGH SCHOOL DEDICATION
In May 2011, Danville High School officials invited Dick to attend the re-naming of their auditorium in his name. The dedication of the Dick Van Dyke Auditorium occurred following the staging of the "Moments Musical," and though Dick was unable to be there in person, he attended virtually via Skype.
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