All About Barry Van Dyke, Dick Van Dyke's Son and Former Costar

Actor Dick Van Dyke had son Barry Van Dyke in 1951

He might have a very famous father in Dick Van Dyke, but Barry Van Dyke has forged a Hollywood career all his own.

The son of the Dick Van Dyke show star has appeared on iconic shows like Wonder Woman, The A-Team, Mork & Mindy and Galactica 1980, and costarred with his dad on Diagnosis Murder for eight seasons.

Dick, star of films like Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, was loomed large in the lives of generations of kids. The unique energy and animated performances he brought to his roles, Barry has said, were similar to how the actor was at home. "He was a terrific father," Barry said in an appearance on Born Famous in 1987. "He was very much a child in a man's body and was attuned to us all the time. … He gave me great things: How to make the right choices, how to be your own person. Those things meant enough to me that I am gladly and proudly passing them on to my children."

Now a grandfather, Barry is still acting — and still taking cues from his 98-year-old father. "I'd work with him any time," Barry said in 1987. "[Dick is] the best to work with, very creative. ... He set a fine example."

Here's everything to know about Dick Van Dyke’s son, Barry Van Dyke.

He’s the second of four children

Dick and then-wife Margie Willett were married in 1948 and had four children together. Son Christian was born on May 13, 1950, and is an attorney living in Oregon. Barry was born on July 31, 1951. Daughter Stacy, an actor who has also appeared on Diagnosis Murder, was born in 1955. The youngest daughter, Carrie Beth, was born on Oct. 18, 1961, and has largely lived out of the spotlight.

"They all turned out great, I'm happy to say," Dick told USA Today in 2011. "Not a horse thief in the bunch."

He grew up in Los Angeles

When he was 9, the family moved to Los Angeles so Dick could star in The Dick Van Dyke Show. Even though his dad was a huge celebrity, Barry told The Los Angeles Times in 1994 that he never felt like his father was a star.

“My father didn’t travel in those circles,” he said. “We were aware he was on TV and watched the show and knew it was successful, but we didn’t socialize with a lot of show-business types.”

He and his wife were high school sweethearts

When they were both 16, Barry met Mary Carey when he was working as a ticket taker at a movie theater in Arizona, according to The Los Angeles Times. They married at 23, and have four children: Carey, Shane, Wes and Taryn.

Now, Barry and Mary are grandparents. Carey has several children, including daughters Ava, Gracie and Jane; Shane has a son, Kayden; and Wes has a daughter, Kyla Mae, and a son, Conor.

On Father’s Day in 2023, Dick posted a photo on Instagram of him and his wife Arlene surrounded by family members. "I never realized when I was first having kids what I was starting," he captioned the photo. "But, I'm amazed and grateful to have lived long enough to spend Father's Day with some of my kids, grandchildren AND great grandchildren!! All wonderful, non-toxic people!! And to share it all with my greatest gift @bijoubox in our magical fairyland @vandymanor I'm a very lucky boy!! @wesvandyke_fineart."

He made his first television appearance on his dad’s most famous show

Barry made his television debut on The Dick Van Dyke Show when he was 9 years old — and the role wasn’t too much of a stretch for the young actor, who saw the same dad on the screen that he did in real life.

"He was Rob Petrie at home," Barry told USA Today in 2011. "That's really him. He always played himself. Fans of his feel like they know him because that's the real Dick Van Dyke you see on the screen."

While he appeared on television when he was very young, Barry says that his father discouraged him from pursuing an acting career at that age.

"He wanted me to have my childhood. He told me that if I still wanted to act after I graduated high school, then it would be okay," he told The Los Angeles Times in 1994.

He forged his own path in Hollywood

While Barry acknowledges that his famous dad’s name opened doors for him, he doesn’t believe that it got him any real credibility in showbusiness. “There’s too much at stake for producers and casting directors to get you in on just a name,” he told The Los Angeles Times. “You either perform or you don’t. You work or you don’t.”

Dick, however, has a slightly different take on the idea of putting his family in his shows. In his view, it’s more the merrier when it comes to hiring family members. "It's one way to get to see your grown kids," Dick said to CNN in 1998. "Barry's teenage sons were on, and I had my daughter Stacy on the show, too. That's carrying nepotism to its the ultimate!"

He has appeared on very famous television shows

Once Barry began his acting career, he quickly landed guest roles on some of the most beloved and influential shows of the 1970s and 1980s, including Murder She Wrote, Full House, Wonder Woman, The A-Team, Mork & Mindy and Magnum P.I.

In 1980, he landed a role on Galactica 1980, the final season of the original Battlestar Galactica, and then appeared for a season in another 1980s sci-fi show, Airwolf, as well as a string of TV movies.

Barry’s most recent roles were in two 2019 films: The Untold Story and Heavenly Deposit.

His biggest roles have been starring opposite his dad

Dick came out of retirement for Diagnosis Murder, which debuted in 1993. In the show, Barry played Steve Sloan, a police detective, and Dick played Dr. Mark Sloan, a doctor who consults on his son’s cases and helps to solve murders. “The opportunity to work with Barry was one of my main reasons for doing it,” Dick told PEOPLE in 1998.

“Dad is a reluctant TV star,” Barry added. “He’s retired multiple times. [But] they keep dragging him into new projects.”

Audiences responded to the duo’s dynamic on screen, and the show aired for 178 episodes and inspired five television movies which both Van Dykes appeared in. "It's an easy role for me to fall into," Barry told The Los Angeles Times in 1994. "My dad pretty much plays himself. You're seeing the real him. All that warmth and humanity really comes across. So I tend to play myself. So their relationship is pretty much ours."

After Diagnosis Murder ended in 2002, Dick and Barry — along with Barry’s son Shane — appeared in the short-lived Murder 101 in 2006.

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