HOT SPRINGS — Comedian and actor Jerry Van Dyke looks forward to the reunion that will take place when his brother, five-time Emmy Award winner Dick Van Dyke, jets into Hot Springs.
Dick Van Dyke will perform well-known songs from some of his hit films with three musicians who form the a capella quartet The Vantastix. Jerry Van Dyke is helping coordinate the event, a special American Cancer Society fundraiser.
“I just happened to pick up the phone and asked Dick if he would do it, and he said ‘Yes,’” Jerry Van Dyke told The Sentinel-Record.
“I can’t wait to introduce my brother and catch the show. I have not seen him work. I have their album and they sound fantastic. They are terrific,” Jerry Van Dyke said, referring to the group’s children’s album, Put On A Happy Face.
The event includes a cocktail hour and cash bar at 5:30 p.m., the performance at 6:30 p.m., and a VIP Meet and Greet at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 10, at Hot Springs Convention Center.
Dick Van Dyke, Mike Mendyke, Bryan Chadima and Eric Bradley formed The Vantastix for the fun of it, but after their first casual performance during the wrap-up party for Van Dyke’s mystery TV series Diagnosis Murder, the quartet began to get requests to appear at charity events and benefits.
They built up an impressive repertoire and have continued to perform at these types of occasions in the Los Angeles area, according to a news release.
The event’s cause has touched the Van Dyke family. Jerry Van Dyke’s wife, Shirley, is a two-time cancer survivor- breast cancer in 1998 and ovarian cancer in 2004 - and her sister also had cancer.
“We wanted to do something to help the Cancer Society raise money,” Shirley Van Dyke said. “I was lucky to catch it early.”
To arrive in Spa City for the fundraiser, Dick Van Dyke leased a jet, his brother said.
“I told him, just send the money instead, and we wouldn’t have to do all this,” Jerry Van Dyke said.
Their six-year age difference threw them apart growing up, he said. “I was in high school when he was in the service. I always wanted to be a comic, and he wanted to be an actor. And that’s how it ended up. I wanted to be Bob Hope or Red Skelton, from the time I was 8 years old. He went in a different direction all together. We are complete opposites,” Jerry Van Dyke said.
Even in high school, Dick Van Dyke was groomed to perfection. “His high school picture looks like an 8-by-10 glossy of a movie star. I was always a mess,” Jerry Van Dyke said.
While dancing roles onstage were difficult for Jerry Van Dyke, he said they came natural to Dick, “and he never took lessons.”
Their father looked like Fred Astaire, “and he was funnier than both of us put together. He loved to ballroom dance, and that’s where Dick gets the dancing,” Jerry Van Dyke said.
Dick Van Dyke recently met President Barack Obama and sang for him at the annual Ford’s Theatre gala, where South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and South African Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs received the theater’s Lincoln Medal.
Fans can tune in to the gala, which also featured performances by American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson, comedian George Lopez and pop star Lionel Richie. It was hosted by Ty Burrell of Modern Family and will air Friday on ABC.
“It will be a nice preview to the event in Hot Springs,” Jerry Van Dyke said.
“I don’t think Dick has ever seen Hot Springs, and we want to bring him in and show him all around.
“It’s a reunion for us.”
Arkansas, Pages 20 on 06/27/2010