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IMDbPro

Jerry Paris(1925-1986)

  • Director
  • Actor
  • Producer
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Jerry Paris "The Dick Van Dyke Show" 1962 CBS
Steve Canyon
Play trailer0:59
Steve Canyon (1958–1959)
1 Video
30 Photos
Glimpsed here and there throughout the 1950s, usually in amiable supporting roles on film, it was as in television that Jerry Paris found his true calling. In front of the camera, however, most fans will remember him as Jerry Helper, the next-door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie (Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore) on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961).

He was born William Gerald Paris on July 25, 1925, in San Francisco, California. His father was a Russian immigrant; his mother, the former Esther Mohr, remarried when Jerry was a small child. Jerry's new stepfather, Milton Grossman, eventually adopted the boy and Jerry thereafter used the name William Gerald Grossman while growing up. He reverted back to his real name when he became an actor. He graduated from both New York University and UCLA, and studied at the Actor's Studio after serving in the Navy during WWII. Starting off onstage in such plays as "The Front Page". He appeared dramatically on Broadway twice, making his debut in "Medea" (1947) in the bit part as a soldier, and later appearing in a 1952 revival of "Anna Christie", which starred Celeste Holm.

He turned to films in 1949 with unbilled bits but slowly progressed to a higher acting tier in such durable films as Outrage (1950), The Wild One (1953), The Caine Mutiny (1954), Marty (1955), The Naked and the Dead (1958) and The Great Impostor (1960). Hyperactive in nature, the tall, dark-haired actor was often cast as the genial or helpful pal of the star. He never found that one film role that might have moved him beyond the secondary character ranks. TV, however, would become a more accepting medium. After appearing as a regular in the series The Untouchables (1959) in 1959, Jerry found himself in classic company on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) in 1961 as next-door-neighbor Jerry Helper, and (of course) pal to Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore.

Loose and fun-loving, Jerry loved to keep the laughs going on- and off-stage and continued to do so -- behind the camera. It was comic actor and "Dick Van Dyke Show" producer Carl Reiner who gave Jerry his first chance to direct on one of the show's episodes. The actor took to it like a duck to water. By the mid-60s, Jerry was a regular director on the show and won an Emmy for his efforts during the 1963-1964 season. Highly encouraged (he also won a Directors Guild Award down the road), he decided to abandon acting and concentrate solely on behind-the-camera work. Working on such movies as Viva Max (1969) and Star Spangled Girl (1971), he eventually returned to familiar territory (TV sitcoms) and found his niche helming several popular shows including Happy Days (1974) (twice Emmy-nominated) and The Odd Couple (1970).

Now and then, Jerry would return to movie-making and helmed his last feature in 1986, Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986), the year of his death. Diagnosed with brain cancer, he died of complications following surgery. He was 60 years young. Predeceased by his wife, Ruth (Benjamin) Paris, who died in 1980, the couple had three children.
BornJuly 25, 1925
DiedMarch 31, 1986(60)
BornJuly 25, 1925
DiedMarch 31, 1986(60)
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  • Won 1 Primetime Emmy

Photos30

Marlon Brando, Lee Marvin, and Jerry Paris in The Wild One (1953)
Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner, Richard Deacon, and Jerry Paris in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)
Willis Bouchey, Jerry Paris, and Charles Watts in No Name on the Bullet (1959)
Jerry Paris and Jacqueline Pearce in Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968)
John Lupton and Jerry Paris in Death Valley Days (1952)
Ernest Borgnine, Esther Minciotti, Jerry Paris, and Karen Steele in Marty (1955)
Esther Minciotti, Jerry Paris, and Karen Steele in Marty (1955)
Marlon Brando and Jerry Paris in The Wild One (1953)
Peggy Maley, Eve March, and Jerry Paris in The Wild One (1953)
Marlon Brando, Wally Albright, Alvy Moore, and Jerry Paris in The Wild One (1953)
Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, Morey Amsterdam, Ann Morgan Guilbert, Shirley Mitchell, Jerry Paris, and Edward Platt in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)
Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, Ann Morgan Guilbert, and Jerry Paris in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)

Known for

Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)
The Dick Van Dyke Show
8.4
TV Series
  • Director
Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson, and Fred MacMurray in The Caine Mutiny (1954)
The Caine Mutiny
7.7
  • Ens. Barney Harding
  • 1954
Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Marion Ross, Tom Bosley, Erin Moran, Don Most, and Anson Williams in Happy Days (1974)
Happy Days
7.4
TV Series
  • Director
Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)
Police Academy 3: Back in Training
5.3
  • Director
  • 1986

Credits

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IMDbPro

Director

  • The Dick Van Dyke Show: Now in Living Color! A Special Tribute to Carl Reiner
  • Jack Klugman and John Stamos in You Again? (1986)
    You Again?
  • Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)
    Police Academy 3: Back in Training
  • Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)
    Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment
  • Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Marion Ross, Tom Bosley, Erin Moran, Don Most, and Anson Williams in Happy Days (1974)
    Happy Days
  • Leo and Loree (1980)
    Leo and Loree
  • Make Me an Offer (1980)
    Make Me an Offer
  • Beane's of Boston (1979)
    Beane's of Boston
  • The Magical World of Disney (1954)
    The Magical World of Disney
  • Sister Terri
  • Charles Hallahan and Ted Knight in The Ted Knight Show (1978)
    The Ted Knight Show
  • Best Friends
  • Nancy Walker in Blansky's Beauties (1977)
    Blansky's Beauties
  • How to Break Up a Happy Divorce (1976)
    How to Break Up a Happy Divorce
  • Good Heavens (1976)
    Good Heavens

Actor

  • Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)
    Police Academy 3: Back in Training
    • (uncredited)
  • Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Marion Ross, Tom Bosley, Erin Moran, Don Most, and Anson Williams in Happy Days (1974)
    Happy Days
    • (uncredited) ...
  • Leo and Loree (1980)
    Leo and Loree
  • Jodie Foster and Christopher Connelly in Paper Moon (1974)
    Paper Moon
  • Dick Van Dyke, Marty Brill, Nancy Dussault, Fannie Flagg, Hope Lange, and Angela Powell in The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971)
    The New Dick Van Dyke Show
  • Ken Berry and Connie Stevens in Every Man Needs One (1972)
    Every Man Needs One
  • Mickey Rooney and John Astin in Evil Roy Slade (1972)
    Evil Roy Slade
    • (uncredited)
  • Love, American Style (1969)
    Love, American Style
  • But I Don't Want to Get Married! (1970)
    But I Don't Want to Get Married!
  • Never a Dull Moment (1968)
    Never a Dull Moment
    • (uncredited)
  • Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968)
    Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River
  • Marlo Thomas in That Girl (1966)
    That Girl
    • (uncredited)
  • Hey, Landlord (1966)
    Hey, Landlord
    • (uncredited)
  • Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961)
    The Dick Van Dyke Show
    • ...
  • David Janssen in The Fugitive (1963)
    The Fugitive

Producer

  • Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Marion Ross, Tom Bosley, Erin Moran, Don Most, and Anson Williams in Happy Days (1974)
    Happy Days
  • Ernie, Madge and Artie
  • Ken Berry and Connie Stevens in Every Man Needs One (1972)
    Every Man Needs One
  • But I Don't Want to Get Married! (1970)
    But I Don't Want to Get Married!
  • The Caretakers (1963)
    The Caretakers

Videos1

Steve Canyon
Trailer 0:59
Steve Canyon

Personal details

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    • July 25, 1925
    • San Francisco, California, USA
    • March 31, 1986
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(brain tumor)
    • December 19, 1954 - August 13, 1980 (her death, 3 children)
    • Julie Paris
  • Other works
    Unsold pilot: Directed a sitcom pilot called "The Friday Night Group" about a group of mismatched friends who meet to play cards, discuss the day's events and the problems in their lives.
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Directed 84 of the 158 episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) after being hired as an actor to play next-door neighbor Jerry Helper, a dentist. He found he had a real gift for directing and went on to direct Happy Days (1974) and the pilot for Laverne & Shirley (1976).
  • Quotes
    [on the difficulties of being a tall actor] You ever see a picture called The Flying Missile (1950)? I was in it, and Glenn Ford starred. We were on a submarine and I was looking out of the periscope all the time. Only it would look bad if we had to lower the periscope for Ford after I finished looking out of it. So I spent the whole picture crouched over.
    • Frequently appeared in small (one scene) roles

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