Jerry Paris Biography

Fast Facts

• Out of the 158 episodes of "The Dick Van Dyke Show," he directed five, for which he received a Primetime Emmy award in 1964 for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Comedy
• After serving in the Navy in World War II, he joined and studied at the Actor's Studio and appeared in two Broadway productions, "Medea," and later "Anna Christie․"
• Quote: "(On becoming a film director) "At last I can paint the whole canvas․ How's that for a figure of speech, eh? When I was a character actor, I was painting only one color - blue or green, as it were․ Now I can work on the whole movie․""
• After appearing as small roles in movies such as "Outrage" and "The Wild One," he appeared as a recurring character on "The Dick Van Dyke Show․"
• Directed "Happy Days," in which The Fonz's style was derived from the members of the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club, in his earlier film "The Wild One․"
• In addition to directing for "Happy Days," he directed the pilot episode of "Lavern & Shirley․"
• While appearing on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," he directed a few episodes and found an interest in directing