Who is Barry Van Dyke?
Barry was born in Atlanta, Georgia USA on 31 July 1951 – his zodiac sign is Leo, and he holds American nationality. He’s an actor, film writer and director, who’s appeared in close to 50 movies and TV series, while he’s perhaps still known best for his portrayal of the main character Steve Sloan, in the mystery crime series “Diagnosis Murder”. It was created by Joyce Burditt, also starred Dick Van Dyke and Victoria Rowell, and follows Dr. Mark Sloan and his homicide detective son Steve, as they’re solving crimes together; the series aired from 1993 to 2001, and was nominated for six awards, including a Primetime Emmy.
Barry hasn’t appeared in any movies or TV series in the past three years, but hasn’t officially retired from acting; he had taken even longer breaks from acting in the past, which is why his fans believe that they could see him again on their TV screens anytime soon.
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Early life and education
Barry was raised in Atlanta alongside his siblings Christian, Carrie Beth and Stacy, by their father Dick Van Dyke, a famous American actor, comedian, dancer and singer, and their mother Margie Willett, who was Dick’s first wife, and who passed away in 2008, aged 82.
Barry grew up being interested in acting, mostly because he was motivated by his father and older brother Christian, who had already launched his career; Barry was 11 years old when he appeared in the episode “The Talented Neighborhood” of his father’s family comedy series “The Dick Van Dyke Show”. However, Dick advised Barry not to immediately focus on his acting career, but to wait until he’d matriculated, and then see if he was still interested in an acting career.
Barry matriculated from a local high school in 1969, and then started working on his way up in the film industry, but later enrolled at Pierce Junior College, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Roles in TV series
Between 1971 and 1974, Barry played several characters in the comedy “The New Dick Van Dyke Show”, and was then invited to appear in an episode or two of a couple of popular series such as the comedy “The Tony Randall Show”, the action science fiction adventure “Gemini Man”, and the comedy “Van Dyke and Company”.
In 1977 and 1978, he portrayed Stuart Stafford, the lead character in the comedy “The Harvey Korman Show”, which with Harvey also starred Christine Lahti, and follows the actor Harvey Kavanaugh who isn’t as talented as he believes himself to be. The remainder of the ‘70s saw Barry make a guest appearance in an episode of a couple of series, including the family comedy drama “Eight is Enough”, the family science fiction comedy “Mork & Mindy”, and the drama “The MacKenzies of Paradise Cove”.
1980 saw Barry star as Lieutenant Dillon in the science fiction adventure “Galactica 1980”, created by Glen A. Larson, and which also starred Kent McCord and Robyn Douglass. It follows the crew of Battlestar Galactica who have landed their ship on Earth – the series was nominated for two awards, including a Primetime Emmy. Barry played supporting characters in many series in the ‘80s, with some of the most popular amongst these having been the western comedy “Gun Shy”, the comedy “The Redd Foxx Show”, and the action science fiction adventure “Airwolf”.
Between 1993 and 2001, he was focused solely on shooting for the series “Diagnosis Murder”, and didn’t appear in any other movies or TV series during those eight years.
He has since appeared in only two series: four episodes of the drama “Murder 101” between 2006 and 2008, and the 2015 pilot episode of the comedy “Dad Dudes”.
Roles in movies
Barry made his debut film appearance in the 1976 drama “Stalk the Wild Child”, directed by William Hale, and which starred David Jansen, Trish Van Devere and Ben Bottoms. It follows a boy who was raised by wild dogs in a forest, and has now being taken to a university, where a group of professors are trying to civilized him. Barry appeared in only a single other movie in the ‘70s: the 1977 horror thriller “Ants!”
He spent the ‘80s focused on appearing in TV series, and what was perhaps his most notable film performance was his portrayal of the supporting character John Otis in the 1985 family fantasy drama “The Canterville Ghost”. It was directed by William F. Claxton, starred Richard Kiley, Jenny Beck and Shelley Fabares, and follows the ghost of Sir Simon Canterville who’s roaming around his castle, hoping that someone will perform a brave deed to release him from his curse.
In 1992, Barry played Detective Steve Sloan in the mystery crime dramas “Diagnosis Murder: Diagnosis of Murder” and “Diagnosis Murder: The House on Sycamore Street”; he portrayed the same character in the 1993 mystery crime drama “A Twist of the Knife”.
He has since appeared in only a couple of movies, while his three most recent roles have been in the 2012 family drama “Strawberry Summer”, the comedy drama “The Untold Story” and the drama “Heavenly Depot”, both in 2019.
Other credits
Barry wrote six episodes of the series “Diagnosis Murder” between 1997 and 2001, and he directed its 2001 episode “The Blair Nurse Project”. He’s currently co-producing the upcoming comedy movie “Capture the Flag”.
Barry has been featured in a number of documentaries, such as the 1964 short film “Hollywood Goes to a World Premiere”, and the 2000 series’ “Biography” and “Celebrity Profile”.
He has made a guest appearance in a number of talk-shows, including “The Mike Douglas Show”, “The Suzanne Somers Show”, and “Entertainment Tonight”.
Love life and wife
Barry prefers to keep the details of his love life away from the media’s attention, but it’s still widely known that he’s today a married man.
He exchanged vows with Mary Carey in 1974, in a private ceremony attended by many of their friends and family members; Mary is a non-celebrity American woman, and it’s widely believed that she stopped working on her career after she gave birth to her and Barry’s first child, son Carey on 25 February 1976.
On 28 August 1979, Mary gave birth to their second son Shane Van Dyke, who is today a popular actor and film director; he was followed by his brother Wes on 22 October 1984, and sister Taryn on 1 June 1986. All of the children are today involved in the film industry.
Barry hasn’t spoken of any other women whom he might have been with, so as of February 2022, he’s married to his wife of almost 50 years Mary Carey, and they have four children together.
Hobbies and other interests
Barry’s career has taken him to nearly all of the US states, and he’s also been to various European and Asian countries, while his dream travel destination is Miami, Florida.
Barry spent his 20s and 30s focused on working out at the gym nearly every day, mostly because it was important for his career to stay in shape.
He’s said to still be working out today, but not as often as when he was younger, just one or two sessions a week.
Barry is a huge lover of animals, with horses being his favorites.
He enjoys watching movies in his spare time, and some of his favorite actors of today are Will Smith, Eddie Redmayne and Tom Hanks, while a couple of his favorite films include “Men in Black”, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”, and “Sleepless in Seattle”.
Age, height and net worth
Barry is 70 years old. He has short brown hair and light blue eyes, his height is 6ft (1.85m) and he weighs around 175lbs (80kgs).
As of February 2022, his net worth has been estimated at more than $6 million, while his father’s net worth is reputedly over $50 million.
