Jerry Paris

Jerry Paris
Paris (right) alongside Dick Van Dyke on The Dick Van Dyke Show
Born	William Gerald Paris (1925-07-25)July 25, 1925 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died	March 31, 1986(1986-03-31) (aged 60) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	New York University UCLA The Actors Lab Actors Studio
Occupation(s)	Actor, director
Years active	1949–1986
Spouse	Ruth Benjamin ​ ​ (m. 1954; died 1980)​
Children	3

William Gerald Paris (July 25, 1925^[1] – March 31, 1986) was an American actor and director best known for playing Jerry Helper, the dentist and next-door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie, on The Dick Van Dyke Show, and for directing the majority of the episodes of the sitcom Happy Days.

Early life[edit]

In November 1921, in Santa Ana, Orange County, California, Samuel Aaron Paris,^[2] 30, of San Francisco, and Esther Mohr, 19, of Los Angeles applied for a marriage licence.^[3][4]

William Gerald Paris was born on 25 July 1925^[5] in San Francisco, California.^[6] His name, as frequently reported, was indeed Paris, and not Grossman, his stepfather's surname, which he never adopted.^[7] Paris' mother's maiden name was Esther Shaina Mohr.^[8][9]

After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, he attended New York University and the Actors Studio in New York City. After graduating, Paris moved to Los Angeles, where he attended UCLA and studied acting at the Actors Lab in Hollywood.^[10][11]

Career[edit]

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Paris had roles in films such as The Caine Mutiny, The Wild One, and Marty. He also played Martin "Marty" Flaherty, one of Eliot Ness's men, in a recurring role in the first season of ABC-TV's The Untouchables, besides making guest appearances on other television series.

After having directed some episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show in which he also played the recurring character of next-door neighbor and dentist Jerry Helper, Paris won an Emmy Award in the 1963-64 season for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy for the series.^{[citation needed]} He later devoted himself to directing both in film and television, including The Partridge Family and Here's Lucy (including the famous third season opener featuring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton), but he worked most notably on Happy Days, where he directed 237 of the show's 255 episodes. Imitating Hitchcock, he appeared uncredited in at least one episode of every season.

Paris also directed episodes of Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Ted Knight Show, and Blansky's Beauties. He returned to directing feature films in 1985's Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment and 1986's Police Academy 3: Back in Training. In all, he is credited with directing episodes of 57 TV titles and as an actor in 105 titles.

Personal life[edit]

Paris married Ruth Lincoln Benjamin (born November 14, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois) in Santa Barbara, California on December 19, 1954.^[12]They had three children, Tony (born 1956), Julie (born 1958), and Andy (born 1964). They remained married until her death on August 13, 1980 in Los Angeles, California at age 51.

On March 18, 1986, Paris was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where doctors discovered he had a brain tumor. He underwent two surgeries, but doctors were unable to remove the tumor. Paris remained hospitalized until his death on March 31 at the age of 60.^[11] A private memorial was held at Paris' home in Pacific Palisades on April 2.^[1]

Filmography[edit]

Actor[edit]

Director[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Jerry Paris at IMDb
• Jerry Paris at the Internet Broadway Database