Jerry Paris

William Gerald "Jerry" Paris (July 25, 1925 – 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.

Early life
Paris was born in San Francisco, California. His name, as frequently reported was, indeed, Paris and not Grossman. Grossman was his stepfather's surname, and Jerry never took that name. 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, he attended UCLA and studied acting at the Actors Lab in Hollywood.

Career
Paris had roles in major 1950s 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 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 that classic series. 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 the 50s nostalgia television series Happy Days, for which he directed 234 of the show's 255 episodes. The show was a bona fide No.1 hit in the late 1970s and he was effectively the show's house director. Imitating Hitchcock, he appeared uncredited in at least one episode of every season.

Paris also directed Laverne & Shirley as well as episodes of 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
In 1954, Paris married Ruth Benjamin. They had three children: Julie, Anthony and Andrew. They remained married until Ruth's death in 1980.

Death
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. A private memorial was held at Paris' home in Pacific Palisades on April 2.

In popular culture
In the 1990s sitcom The Nanny, Fran Fine's grandmother Yetta Rosenberg, played by Ann Morgan Guilbert, showed a photo of Paris briefly and claimed it was her late husband. Guilbert played Millie Helper on The Dick Van Dyke Show, wife of Paris's character Jerry Helper.

Actor

 * The Lady Gambles (1949) as Horse Player (uncredited)
 * Sword in the Desert (1949) as Levitan (uncredited)
 * Battleground (1949) as German Sergeant (uncredited)
 * My Foolish Heart (1949) as Usher at Football Game
 * Woman in Hiding (1950) as Customer at Newsstand (uncredited)
 * DOA (1950) as Bellhop (uncredited)
 * The Reformer and the Redhead (1950) as Radio Station Call Boy (uncredited)
 * Outrage (1950) as Frank Marini
 * Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) as Cadet
 * The Flying Missile (1950) as Crewman Andy Mason
 * Frenchie (1950) as Perry (uncredited)
 * Call Me Mister (1951) as Air Force Pilot in Skit (uncredited)
 * Her First Romance (1951) as Camp Counsellor (uncredited)
 * Bright Victory (1951) as Reynolds, the Medic (uncredited)
 * Submarine Command (1951) as Sgt. Gentry
 * Monkey Business (1952) as Scientist (uncredited)
 * Bonzo Goes to College (1952) as Lefty Edwards
 * The Glass Wall (1953) as Tom
 * Sabre Jet (1953) as Capt. Bert Flanagan
 * Flight to Tangier (1953) as Policeman in Car (uncredited)
 * The Wild One (1953) as Dextro (uncredited)
 * Drive a Crooked Road (1954) as Phil
 * Prisoner of War (1954) as Axel Horstrom
 * The Caine Mutiny (1954) as Ensign Barney Harding
 * About Mrs. Leslie (1954) as Mr. Harkness (uncredited)
 * Unchained (1955) as Joe Ravens
 * Marty (1955) as Tommy
 * Not as a Stranger (1955) as Thompson (uncredited)
 * The Naked Street (1955) as Latzi Franks
 * Crossroads in "With All My Love" (1955) as Corporal Reynolds
 * The View from Pompey's Head (1955) as Ian Garrick
 * Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955) as Maurice Levine
 * Hell's Horizon (1955) as Cpl. Pete Kinshaw
 * Crusader (CBS, 1956) as Barney
 * Never Say Goodbye (1956) as Joe
 * Whodunit (Alfred Hitchcock Presents) (1956) as Wally Benson
 * D-Day the Sixth of June (1956) as Raymond Boyce
 * I've Lived Before (1956) as Russell Smith, Copilot
 * Hey, Jeannie! (1956) as Joe Grady
 * Those Whiting Girls (1957) as Artie the Accompanist / Artie
 * Zero Hour! (1957) as Tony Decker
 * Man on the Prowl (1957) as Woody
 * Colt .45 in "Blood Money" (1958) as Joe Bullock
 * The Female Animal (1958) as Hank Galvez (not Lopez)
 * The Lady Takes a Flyer (1958) as Willie Ridgely
 * Sing, Boy, Sing (1958) as Arnold Fisher
 * The Naked and the Dead (1958) as Goldstein
 * No Name on the Bullet (1959) as Harold Miller
 * Steve Canyon (1959) as Maj. 'Willie' Williston
 * Career (1959) as Allan Burke
 * The Untouchables (1959-1960) as Agent Martin Flaherty
 * The Alaskans in "Peril at Caribou Crossing" (1960) as Walter Collier
 * The Great Impostor (1961) as Defense Lieutenant
 * Michael Shayne (1960-1961) as Tim Rourke
 * The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966) as Jerry Helper / Jack Sullivan / TV Newsman
 * The Lloyd Bridges Show (1962) in episode "Big Man, Little Bridge"
 * The Caretakers (1963) as Passerby Lorna Bumps on Street (uncredited)
 * The Eleventh Hour as Marty Kane in "What Did She Mean by Good Luck?" (1963) as Marty Kane
 * The Fugitive (1963) as Jim Prestwick
 * Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968) as Baseball Umpire
 * Never a Dull Moment (1968) as Police Photographer (uncredited)
 * But I Don't Want to Get Married! (1970) as Harry
 * Evil Roy Slade (1972) as Souvenir Salesman (uncredited)
 * Every Man Needs One (1972) as Marty Ranier
 * Leo and Loree (1980) as Tony
 * Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986) as Priest in Police Line-up (uncredited) (final film role)

Director

 * The Silent Service, 2 episodes (1957)
 * The Joey Bishop Show (1961)
 * The Dick Van Dyke Show (1963–66)
 * The Farmer's Daughter (1963)
 * The Munsters (1964)
 * Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968)
 * That Girl (1966)
 * Hey, Landlord (1966–67) (TV series)
 * Sheriff Who? (1967) (TV pilot)
 * Never a Dull Moment (1968)
 * How Sweet It Is! (1968)
 * Here's Lucy (1968) (TV series)
 * Love, American Style (1969)
 * Viva Max! (1969)
 * The Partridge Family (1970 Pilot)
 * The Grasshopper (1970)
 * McCloud (1970)
 * The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970)
 * The Odd Couple (1970–75)
 * Barefoot in the Park (1970 TV series)
 * But I Don't Want to Get Married! (1970)
 * The Feminist and the Fuzz (1971)
 * The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971)
 * Two on a Bench (1971) (TV)
 * What's a Nice Girl Like You...? (1971)
 * Star Spangled Girl (1971)
 * Call Her Mom (1972)
 * Evil Roy Slade (1972)
 * Wednesday Night Out (1972) (TV pilot)
 * Keeping Up with the Joneses (1972) (TV pilot)
 * The Couple Takes a Wife (1972) (TV)
 * Every Man Needs One (1972) (TV)
 * Thicker Than Water (1973) (TV Series)
 * Happy Days (1974–84)
 * Only with Married Men (1974)
 * The Fireman's Ball (1975) (TV pilot)
 * When Things Were Rotten (1975)
 * Good Heavens (1976) (TV series)
 * How to Break Up a Happy Divorce (1976)
 * Blansky's Beauties (1977) (TV series)
 * The Ted Knight Show (1978) (TV series)
 * Make Me an Offer (1980)
 * Leo and Loree (1980)
 * Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)
 * Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)
 * You Again? (1986)