Van Dyke was born in West Plains, Mo., in 1925 and was raised in Danville, Ill. He joined the Air Force and, after a stint doing military productions and working as a stateside radio announcer, he began to pursue work in radio and television. It was during this period that he founded the Merry Mutes with his friend Phillip Erickson. The two took the physical comedy show on the road in 1947 and toured as Erick and Van.

Soon more work came his way, and by 1954 he had taken over CBS' "Morning Show" for Johnny Carson. "It was my first job at CBS, I was 29, and Walter Cronkite was my newsman," Van Dyke told The Times in a 2012 interview.