Question
The Dick Van Dyke Show promo shot

Who played Dick Van Dyke's wife on his self-titled sitcom?

Last updated: December 13, 2025

"The Dick Van Dyke Show" was one of the smartest sitcoms of the 1960s, following comedy writer Rob Petrie through his work life and home life. Dick Van Dyke could trip over an ottoman and make it look like ballet, but the show needed more than just his physical comedy to work. Rob needed a wife who could hold her own, someone with comedic timing sharp enough to match his pratfalls. Who played Laura Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show"?

Correct Answer: Mary Tyler Moore

(Source)

Carl Reiner was losing his mind. He'd auditioned somewhere between 60 and 100 actresses for the role of Laura Petrie and nobody was working. Then 24-year-old Mary Tyler Moore walked in, read exactly one line, and Reiner heard what he called an "intelligent ping." That was it. She got the job. The chemistry between Moore and Dick Van Dyke turned out to be so good that it created a problem when fans started thinking they were married in real life. Van Dyke couldn't go anywhere with his actual wife without people assuming he was cheating on Mary Tyler Moore.

Moore had her own battle with Procter & Gamble executives who kept marching into the studio to tell her a proper TV housewife should be wearing a full-skirted dress and pearls, and not capri pants. The pants stayed, and it became an Emmy-winning role for Moore. And when "The Dick Van Dyke Show" ended in 1966, her performance eventually landed her "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in 1970, which became an even bigger hit.

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