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Here's why Morey Amsterdam was one of the happiest actors on The Dick Van Dyke Show
He had plenty to smile about on The Dick Van Dyke Show.
It's easy being happy when you're on TV. Just ask The Dick Van Dyke Show's Morey Amsterdam. There was no happier actor in the mid-1960s than Amsterdam, or at least that's what he wanted people to believe.
According to a 1965 interview with The Niles Daily Star, Amsterdam had plenty to smile about, both in his personal life and his career.
"I'm the happiest man I know," Amsterdam said. "I've been married for 23 years, and been happy all the time. My son is a senior at UCLA and a very nice, bright kid. My daughter, she's 13, is the most wonderful human I've ever met."
"And the show! Well, working with Dick Van Dyke and Rose Marie and all of them is just such a treat. Why, we all have so much fun we begrudge weekends when we're not together."
His character, Buddy Sorrell, reflected that same upbeat spirit. Buddy almost always had a joke or pun at the ready, was usually in high spirits and, while he occasionally clashed with his onscreen rival, Mel Cooley, he was generally one of the show's most cheerful characters.
What made Amsterdam happiest, though, was his career.
"This career is just the greatest," Amsterdam said. "It gives you so many opportunities you can't get in any other profession. First, of course, is the financial opportunity. To make what I am making outside show business, a man would have to be running a $5 million company."
Beyond the paycheck, Amsterdam appreciated the experiences that came with being an actor. One of his favorite perks was meeting famous people. According to the interview, his three favorite people he'd met were Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.
"Another opportunity we have is that because we are known, our life is made easier," Amsterdam said. "If I want a plane reservation I call up and I say, 'This is Morey Amsterdam,' and they roll out the red carpet."
Amsterdam embraced every opportunity that came with his career. Between starring alongside Dick Van Dyke, working with a cast he adored and enjoying the occasional celebrity perk, it's easy to see why he considered himself the happiest man in TV.
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