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Originally, we were never meant to see more than the back of Alan Brady's head on The Dick Van Dyke Show
Initially, the character had a much smaller role planned.
While Carl Reiner is primarily known for his directing and writing, he's also frequently demonstrated his ability as a comedic actor.
Notably, Reiner played Alan Brady, boss of Rob Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Though Brady was originally only mentioned (or seen by the back of his head), Reiner's face eventually made an appearance and became a more prevalent character as the series went on.
During an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Reiner maintained that during the beginning of the show, Alan Brady was intended to be heard and not seen.
"My idea was to play him with his back to the audience. I never intended him to be very much."
Reiner also added that he never planned to play the star of The Alan Brady Show, and had originally intended to cast someone incredibly famous. However, they were unable to find an actor for the role, so Reiner stepped in.
Even with Reiner as the face of Alan Brady, there were no concrete plans to develop the role into a fully seen character. Reiner maintained that the development of Alan Brady was simply due to a natural progression of The Dick Van Dyke Show.
"But once you get past the first season, you start to look for better ideas," said Reiner. "Then when you find that the ideas have Alan Brady in it strongly, we better turn him around. You can't use the back of his head when you need the expression on his face."
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Dick Van Dyke's 99th birthday, 12-13-24. To think he almost died in the Malibu fires 2 days ago, he
had fallen down in his driveway, two neighbors spotted him and picked him up and got him in his
car as an inferno raged nearby.
A truly nice man, he is more like Rob Petrie than you'd suspect. The series incorporated much
from the cast's own lives, such as Jerry Van Dyke talking in his sleep while sleep walking.
There's an even more mysterious character on the show than early-season Alan, though, and that's Marge, the Alan Brady Show receptionist. The only clue we have to her appearance is when guest star Richard Dawson says she's a blonde. And we only hear her voice in the episode "How to Spank a Star" when Rob gets put in Mel's office as temporary producer and communicates with her via the desktop intercom instead of the handheld telephone in the writers' office.
I've tried to find out whose voice that was, but the answer appears to be undocumented.
for a buck at a library sale. Nice way to "read", I put it on while doing chores.
His cousin is Gene Hackman.
I am a comedy buff and always thought the 2nd season of Car 54 was one of the best
in sitcom history. Charlotte Rae as Sylvia Schnauser was magnificent, a tour de force
of comedic genius, playing off her screen hubby Al Lewis. The series doesn't get the credit
it deserves as it was only two seasons long, but so was The Munsters, also with
Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis.