Jerry Paris

William Gerald Paris was born on July 25, 1925, in San Francisco, California, to Samuel Aaron Paris and Esther Mohl, who had married in 1921. His mother later remarried, to Milton Grossman, though Paris never legally took his stepfather's surname. After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, he studied at New York University and the Actors Studio in New York City, then relocated to Los Angeles, where he attended UCLA and trained at the Actors Lab in Hollywood.

Paris began his professional career on the Broadway stage, appearing in productions between 1947 and 1952 that included Anna Christie and Medea. He subsequently built a screen acting career, taking roles in films such as The Caine Mutiny, The Wild One, and Marty. On television, he played Martin "Marty" Flaherty, one of Eliot Ness's operatives, in a recurring role during the first season of ABC's The Untouchables, and made guest appearances on additional series throughout the period.

From 1961 to 1966, Paris portrayed dentist Jerry Helper, the next-door neighbor and friend of Rob and Laura Petrie, on The Dick Van Dyke Show, appearing in 39 of the series' 158 episodes. In 1963, series creator and producer Carl Reiner gave Paris his first directing assignment on the show. He became one of its regular directors and received a Primetime Emmy Award in 1964 for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy for that work.

Paris subsequently concentrated on directing for both film and television. His television credits as director included The Partridge Family, Here's Lucy, Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Ted Knight Show, and Blansky's Beauties. He directed 237 of the 255 episodes of Happy Days and, in a practice modeled on Alfred Hitchcock, made an uncredited appearance in at least one episode of every season of that series. He returned to feature film directing with Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment in 1985 and Police Academy 3: Back in Training in 1986. In total, he is credited with directing episodes of 57 television titles and acting in 105 titles.

On December 19, 1954, Paris married Ruth Lincoln Benjamin in Santa Barbara, California. They had three children, Tony, Julie, and Andy, and remained married until Ruth Paris died on August 13, 1980, in Los Angeles, at age 51. On March 18, 1986, Paris was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where a brain tumor was discovered. Two surgeries failed to remove it, and Paris died on March 31, 1986, at age 60. A private memorial was held at his home in Pacific Palisades on April 2.