Child Star Larry Mathews Shares Behind-The-Scenes Stories From ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’ (Exclusive)
Larry Mathews was just 5 years old when he secured the role of his lifetime playing opposite Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore as their onscreen son Ritchie on The Dick Van Dyke Show which aired from 1961-1966. Growing up in a strict Sicilian Catholic family, Mathews, the sixth of seven children, is one of a very few who can say he spent his childhood working with comic geniuses — like Van Dyke, Moore, Carl Reiner, Morey Amsterdam, Jerry Paris and Rose Marie. Here Mathews, 69, talks with us about his memories on set, along with his enduring love and respect for his onscreen family.
What memory still sticks with you regarding first meeting Dick, your TV dad?
Larry: The basic memory that I have, or the impression as I say that was put upon me, was just how natural and at ease and how welcome he made me feel. It was easy to play the part of his son because he made it feel like you were a son because he’s that brilliant of a performer.
Everett Collection
Do you remember a time laughing hard over something Dick did or something that happened on set?
There were several times. … I do remember fighting back the laughs, having to bite the inside of my lip because what was going on was so funny. It was the episode “A Nice Friendly Game of Cards” [Season 3, Episode 18]. All those antics going back and forth on the table.
A very touching and particularly heavy episode for a child was “Never Name a Duck” [Season 2, Episode 1], where Ritchie learns from Rob what it really means to love someone. What do you remember about that?
The scene where Rob comes into Ritchie’s bedroom when Ritchie’s packing to run away is a very dramatic scene. Ritchie was very sad, and the script called for Ritchie to be in tears and cry. I remember I went to my mother and said, “How do I do this?” She told me to talk to Sheldon Leonard, our executive producer. We were literally behind the set of the door where Rob comes into Ritchie’s bedroom and he knelt down in front of me, took me by the arms, and proceeded to tell me this horribly, horribly tragic story of his dog, who was his favorite thing in the world, and how the dog got killed by a car. It was horrible. In two minutes, I was bawling. And then basically they said, “OK, go onstage.” And I went onstage and we did that scene. I think later I found out that he didn’t have a dog, but whatever. It worked.
One of just a handful of episodes that were filmed without a studio audience included “Happy Birthday and Too Many More” [Season 3, Episode 19]. This was the first episode filmed following President John F. Kennedy‘s assassination. What was the day on set like when you found out about Kennedy’s death?
I remember it vividly, honestly, like it was yesterday. I think we were rehearsing without all the kids [in the episode, Ritchie invites 63 kids from his school for his 8th birthday], and Carl came in and said, “Everybody stop. Just stop everything.” And we were all like, “What?” And he goes, “The president’s just been assassinated.” The silence was deafening. Basically, everybody gathered in the Petrie living room, and Carl turned on a prop radio, which we just had in the back of the set. We basically listened to Walter Cronkite‘s newscast on the assassination. And then Carl told everybody to go home. “We’re done. We’re going to shut down. We’ll pick it up next week. Everybody needs to go.” And that’s what we did, and we picked it up the next week.
How do you hope Dick celebrates his 100th? What words would you share with him on the impact he’s made on your life?
I just went through a 100th birthday party for my mother not too long ago, and with Dick coming up on 100, I’m going to say a lot of the same things. Like, you are an amazing man. You’re an incredible person. You have lived a million lifetimes in one. You are so special to everybody, and this is just the biggest celebration that you made it to be a centenarian. God bless and thank you. The biggest is thank you, thank you, thank you for everything you have done for our world and our industry, and we hope you make it to 101, buddy. In the meantime, enjoy this moment. It’s a special time and you deserve it.
Remind 
100 Years of Dick Van Dyke
April 2025
Dick Van Dyke is a trailblazer like no other and one of the greatest of the golden age of television.
Buy This Issue