Marcia Van Dyke

Marcia Evelyn Van Dyke

Early years Marcia Evelyn Van Dyke was born in Grants Pass, Oregon to Mr. and Mrs. Edward S. Van Dyke. Her father was an attorney who taught piano as a hobby.

In October 1938, Van Dyke and her parents moved to Burlingame, California so she could study under Naoum Blinder, the concert maestro of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. She was concertmaster for Burlingame High School and for the Southern Oregon Symphony. She graduated from BHS and San Mateo Junior College.

Music In 1944, Van Dyke joined the first violin section of the San Francisco Symphony, after having played first violin for a theater in San Francisco.

Acting Film Film executive Joe Pasternak offered a contract to Van Dyke after seeing the article about her in Life.

Van Dyke's fledgling film career was briefly endangered on December 25, 1947, when a car in which she was a passenger collided head-on with another car near Taft, California. A news story distributed by International News Service noted that Van Dyke was "being groomed by MGM for stardom" at the time. On December 30, 1947, however, she said that she was recovering rapidly enough to resume filming within a month. A Date with Judy (1948), In the Good Old Summertime (1949), and Death in a Doll House.

Stage On Broadway, Van Dyke played Katie in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1951). Her performance in that role brought her a Theatre World Award for 1950–1951 and a fourth-place finish for best supporting actress in the 1951 Donaldson Awards competition. After her debut in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, an item in Billboard said, in part, "She has looks along with more than considerable acting ability, and, while her voice is small, it has splendid quality."

Radio In 1953, Van Dyke and her then-husband, Jack Barry, starred with their son, Jeff, in It's the Barrys, a 15-minute comedy program on NBC radio.

Coverage in Life magazine Life magazine twice ran articles about Van Dyke. The May 5, 1947, issue contained an article titled "Pretty First Violinist: Young Marcia Van Dyke is a musical ornament in San Francisco Symphony's string section". It noted that Van Dyke had not only played for six years with professional orchestras, but had also sung torch songs in nightclubs.

Later years In the 1970s, Van Dyke returned to the violin, playing as a session musician for a variety of artists, including Carole King, Cleo Laine, George Duke, The Gap Band, and Earth, Wind & Fire. In July 1952, she married television game show host Jack Barry, with whom she had two sons, Jeffrey and Jonathan. On November 16, 1962, Van Dyke married John H. Mitchell, an executive with Screen Gems studios.

On November 11, 2002, Van Dyke died at her home in Ashland, Oregon. She was 80 years old.