LOS ANGELES, Oct. 28 -- Comedian and character actor Morey Amsterdam, best known as feisty comedy writer Buddy Sorrell on 'The Dick Van Dyke Show,' died Monday of a heart attack in a Los Angeles hospital. He was 87. Amsterdam was stricken at his Beverly Hills home and was pronounced dead shortly after 1 a.m. in the emergency room at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, hospital spokesman Ron Wise said. Rose Marie, who played Sally Rogers on the comedy series, said Amsterdam had circulatory problems and a very weak heart in recent months, but he continued to perform his stage act. They teamed up early last month as presenters at the non-televised Emmy Awards ceremonies and a week later at a salute to Sheldon Leonard, who produced the Van Dyke show, by the Directors Guild. Marie said Amsterdam recently returned from performing in Pennsylvania at the opening of a department store, something he did frequently because the chain's owner had come to view him as a good luck charm. 'We were very close friends; in fact I'm his daughter's godmother,' Marie said. 'We were like bookends. 'I can't picture this world without him,' she added. 'He was such a wonderful human being.' In addition to his sidekick role on the Van Dyke show, which remains popular 30 years later on Nickelodeon's Nick at Night lineup, Amsterdam was an accomplished comedy writer, composer, singer and cellist. He was born in Chicago in 1909 and performed as a boy soprano on radio.
He studied at University of California at Berkeley and continued performing in Chicago-area nightclubs with comedy and musical routines. By the late '30s Amsterdam was a screenwriter for MGM, Columbia and Universal, and during World War II he performed in USO shows. Over the years he wrote routines for Fanny Brice, Danny Thomas and other top names. His movie credits as an actor included 'It Came From Outer Space,' 'Murder Inc.,' 'Beach Party' and 'The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit.' He appeared in seven television series over the years, including 'The Morey Amsterdam Show' and 'Can You Top This?,' which he executive produced. But he will be remembered most for 'The Dick Van Dyke Show,' for his degrading jabs at Mel Cooley (played by Richard Deacon), his quips about his wife, Pickles, and his burlesque-style delivery of one-liners. He is survived by Kay Amsterdam, his wife of more than 50 years, and his daughter Cathy. Funeral arrangements were pending Monday.
