Biography
Jerry Paris (born William Gerald Paris) was an American actor and director. He appeared in supporting roles in films including The Wild One (1953), The Caine Mutiny (1954) and Marty (1955), and had a recurring role as Agent Martin Flaherty in the first season of The Untouchables (1959).
On television, Paris played Jerry Helper, the dentist and next-door neighbour of Rob and Laura Petrie, in 39 episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–1966). He also directed 84 episodes of the series and won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1964 for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy. He later directed episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970), The Odd Couple and numerous other series.
Paris directed 237 of the 255 episodes of Happy Days (1974–1984) and the feature films Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985) and Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986). He died in Los Angeles in 1986.
