Celebrity Watch!

Jerry Van Dyke, the younger brother of fellow comedian and actor Dick Van Dyke, died Friday at his Arkansas ranch, his wife Shirley Ann Jones said. He was 86.

Van Dyke was known for several roles, most notably for playing the assistant football coach on the late '80s and '90s hit show "Coach," for which he earned 4 Emmy nominations. He also made appearances on his brother's classic sitcom "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

He died of heart failure. His wife told CNN he never fully recovered from a "horrible car accident" two and a half years ago in which he was "injured very badly."

The Van Dyke brothers were close throughout their careers.

In 2015, Jerry and Dick reunited on screen on ABC's sitcom "The Middle," playing a pair of fighting brothers. Jerry told the Los Angeles Times that he always looked up to his older brother.

In the same interview, Dick Van Dyke described seeing his brother's stand-up act for the first time.

"I didn't realize how good he was," Dick said. "The main thing about Jerry is that he's funny from the inside out."

Jerry, though, never achieved the kind of mainstream success his brother did.

Among some of his ill-fated projects was the infamous "My Mother the Car," a television show that aired on NBC for one season starting in 1966. The show, which starred Jerry as a man whose mother is quite literally reincarnated as an automobile, was named as the second worst television show of all time by TV Guide. It was eclipsed only by "The Jerry Springer Show."

During one appearance on the "Late Show with David Letterman" in the 1990s, Van Dyke joked about reaching the apex of his career in his later years.

"It's better that way," he said. "When you make it as an older [guy] then people know you as being older ... I don't have to worry about people saying, 'Jeez, he's getting old.'"

This is the second death to strike the family of The Dick Van Dyke Show in recent weeks. Rose Marie, who played comedy writer Sally Rogers on the program, died on December 28.

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/mystery-writer-sue-grafton-dies-in-california/ar-BBHuHOd

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sue Grafton, author of the best-selling "alphabet series" of mystery novels, has died in Santa Barbara. She was 77.

Grafton was surrounded by family, including husband Steven Humphrey, when she died Thursday after a two-year battle with cancer, her daughter, Jamie Clark, posted on the author's website.

"Although we knew this was coming, it was unexpected and fast. She had been fine up until just a few days ago, and then things moved quickly," the posting said.

Grafton began her "alphabet series" in 1982 with "A is for Alibi." Her most recent book, "Y is for Yesterday," was published in August.

"Many of you also know that she was adamant that her books would never be turned into movies or TV shows, and in that same vein, she would never allow a ghost writer to write in her name," her daughter wrote. "Because of all of those things, and out of the deep abiding love and respect for our dear sweet Sue, as far as we in the family are concerned, the alphabet now ends at Y."

Humphrey said Grafton had been struggling to find an idea for "Z'' while undergoing treatment and losing weight.

In this Oct. 15, 2002 file photo, mystery writer Sue Grafton poses for a portrait in New York. © (AP Photo/Gino Domenico, file) In this Oct. 15, 2002 file photo, mystery writer Sue Grafton poses for a portrait in New York."Nothing's been written," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "There is no Z."

He added with a laugh, "Nobody in this family will ever use the letter Z again."

The fictional heroine of the series, Southern California private detective Kinsey Millhone, was Grafton's alter ego, she told The Seattle Times earlier this year.

"I'm an introvert, so doing half of what Kinsey is beyond my poor capabilities," Grafton said. "But it's fun to get to live her life without penalty."

Her husband agreed that Grafton was Kinsey.

"Yes, as Sue said, 'We're one spirit in two bodies, and she got the good one,'" Humphrey said.

While Grafton aged, her heroine didn't quite as much.

"So when I started, she was 32, and I was 42. Now, she is 39, and I am 77. So there's a little bit of injustice there, but she is single," she told NPR in an interview earlier this year. "She's been married twice. She has no kids, no pets, no house plants."

She said she was looking forward to reaching the end of the alphabet with "Z is for Zero."

Grafton began writing at 18, and wrote her first novel at 22. "A is for Alibi" was the eighth novel she wrote, and the third she had published.

On her blog, she said her ideas come from everywhere.

"I read newspapers, textbooks on crime. I talk to private investigators, police officers, jail administrators, doctors, lawyers, career criminals. Ideas are everywhere," she said.

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Grafton stayed tied to her roots, dividing her time between a home there and her home in California. In addition to her husband and daughter Jamie Clark, she is survived by another daughter, Leslie Twine, and her son, Jay Schmidt.

Grafton's remains will be cremated and the family will hold a private memorial Sunday. Memorials also will be held in Louisville and New York City.