ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 29, 1996 TAG: 9610290094
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: Associated Press
MOREY AMSTERDAM played Buddy Sorrell, part of a television comedy writing team.
Morey Amsterdam, the comic actor best known as the wisecracking television writer on ``The Dick Van Dyke Show'' died of a heart attack Monday. He was in his 80s.
Born in Chicago, Amsterdam started in vaudeville and performed in nightclubs before doing radio in the 1930s. In the late 1940s, he moved to television.
In the 1960s hit sitcom, ``The Dick Van Dyke Show,'' Amsterdam played Buddy Sorrell, part of a television writing team that included Dick Van Dyke and Rose Marie.
``There was something ageless with him. Probably 100,000 jokes in his head went with him,'' Dick Van Dyke said.
``He was just a very dear, sweet man,'' said Rose Marie, who played Sally Rogers. ``He knew every joke, he knew every switch on every joke. His mind was the greatest mind that ever happened.''
Amsterdam suffered a heart attack at home and died at Cedars Sinai Hospital early Monday, said hospital spokesman Ron Wise.
Various Hollywood reference books listed his birthday as Dec. 14 in 1912 or 1914, making him 83 or 81. Rose Marie said he was 87.
Rose Marie met Amsterdam when she was 11 during the musical variety show the ``Alice Pearce Show.'' The pair remained friends. They recently did a spot for the TV show ``Caroline in the City,'' she said.
Amsterdam's father, a member of the San Francisco Symphony, wanted him to be a concert musician. Instead, he used his cello in his comedy routines.
His first TV appearance was ``Stop Me If You've Heard This One,'' in 1948. That same year, he hosted his own variety show, ``The Morey Amsterdam Show,'' which ran until 1950. Then he was the host for the talk show, ``Broadway Open House,'' the precursor to NBC's ``The Tonight Show.''
Amsterdam appeared on a few quiz shows until 1961, when he was cast in ``The Dick Van Dyke Show,'' which lasted until 1966 on CBS.
He is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Kay, and two children, Gregory and Cathy.
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Morey Amsterdamby CNB