Patricia Heaton Shares Fond Memories Working Alongside Dick Van Dyke on “The Middle”

Angela AndaloroTue, June 23, 2026 at 8:50 PM UTC

0

Patricia Heaton and Doris Roberts (left), Patricia Heaton and Dick Van DykeCredit: Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty; Michael Ansell/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty -

Patricia Heaton has enjoyed a decades-long career where she’s shared the screen with television legends

Heaton appears on Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia where she talks about her luck and gratitude for the stars she’s worked with over the years

The actress, 68, also talks about what’s made her biggest show, Everybody Loves Raymond, such a lasting success

Patricia Heaton loves her costars from throughout the years.

The actress, 68, joined host Joe Sibilia on the June 21 episode of Nostalgia Tonight, where she talked about working with some industry greats throughout her television career.

“Katherine Halmond was one of them, one of the most elegant broads you will ever meet. I say that with much affection because she came into rehearsal every day beautifully dressed, hair and makeup done, just elegant. But she has been a working actress all her life. I think she was supporting some family members with her work, so she was kind of this working broad, but she was so lovely, but down-to-earth and no nonsense,” she shared.

Heaton noted that her Everybody Loves Raymond costar Doris Roberts was similar in her nature, as was her Room For Two costar Linda Lavin.

“I have had the blessing of having these older women who are very hardworking, very professional, very talented, and just lovely, and I've always looked up to them. And Catherine was just so special, and I really, really admired her. And it was such a pleasure to have her play my mom.”

— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Heaton’s also learned a lot from her male costars, sharing, “Robert Culp, who your listeners won’t even remember… It was so long ago, in the sixties. It was called I Spy. It was one of the first TV shows with Bill Cosby and like Black and white stars of a TV show, where they played detectives. I remember him from that, and he was so funny. He was just great.”

Another TV star that Heaton was thrilled to work with was Dick Van Dyke, who appeared on The Middle.

Advertisement

“That’s what’s great about show business. Dick Van Dyke was my uncle on The Middle. Jerry Van Dyke played my dad. I went from being in the second grade watching Bert the Chimney Sweep in Mary Poppins to flash forward, sitting in a makeup trailer with Dick Van Dyke next to me, playing Name That Tune where I would bring up movie scores and have Dick guess what movie they were from,” she recalled.

“Part of me is playing that game with Dick. Part of my brain is doing that, and the other part of my brain is going, ‘I cannot believe I'm sitting here with Bert the Chimney Sweep, playing Name That Tune.’ This is what's so great about working with all these iconic actors. I get to work with Ed Asner, who is fantastic. I mean, it's just been great. And Jerry Van Dyke, of course, who was on My Mother, The Car.”

When it came to her Everybody Loves Raymond castmates, Heaton says they developed a genuine bond as they all raised their families together on set as they filmed the show’s nine seasons from 1996 to 2005.

“You're very bonded. And in that way, there's a lot of memorable things happening. You're having children. You’re on a show that keeps going and going. Raymond was never a hit until the very last few episodes because we were always against Seinfeld or Friends, which were kind of hipper shows,” she explained.

“I think that what the beauty of Raymond is, it's joined the pantheon of shows like The Honeymooners, because it's not at all dated. When you're dealing with themes of marriage, in-laws, children, sex life, family, it's timeless and it's universal. It's a universal theme. So this show just lasts and lasts and lasts, and more people, more generations of people are just continuing to discover it.”

Heaton recalled encountering a farmer in Uganda while volunteering there. While chatting, he lamented an upcoming family event.

“I thought, ‘This is why Raymond is such an iconic and universal show because a Ugandan farmer is having the same issues with his wife that Ray and Debra had. That’s how universal the show is, so I’ve been very fortunate to be able to be a part of that.”

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”