The Co-Star That Left Patricia Heaton Starstruck

Published: June 25, 2026

By India McCarty

Patricia Heaton has worked with a lot of major stars over the years, but one holds a special place in her heart: Dick Van Dyke.

“That’s what’s great about show business. Dick Van Dyke was my uncle on THE MIDDLE. Jerry Van Dyke played my dad,” she said on an episode of “Nostalgia Tonight.” “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.”

Heaton continued, “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.”

Heaton worked with a variety of stars over the years on shows like EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND and THE MIDDLE. Now, she’s preparing to work with a new set of stars on upcoming show PUBLIC INTEREST, where she plays attorney Ingrid Erickson, who is suddenly thrust into a leadership position at her nonprofit law firm.

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“What immediately connected me to Ingrid was her sense of conviction and responsibility,” Heaton said in a statement. “She’s someone who believes deeply in helping people, even when the path forward is messy or uncertain. PUBLIC INTEREST explores the tension between idealism and reality in a way that feels incredibly timely, but it also has warmth, humor and heart at its center.”

In a 2018 interview with Decider, Heaton spoke about what’s it like to have such a lasting career in television.

“I moved to LA with no agent, no manager, and no car. So the fact I am standing here talking to you now on my second long-running sitcom is a miracle. God is good,” she said. “At our 200th episode party [for THE MIDDLE], one of our producers — Eileen Heisler — got up and said there have only been 15 comedy shows in the history of American television that have gone more than 200 episodes, and THE MIDDLE is one of them and RAYMOND is the other one. And I thought ‘I’m in two of them!’”

Heaton has had a long career in Hollywood, working with some of television’s biggest stars — and making a name for herself as a sitcom icon.

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