‘Diagnosis Murder’ Debuted 30 Years Ago: Where’s the Cast Now?
One of a number of TV spinoffs that outperformed their predecessors, Diagnosis Murder started out as a 1991 episode of the crime drama Jake and the Fatman. Three Diagnosis Murder TV movies later, the weekly series kicked off on CBS on October 29, 1993, now 30 years ago.
The series — starring Dick Van Dyke as an internal-medicine chief and crime-solving police consultant — didn’t exactly kill in critical reviews. The Washington Post’s David Mills wrote, “Diagnosis Murder, with its old-fashioned narrative style and its vaguely silly title, is nevertheless fairly well put together and should satisfy undemanding viewers in search of undemanding entertainment.”
Still, such undemanding viewers kept Diagnosis Murder on air until 2001, and two more TV movies continued the story in 2002. Now that the weekly series is 30 years old, scroll down for updates on Van Dyke and the stars who played his character’s LAPD and Community General colleagues.
Dick Van Dyke (Mark Sloan)
The star of Diagnosis Murder is still active in show business, even at 97 years old. He competed as the Gnome on The Masked Singer this February, he recurred as amnesiac Timothy Robicheaux on Days of Our Lives in September, and he played himself on The Simpsons last weekend.
Barry Van Dyke (Steve Sloan)
Dick’s son Barry last hit the screen in 2019, when he starred in a pair of independent features: the comedy-drama The Untold Story and the religious drama Heavenly Deposit. His sons Carey and Shane are also in showbiz: They wrote the spec script that became the 2022 film Don’t Worry Darling.
Victoria Rowell (Amanda Bentley)
Rowell created and starred in the ALLBLK comedy series The Rich and the Ruthless, which moved to BET+ in 2021. She also recurred on Good Sam in 2022. Coming up, Rowell will appear in the big-screen comedy Summer Camp alongside Diane Keaton, Alfre Woodard, and Kathy Bates.
Charlie Schlatter (Jesse Travis)
Schlatter currently voices Chad on the Paramount+ series Big Nate and Sport on Apple TV+’s Harriet the Spy. He has also continued voicing The Flash in various projects — as he has for decades — lending his voice to the character in the recent series Justice League Action and Scooby-Doo and Guess Who.
Michael Tucci (Norman Briggs)
Scott Baio (Jack Stewart)
After years off screen, Baio starred with Kristy Swanson in the 2021 independent family movie Courting Mom and Dad. He got bad publicity a few years prior, in 2018, when former Charles in Charge costars Nicole Eggert and Alexander Polinksy accused him of sexual assault and sexual harassment, respectively. He denied the accusations, as People reported at the time.
Delores Hall (Delores Mitchell)
Hall dropped out of the public eye after Diagnosis Murder, but her other credits include the films Scrooged and Lethal Weapon 3 and the Broadway productions Hair and Your Arms Too Short to Box With God. Her role in Your Arms also won her a Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical.
