When she was 15 years old, Van Dyke made recordings, worked as a fashion model, and made her first film, Among the Thorns.[1]
Van Dyke worked as a songwriter and recording artist for Wheelsville Records in Detroit, Michigan.[2]
She entered and won Teen magazine's[citation needed] Miss Teen of the United States[1] in 1960 and signed with Motown Records in 1961, making her one of the first white recording artists for the label.[2] Her only Motown release appeared in early 1963: "Oh Freddy", written by Smokey Robinson, backed with "It Hurt Me Too", written and previously recorded by Marvin Gaye.[2]
Van Dyke was cast in Hell's Angels '69 with Tom Stern, Jeremy Slate, and several members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club.[2] Her only sibling, Benjamin Van Dyke III, was killed in an auto accident near Salinas, California, in 1969. Shortly after Hell's Angels '69, she married Robert Page and gave birth to a son, Bronson Page {{Skip E. Lowe interview}}. She continued to pursue recording, and released a self-titled album in 1972. She co-starred in W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings with Burt Reynolds, and in Framed, with Joe Don Baker, both in 1975. Another album, Conny Van Dyke Sings for You, was released following the film.[2]
Shortly after her return to television in 2008, Van Dyke suffered a massive stroke, which left her partially paralyzed and marked the beginning of her retirement. After this, she lived in Los Angeles, and was cared for by her son Bronson.[citation needed]
Van Dyke died of complications from vascular dementia in Los Angeles, on November 11, 2023, at the age of 78.[2]