Dick Van Dyke celebrates his 100th birthday as a beloved entertainer whose career has spanned nearly eight decades. To honor the milestone, cinemas across the country are showing a new documentary, Dick Van Dyke: 100th Celebration, revisiting his work as an actor, singer and dancer who charmed generations.
Van Dyke rose to national prominence with The Dick Van Dyke Show, the CBS sitcom that ran for five seasons and helped define his comic persona. Early on he aimed to do family-friendly films, a goal realized when Walt Disney cast him opposite Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins — accent mishaps and all — and later in the family favorite Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He has even joked that when producers floated him as a possible replacement for Sean Connery as James Bond, he turned it down because of his famously iffy British accent.
Over the years Van Dyke has accumulated an impressive awards record: four Primetime Emmys, a Tony, a Grammy and induction into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995. He came close to EGOT status and quipped he would prefer any eventual Academy Award not be awarded posthumously. Recently he became the oldest Daytime Emmy winner for a guest appearance on Days of Our Lives.
Van Dyke has been candid about struggles earlier in life, including alcoholism, and credits finding sobriety in the 1970s with renewing his life and career. He says the letters he receives from young viewers who discover and rewatch his films are a reminder of his enduring appeal — he now gets more fan mail than at the height of his fame.
Reaching 100 has shifted his view of the roles he once played. He says he often portrayed older men as irritable or cantankerous, but that isn’t how he sees himself. He admits that age has taken a toll — complaining of a “game leg” and missing some physical ease — yet he still makes a point of moving and says he keeps trying to dance.
Van Dyke credits his wife, makeup artist and producer Arlene Silver, 54, with helping him stay active; she encourages regular gym workouts and looks after his day-to-day health. Born in West Plains, Missouri, in 1925 and raised in Danville, Illinois, he carried his early love of silent-film comedians into a lifetime of physical comedy and song. Now, at 100, he says he feels fortunate and keeps his sense of humor — and his feet moving — as he enjoys the celebration.