Dick Van Dyke has reached an incredible milestone today as the living legend turns 100 years old.
The legendary actor hit triple figures on December 13, marking an impressive milestone that only 0.02% of the US population ever gets to celebrate.
The actor may have lived for an entire century, but he has barely slowed down, having appeared in three films in 2018 at the age of 93, and even performing on stage in The Masked Singer in 2024.
The acting legend began his acting career in 1955 as the host of The Morning Show on CBS and last appeared on TV in 2024 on The Jimmy Kimmel Show.
His epic 70-year career has spanned generations, with his characters managing to resonate with every age bracket possible.
Here’s how he’s managed to charm and entertain us for so long.
Legacy of Mary Poppins
The star is best known for his twinkly sense of humour and his comedic wit, which has made him endearingly likeable for decades.
But his most enduring performance is one from early in his career, when he played Bert, the chimney sweep, in Mary Poppins.
Over 60 years on from the role, his horrific cockney accent is still lauded as one of the worst ever on screen, and yet, the whole world still fell head over heels for this cheeky character – whose quotes are still as popular today as they’ve ever been, and his character is firmly cemented in popular culture.
Dick himself has spoken about his pride in that role, revealing he’s not bothered about being remembered, but will be happy to leave behind some beloved songs.
‘I don’t think remembering me is that important. But it’s the music, the music we leave behind. For as long as children are proudly belting out their new word, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” or singing and skipping along to “Chim Chim Cher-ee.”
‘The most important part of me will always be alive.’
Perhaps his charm is best highlighted by his humble response to the criticism he received for his bonkers cockney accent. While some actors may have been quick to defend themselves, the star has frequently taken the time to apologise with his trademark sense of humour.
The actor has previously revealed that at the time of filming, he was unaware how terrible his accent really was.
‘People in the UK love to rib me about my accent, I will never live it down,’ he once said. ‘They ask what part of England I was meant to be from, and I say it was a little shire in the north where most of the people were from Ohio.’
In 2017, the actor was chosen by Bafta to receive the Britannia Award for excellence in television. He took the opportunity to apologise once again – over 50 years later – to the people of the UK for his awful English accent.
‘I appreciate this opportunity to apologise to the members of Bafta for inflicting on them the most atrocious cockney accent in the history of cinema,’ he joked.
Dick Van Dyke’s legendary career
The actor/ comedian/ host/ singer/ dancer has had a varied career to say the least.
He began primarily as a TV show host, working from 1955 until 1959 as a presenter on various shows. Throughout a large chunk of the 60s, he then starred in The Dick Van Dyke Show, where he played Rob Petrie, the head writer for the fictitious variety show, who found himself caught up in various comedic problems.
He made his film debut in the 1963 musical Bye Bye Birdie 1963, which came out just a year before his perhaps most beloved role.
In 1964, the actor charmed the world with his performance in Bert in the iconic film, Mary Poppins.
In 1968, he starred in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, another iconic film featuring a child-snatching villain that has haunted the dreams of children for generations.
By the early 70s, he was back on telly with The New Dick Van Dyke Show, another comedy series, with Dick playing a local television talk show host.
The latter part of his career became defined by a beloved series, Diagnosis: Murder, which ran from 1993 until 2001, and saw Dick team up on screen with his real-life son Barry Van Dyke. He later appeared in the television film series Murder 101, also starring alongside his son, Barry.
In 2006, he also appeared in Night At The Museum as the elderly night security guard who becomes the villain of the film.
In 2018, he returned to the Mary Poppins universe in the Emily Blunt film, Mary Poppins Returns – not as Bert but as Mr Dawes Jr – a role he played in disguise in the original film, and was credited at Navckid Keyd (an anagram for Dick Van Dyke).
What has Dick Van Dyke said about turning 100
Speaking at the age of 99 ahead of his big day, Dick said he felt pretty great considering he’s about to have been alive for an entire century.
He told People: I feel really good for 100.
‘Sometimes I have more energy than others — but I never wake up in a bad mood.’
He added that he feels ‘like I’m about 13,’ that he believes a life full of hate leads to an early grave.
‘I’ve always thought that anger is one thing that eats up a person’s insides — and hate. And I never really was able to work up a feeling of hate. I think that is one of the chief things that kept me going,’ he admitted.
‘There were things I didn’t like, people I don’t like and disapprove of. But I never really was able to do a white heat kind of hate. My father (Loren Van Dyke) was constantly upset by the state of things in his life, and it did take him at 73 years old.’
Dick also revealed he was aided in living to 100 by ditching the booze and ciggies early on.
‘I smoked a lot, actually,’ he confessed per People. ‘I think I was probably in my 50s before it dawned on me that I had an addictive personality. If I liked something, I was going to overdo it.’
He added: ‘So I got rid of booze and cigarettes and all that stuff, which is probably why I’m still here.’
He also admitted that he’s no longer afraid of dying: ‘When you expire, you expire.’
‘I don’t have any fear of dearth for some reason. I can’t explain that, but I don’t. I’ve had such a wonderfully full and exciting life. That I can’t complain.’
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