Dick Van Dyke is spending a lot of time sharing some of the best moments from his incredible life as he prepares to celebrate his 100th birthday on Saturday, December 13.
Van Dyke’s glittering career in showbusiness has spanned almost 80 years, with the first of his many movie credits coming way back in 1963 when he played Albert Peterson in the musical romantic comedy “Bye Bye Birdie” opposite Janet Leigh.
To millions, however, he remains best known for his iconic supporting role as Bert, the cockney jack-of-all-trades and the eponymous character’s best friend in 1964’s live-action animated musical fantasy comedy “Mary Poppins.”
The entertainment legend has been speaking to People about his experience on the iconic movie, which included revealing his favorite song from it.
Dick Van Dyke Loves ‘The First Number’ from Mary Poppins
People asked Dick Van Dyke about his favorite song in “Mary Poppins and he replied, “I think the first number, when we go into the fantasy thing.”
Immediately and instinctively, Van Dyke broke out into song, singing, “Ain’t it a beautiful day? Day? Brighter the moment in May. I feel like I could fly.”
He elaborated on his choice, saying, “There’s something about that and the dancer went with it, that was just fun.”
Van Dyke is, of course, referring to the song “The Perfect Nanny,” which is sung by Jane and Michael Banks early in the movie.
Van Dyke Also Spoke of His Relationships With ‘Mary Poppins’ Co-Stars
Dick Van Dyke also revealed to People that he enjoyed great relationships with his “Mary Poppins” co-stars on the movie’s set, which made the experience of filming it all the more pleasurable and memorable.
Van Dyke began talking about Matthew Garber, the late child actor who played Michael Banks in the movie. He said, “This little guy, he was ordinary. Oftentimes we’d have to stand there while they lit and he would get bored and he used to bite me on the butt.”
He continued, “He would give me a bite, but he was just playing. The little girl was sweet. And of course, the lady of all time, Julie Andrews.”
He Had a ‘Great Time’ With Julie Andrews
That led the 99-year-old into talking about Andrews, and he added, “My problem with Julie was I’m not really a singer, and Julie had not only had that beautiful soprano, [but] she sang just a little on top of the note, a little sharp. I don’t know how many takes I had to do in the pre-record. I finally got there, but it was hard.”
Van Dyke went on, “I don’t think we ever even had an argument. We just had a good time. Doing a musical is fun. IÂ don’t care what you’re doing, it’s just fun. You never get tired of it.”
He then went into how he landed his role in the movie, saying, “I said in an interview that I didn’t think there was enough quality kids’ entertainment. Well, Walt Disney heard it, called me up and put me in Mary Poppins. And he took me around. He had several offices with watercolor paintings of the various scenes, and then he had the boys play the score for me and I went home walking on air.”
“I knew way before we started that we had a wonderful movie. There was something… everybody was kind of affected by it. We knew we had something really valuable, really good to do. So we all did our best and enjoyed as much as we could. I can’t think of one thing that actually went wrong,” he recalled.
Van Dyke then discussed a funny moment from the movie’s production that he’ll never forgot. He explained while laughing, “When we all have tea on the ceiling with Burt Edwin, they broke for lunch and forgot about me and left me hanging up there. And I had to yell for help. God, that was fun.”
The legendary entertainer’s chat with People was a great insight into his most iconic role. Here’s hoping he shares even more intriguing facts about his life as he approaches his landmark 100th birthday.
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