Key Takeaways
- Upcoming milestone: Dick Van Dyke will celebrate his 100th birthday on December 13.
- Reflective thoughts: He expressed a desire to have taken better care of himself throughout his life.
- Positive impact: Van Dyke believes he has had a beneficial influence on younger generations.
- Award-winning legacy: He became the oldest Daytime Emmy winner at 99 for his role in Days of Our Lives.
Hollywood legend Dick Van Dyke will turn 100 years old on December 13, but at a recent Vandy High Tea event in Malibu, California, he joked, “It’d be funny if I didn’t make it.“
“I’m not officially a hundred until December,” he said. “Two months. Two months.” I’m reminded of Betty White, who died just a couple of weeks before her 100th birthday, but People magazine had already released a special “Betty White Turns 100!” issue.
Getting more serious, Dick added, “I brag sometimes about how I made it to a hundred and the truth is, if I had known I was going to live this long, I would’ve taken better care of myself. And it is frustrating because I don’t know what I did right. Other than her [Arlene], I didn’t do anything right.” The Mary Poppins actor married Arlene in 2012.
Any way you slice it, 99 years is a hell of a run. Let alone to still have your mind in sharp condition, as Van Dyke seems to. In an interview last year (when he was a mere 98 years old), Van Dyke reflected on his long career. “I enjoyed everything I did, and not a lot of people can say that,” he said. “I left a good example for a young generation. I think I have a positive effect on kids. And I can tell by the mail I get from kids that I’ve had a good effect. They want to emulate that behavior. And that, I think, is why what we really accomplish is worthwhile. I’m so happy the impact I had was a positive one, and I’m perfectly satisfied with that.“
His long-spanning career has been nothing short of astounding, and he’s still doing it. Just last year, he became the oldest-ever Daytime Emmy winner when he won the award for Best Guest Performer in a Daytime Drama Series for playing Timothy Robicheaux on Days of Our Lives. What a life for a legend, and I hope he makes it to 100, joke be damned!
