Dick Van Dyke

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Birthday:

13 December 1925, West Plains, Missouri, USA

Birth Name:

Richard Wayne Van Dyke

Height:

185 cm

Dick Van Dyke was born Richard Wayne Van Dyke in West Plains, Missouri, to Hazel Victoria (McCord), a stenographer, and Loren Wayne Van Dyke, a salesman. His younger brother is entertainer Jerry Van Dyke. His ancestry includes English, Scottish, German, Swiss-German, and Dutch. Although he'd had small roles beforehand, Van Dyke was launched to stardom in the 1960 musical "Bye-Bye Birdie", for which he won a Tony Award, and, then, later in the movie based on that play, Bye Bye Birdie (1963). He has starred in a number of films throughout the years including Mary Poppins (1964), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and Fitzwilly (1967), as well as a number of successful television series which won him no less than four Emmys and three made-for-CBS movies. After separating from his wife, Margie Willett, in the 1970s, Dick later became involved with Michelle Triola. Margie and Dick had four children born during the first ten years of their marriage: Barry Van Dyke; Carrie Beth van Dyke; Christian Van Dyke and Stacy Van Dyke, all of whom are now in their forties and married themselves. He has seven grandchildren, including Shane Van Dyke, Carey Van Dyke, Wes Van Dyke and Taryn Van Dyke (Barry's children) and family members often appear with him on Diagnosis Murder (1993). Show less «

I've retired so many times now it's getting to be a habit.

I remember in the book that Caractacus was married. There was no love interest, no love story. So I think bringing Truly Scrumptious in work...Show more »

I remember in the book that Caractacus was married. There was no love interest, no love story. So I think bringing Truly Scrumptious in works very well because we had assumed he was a widower. And they couldn't have picked a better Truly Scrumptious than Sally [Sally Ann Howes]. They came up with Sally Ann and I heard her voice, and it was the richest contralto. She auditioned with "The Lovely Lonely Man" and I thought, "My God, this girl is great!" and then she was stunningly beautiful. She loved those kids and they loved her, which I think comes across on the screen. They just thought a great deal of her and she spent a lot of time with them, you know, between shots - telling stories and playing games during all those long waiting periods. Show less «

I never wanted to be an actor and to this day I don't. I can't get a handle on it. An actor wants to become someone else. I am a song-and-da...Show more »

I never wanted to be an actor and to this day I don't. I can't get a handle on it. An actor wants to become someone else. I am a song-and-dance man and I enjoy being myself, which is all I can do. Show less «

I've made peace with insecurity... because there is no security of any kind.

In the best of all worlds the producers would take some responsibility for the kinds of things they're putting out. Unfortunately, they don'...Show more »

In the best of all worlds the producers would take some responsibility for the kinds of things they're putting out. Unfortunately, they don't. And then I-- they keep saying we can't have our First Amendment rights abridged and we can't have censorship. Well we had it back in the Hays days [Production Code Administration, headed by 'Will H. Hays', the official Hollywood censor office], in the Johnson office days. And I think they should--maybe the American people might bring it back if things get bad enough. Show less «

I think it's such a shame that [Walt Disney] didn't live to see computer animation, because he would have had a good time with it . . . In t...Show more »

I think it's such a shame that [Walt Disney] didn't live to see computer animation, because he would have had a good time with it . . . In those days it was before the blue screen. They used what was called yellow sulphur lighting--the screen was yellow, and we worked with that all day, and by the time the day was over you couldn't see anything . . . It was just an empty soundstage. And sometimes we didn't even have the music--we would just dance to a click rhythm. But I think technically it holds up today just as well as anything. Show less «

[about Mary Poppins (1964)] I thought Walt Disney hired me because I was such a great singer and dancer. As it turns out, he had heard me in...Show more »

[about Mary Poppins (1964)] I thought Walt Disney hired me because I was such a great singer and dancer. As it turns out, he had heard me in an interview talking about what was happening to family entertainment. I was decrying the fact that it seemed like no holds were barred anymore in entertainment . . . That's why he called me in, because I said something he agreed with. And I got the part. Show less «

It was a marvelous relaxer . . . Jack Daniels (Tennessee Whiskey) became my good friend. Then sometime in my early forties he turned on me.

But at the time, I thought I would come out, because there was such a strange perception about alcoholism that people had serious character ...Show more »

But at the time, I thought I would come out, because there was such a strange perception about alcoholism that people had serious character flaws, you know. They had weak wills or something. They had this image of, you know, a guy laying in on the street and skid row, whereas it can happen to normal, average middle-class guy. Show less «

I think that cigarettes are worse. I think that nicotine ... I've heard heroin addicts and cocaine addicts say it was nothing compared to ge...Show more »

I think that cigarettes are worse. I think that nicotine ... I've heard heroin addicts and cocaine addicts say it was nothing compared to getting off cigarettes. Show less «

I'm really in retirement. My career is over. I'm just playing now and having a great time. I like to keep busy, and I'm doing what's fun for...Show more »

I'm really in retirement. My career is over. I'm just playing now and having a great time. I like to keep busy, and I'm doing what's fun for me. Show less «

We had a little ranch way out in the middle of nowhere. My wife didn't like showbusiness - as most spouses don't: they get shunted aside. Bu...Show more »

We had a little ranch way out in the middle of nowhere. My wife didn't like showbusiness - as most spouses don't: they get shunted aside. But it was too soon for me. I could not afford either emotionally or financially to quit and retire. Not in my forties. We finally parted company because of that. And now another forty years have gone by and I've been very busy. I still am. Show less «

I asked Fred Astaire once when he was about my age if he still danced and he said 'Yes, but it hurts now.' That's exactly it. I can still da...Show more »

I asked Fred Astaire once when he was about my age if he still danced and he said 'Yes, but it hurts now.' That's exactly it. I can still dance too but it hurts now! I've always kept moving. I was at the gym at six this morning. Of course marrying a beautiful young woman has been a big help. There are so many years between us and we don't feel it. I'm emotionally immature and she's very wise for her age so we kind of meet in the middle. Show less «

I've found a home here because actors have always said, 'He's really a dancer', and dancers said, 'No, no he's a singer', and singers said, ...Show more »

I've found a home here because actors have always said, 'He's really a dancer', and dancers said, 'No, no he's a singer', and singers said, 'No I think he's an actor.' I don't know, I was never that good at anything but I did a little bit of it all. I've never studied dancing but I've always loved to dance. I never sang anywhere except the shower and it took me forever to get into the high school choir. When I auditioned for Bye Bye Birdie (1963) I did a song and a little soft-shoe and for some reason they saw I could move. And I've never studied acting - which is maybe lucky otherwise I'd just be a copy of everybody else. Show less «

I was a Laurel & Hardy nut. I got to know Laurel at the end of his life and it was a great thrill for me. He left me his bow tie and derby a...Show more »

I was a Laurel & Hardy nut. I got to know Laurel at the end of his life and it was a great thrill for me. He left me his bow tie and derby and told me that if they ever made a movie about him, he'd want me to play him. Show less «

It's quite hard to act yourself all the time. My first wife, Margie, used to say she could see no difference between Rob [the husband he pla...Show more »

It's quite hard to act yourself all the time. My first wife, Margie, used to say she could see no difference between Rob [the husband he played on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) for five years] and me. She said 'You're not acting. You are exactly the same on screen as you are at home.' Show less «

People from the UK love to tease me. I invented a whole new dialect. I never could do a British accent, not even in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ...Show more »

People from the UK love to tease me. I invented a whole new dialect. I never could do a British accent, not even in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). Show less «

[on turning down The Omen (1976)] My god, that was stupid. Gregory Peck got the part, but at that time there was a lot of violence in it - p...Show more »

[on turning down The Omen (1976)] My god, that was stupid. Gregory Peck got the part, but at that time there was a lot of violence in it - people impaled on things. I was pretty puritan at the time, a goody-two-shoes, I felt I'd put myself in a position where the audience trusted me. I turned down several things for that reason - either taste or violence or sex or something. Show less «

My whole generation has disappeared on me. My contemporaries, not in talent but in age, were Paul Newman, Jack Lemmon, Rock Hudson. All gone...Show more »

My whole generation has disappeared on me. My contemporaries, not in talent but in age, were Paul Newman, Jack Lemmon, Rock Hudson. All gone. Show less «

I was an alcoholic for about twenty-five years. In the Fifties and Sixties, everybody had their martini, everybody smoked incessantly. The f...Show more »

I was an alcoholic for about twenty-five years. In the Fifties and Sixties, everybody had their martini, everybody smoked incessantly. The funny thing is that all through my twenties and early thirties I didn't drink at all. Then we moved to a neighborhood full of young families with the same age kids and everyone drank heavily, there were big parties every night. I would go to work with terrible hangovers which if you're dancing is really hard. I was in deep trouble, you get suicidal and think you just can't go on. I had suicidal feelings, it was just terrible. But then suddenly, like a blessing, the drink started not to taste good. I would feel a little dizzy and a little nauseous and I wasn't getting the click. Today I wouldn't want a drink for anything. But I do occasionally think of taking a nice drag. I've been on this gum for ten years and it's just as addictive but at least it's not hurting my lungs. (2013) Show less «

It took Walt twenty years to talk Travers [P.L. Travers, author of the Mary Poppins novels] into giving him the rights for the picture and t...Show more »

It took Walt twenty years to talk Travers [P.L. Travers, author of the Mary Poppins novels] into giving him the rights for the picture and then she fought him tooth and nail all the way through it. She hated me, she hated Julie Andrews, she didn't think either one of us were right. After the premiere she met Walt in the lobby and said, 'All the animation has to go.' Walt said, 'Pamela, the boat has sailed.' Show less «

Last night CNN International CNN gave me ten minutes live to talk about Bernie Sanders who has been scantily covered by them in favor of the...Show more »

Last night CNN International CNN gave me ten minutes live to talk about Bernie Sanders who has been scantily covered by them in favor of the Donald J. Trump circus. It was pre-empted completely to cover another outburst by Trump. This pandering to the scandal hungry public is a total lack of responsible journalism. I accuse CNN of extreme bias. Show less «

[on Donald J. Trump] He has been a magnet to all the racists and xenophobes in the country. I haven't been this scared since the Cuban Missi...Show more »

[on Donald J. Trump] He has been a magnet to all the racists and xenophobes in the country. I haven't been this scared since the Cuban Missile Crisis. I think the human race is hanging in a delicate balance right now, and I'm just so afraid he will put us in a war. He scares me. Show less «

[on the death of Mary Tyler Moore]: There are no words. She was the best! We always said that we changed each other's lives for the better.