Dick Van Dyke, a Hollywood legend, recently celebrated his 96th birthday. The icon, known for his starring roles in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins, and The Dick Van Dyke Show, is regarded as an international treasure.
So let’s take a moment to look back at his illustrious career and what earned him the title of one of Hollywood’s nicest guys.
SHOUT OUT to the incomparable Dick Van Dyke (@iammrvandy) for no particular reason, other than giving the world a lifetime of great performances both comedic AND dramatic, being an #InternationalTreasure, while remaining a down-to-earth, genuinely nice guy. Thank you sir!???????????????? pic.twitter.com/yvdqBdzDLJ
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) December 13, 2020
Dick Van Dyke was born on December 13, 1925 in West Plains, Missouri. He grew up in Danville, Illinois.
At one point in his life, he wanted to be a minister. Van Dyke was reportedly influenced by his mother’s family’s involvement in religion. But after taking a drama class in high school, he realized he was called to another career.
However, becoming a professional entertainer would be put on hold because, in 1944, Van Dyke left high school 1944 to join the United States Air Force.
But it seemed like even the Air Force knew he was destined to be an entertainer. Van Dyke was denied from being able to enlist in the military several times before he was given a job as a radio announcer.
He eventually transferred to the Special Services where it was his job to entertain the troops in the United States.
The 96-year-old began his career on the radio in the late 1940s, but it wasn’t very successful. Unless you count meeting his first wife, Margie Willet.
The two hosted a radio program, reportedly because it helped them pay for their 1948 wedding and awarded them a free honeymoon.
He soon took his talent to the stage after convincing a pantomime performer to join him and form a comedy duo. The two, Van Dyke and Phil Erickson, toured nightclubs on the west coast, and in the early 1950s, they performed for a local television station in Atlanta, Georiga.
In November 1959 he appeared on another stage, Broadway. He made his Broadway debut in The Girls Against the Boys, and then went on to play the lead in Bye Bye Birdie, which won him a Tony Award.
Several years after the award-winning show ended Van Dyke starred in The New Dick Van Dyke Show. Unfortunately, the show wasn’t as successful as the former CBS sitcom.
But all the while Van Dyke was filming his television series, he was also working on perfecting his craft in another area of entertainment: film.
He played Albert J. Peterson in the film adaptation of Bye Bye Birdie (1963) and Bert and Mr. Dawes Senior in Mary Poppins (1964). He starred in many other movies, all which saw very little success at the box office.
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Dick Van Dyke is an extremely accomplished performer and has given us a reason to smile and laugh for more than 75 years.
He is an absolute legend and deserves to be protected at all costs.