Legendary actor Dick Van Dyke has reflected on his decades-spanning career, revealing one of the big downsides to living for nearly a century.
Van Dyke is best known for his decades of comedy shows, movies and TV appearances- all of which allowed him to become one of the most revered actors of today.
Of course, many of us know him for starring in childhood favorites like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins, Curious George and The Secret Squirrel Show.
It almost seems like he’s just always been in Hollywood, and that’s probably because he’s not that much younger than Hollywood itself.
Born in 1925, he’s just on the cusp of turning 100 in December and with that, comes some setbacks in life.
The star revealed all in an interview with People, explaining he had a very special project in the works with his late longtime friend, Ed Asner.
Dick Van Dyke opened up on his age (Monica Schipper/Getty Images)
He shared during a Q&A with his wife, Arlene Van Dyke, that he and Asner were going to make a remake of The Odd Couple classic.
But Asner’s death in 2021 halted the plan.
As with time, things tend to come and go – such as friends and loved ones who grow old.
Van Dyke commented on his situation of having lost a close friend at the Dick & Arlene Van Dyke Present Vandy Camp event: “That would’ve been such fun, and we lost it. I’ve lost a lot of friends.”
“He’s outlived everybody,” Arlene, 53, noted of her husband. “That’s the curse of living to almost 100.”
However, she shared that he’s still ‘positive’ despite having lost so many friends.
To this, Van Dyke said: “Well, life’s been good to me. I can’t complain.”
The Odd Couple was first introduced to fans in the form of a Broadway play in 1965, created by Neil Simon.
He explored the ‘curse’ of living so long (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Then, it went on to become a movie just three years later, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.
Essentially, it depicts two people, Felix (a clean freak) and Oscar (a very messy man) after his divorce.
What follows is a slew of hilarious moments as the pair clash over their differing cleanliness.
It also went on to become a TV series in 1970, where Jack Klugman took on the role of Oscar, while Tony Randall played Felix.
So, it’s been a popular concept for quite some time.
After reflecting on his long career, Van Dyke spoke about his hit film, Mary Poppins, in which he starred alongside Julie Andrews, 89.
Having played two roles in the movie (Bert and the bank chairman), he went on to share that Andrews was ‘as sweet as she could be and so patient with me’ while he struggled with the singing aspect.
“I’m not a real singer, so I tend to be under, fighting to get up there and sing on top of the note. Just took me forever in the recording,” he said. “But [Andrews] was just patient as could be and kept helping me, saying, ‘Think high. Think up there.’ And it turned out great. She was wonderful. We had a wonderful time together.”
