Dick Van Dyke Biography

Dick Van Dyke (Richard Wayne Van Dyke) is an American actor, comedian, singer, and dancer. His entertainment career has spanned seven decades.

Dick first became prominent on radio and Broadway, then he became known for his role as Rob Petrie on the CBS television sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran from 1961 to 1966.

He also gained remarkable  popularity for roles in the musical films Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Mary Poppins (1964), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), and Mary Poppins Returns (2018). Dick’s other prominent film appearances include roles in The Comic (1969), Dick Tracy (1990), Curious George (2006), Night at the Museum (2006), and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014). Other prominent TV roles include the leads in The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971–74), Diagnosis: Murder (1993–2001), and Murder 101 (2006–08) which both co-starred his son Barry.

He has received  five Primetime Emmys, a Tony, and a Grammy Award, and  in 1995 he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame . Dick in 2013 he received the Screen Actors Guild’s highest honor, the SAG Life Achievement Award.  Dick has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard and has also been recognized as a Disney Legend.

Dick Van Dyke Age | How Old Is Dick Van Dyke

Dick was born on December 13, 1925 in West Plains, Missouri, He is 93 years old as of 2018.

Dick Van Dyke Family | Dick Van Dyke Brother

Dick Van was born in West Plains, Missouri.  He is the son  to Hazel Victoria (née McCord; 1896 – 1992), a stenographer, and Loren Wayne “Cookie” Van Dyke (1898–1976), a salesman. Dick grew up in Danville, Illinois. He has a younger brother known as  actor Jerry Van Dyke (1931–2018), who is best known for a role on the TV series Coach. Dick has Dutch, English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry, with a family line that traces back to Mayflower passenger John Alden.

Dick Van Dyke Education

Donald O’Connor and Bobby Short were among Van Dyke’s high school classmates in Danville.  Both of whom would go on to successful careers as entertaineras.  A cousin of Gene Hackman was one of Dick’s closest friends the future actor, who also lived in Danville in those years.

His mother’s family was very religious, and for a brief period in his youth, Dick considered a career in ministry, although a drama class in high school convinced him that his true calling was as a professional entertainer.  In his autobiography, he wrote, “I suppose that I never completely gave up my childhood idea of being a minister.

Only the medium and the message changed. I have still endeavored to touch people’s souls, to raise their spirits and put smiles on their faces.” Even after he began his career as an entertainer, Dick taught Sunday school in the Presbyterian Church, where he was an elder, and he continued to read such theologians as Buber, Tillich, and Bonhoeffer, who helped explain in practical terms the relevance of religion in everyday life.

In 1944 he left high school his senior year, intending to join the United States Army Air Forces for pilot training during World War II. Dick was denied enlistment several times for being underweight, but eventually  he  was accepted for service as a radio announcer before transferring to the Special Services and entertaining troops in the continental United States. In 2004 Dick  received his high school diploma in 2004 at the age of 78.

Dick Van Dyke Wife

When he was 86 years old, Van Dyke married 40-year-old make-up artist Arlene Silver on February 29, 2012. The two had met six years earlier at the SAG awards.

His first marriage was to Margerie Willett. While appearing at the Chapman Park Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles on February 12, 1948, he and the former Margerie Willett were married on the radio show Bride and Groom. The couple had four children: Christian, Barry, Stacy, and Carrie Beth.  The two  divorced in 1984 after a long separation.

He lived with longtime companion Michelle Triola for more than 30 years, until her death in 2009.

Dick Van Dyke Children

Dick has four children  from his first marriage: Christian, Barry, Stacy, and Carrie Beth. Son Barry Van Dyke, grandsons Shane Van Dyke and Carey Van Dyke along with other Van Dyke grandchildren and relatives appeared in various episodes of the long-running series Diagnosis: Murder.

Dick Van Dyke Son

Dick has a son known as Barry Van Dyke. He was born July 31, 1951. He is  an actor and the second son of actor and entertainer Dick Van and  Margie Willett, and nephew of Jerry Van Dyke. Dick has often worked with his son Barry.  His son  is best known to audiences as Lieutenant Detective Steve Sloan, a homicide detective and the son of Dr. Mark Sloan (played by Dick Van Dyke) on Diagnosis: Murder. In the show, the characters’ relatives were frequently played by real-life family members.

Dick Van Dyke Death | Dick Van Dyke Health

Dick is still alive.  He revealed in April 2013 that for seven years he had been experiencing symptoms of a neurological disorder, in which he felt a pounding in his head whenever he lay down; but despite his undergoing tests, no diagnosis had been made. Dick had to cancel scheduled appearances due to fatigue from lack of sleep because of the medical condition.  He tweeted in May 2013 that it seemed his titanium dental implants may be responsible.

It was reported on August 19, 2013, that the 87-year-old Dick van  was rescued from his Jaguar by a passerby after the car had caught fire on the US 101 freeway in Calabasas, Los Angeles County. Dick was not injured in the fire, although the car burned down to its frame.

Dick Van Dyke Movies

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