Successes and tragedies of the eternal comedian

And the day came. Today, Dick Van Dyke turns a hundred years old, completes a century of life. The actor who played the main role Mary Poppins with Julie Andrews and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang He has prepared everything for his big celebration.

What started a few weeks ago: The legendary actor organized a two-hour “sing-a-long” with his vocal quartet The Vantastix, which he described as a way to “revitalize the art of conversation.”

The event was held at his own mansion, Vandy Manor, and became a charity day for charity: all proceeds were intended for the development of the Dick Van Dyke Museum and the Van Dyke Endowment of the Arts. There was his wife Arlene Silver and his fans, who had exclusive access to the tickets, the donation of which was intended for charity.

Richard Wayne Van Dyke was born on December 13, 1925 in West Plains, Missouri, USA. Before becoming an actor and comedian, he was also a Sunday school teacher at a Presbyterian church where he preached every Sunday.

We saw his huge smile and tall height (he’s 6’4″ without being hunched) both in film and on television The Dick Van Dyke Show It became one of the most famous television shows in history.

Next to Mary Tyler Moore From 1961 to 1966 he hosted the series, a comedy in which he played comedy writer Rob Petrie. Carl Reiner himself created the show and wanted to play the lead, but CBS insisted that he do a casting and Reiner chose Van Dyke. Reiner remained a supporting role (Alan Brady) and the very young Mary Tyler Moore, 24, played Rob’s wife Laura. When the show began, Dick was actually in love with Mary Tyler Moore.

Van Dyke won three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Seriesand the series received four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series.

In between, “Van Dyke” premiered in 1964 Mary Poppinsalongside Julie Andrews. He played two roles in Walt Disney’s film. He was Bert, the chimney sweep, and he also played the bank president, Mr. Dawes Sr. His attempt to imitate the Cockney accent in Mary Poppins is so striking that the “Dick Van Dyke accent” is a slang term for an American’s failed attempt to imitate a British accent.

In any case, Van Dyke assures that his most memorable role was precisely that of Bert.

And it’s not like he was lacking in leading roles. Another of his great successes was in the cinema Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), where he was the son of Lionel Jeffries, although Jeffries was actually six months younger than him…

But not everything in his life was joy. He married his first wife, Marjorie Ann Terrell, on the radio show in 1948 at age 22 Bride and groombecause the program paid for their wedding rings, honeymoon and household appliances. After the wedding, The Van Dykes were so poor that they had to live in their car for a while..

As a difficult fact in his personal life, Van Dyke admitted that he was addicted to alcohol, which he overcame in the 1970s. He was a chain smoker for fifty years, smoking up to two packs of cigarettes a day. He finally managed to stop using chewing gum and patches. He claimed that quitting smoking was much more difficult than quitting drinking.

And he was rescued from his Jaguar in August 2013 when it burned on the Ventura Freeway in Los Angeles, California. And a year ago he had to be evacuated from his home because of the fierce fires in Los Angeles.

Although he was highly praised for his dance performances Mary Poppins And Chitty Chitty Bang BangHe never received any training as a dancer and only began dancing in his thirties.

Out of curiosity, he received a lemon cake every Christmas from Charles Bronson, who lived nearby in Malibu for 16 years.

During World War II, he enlisted as a pilot in the Army Air Corps, but initially did not qualify for the position because he did not meet the weight requirements (he was too thin). He tried three times to apply, but barely managed to serve as a radio announcer during the war and did not leave the United States.

His comic inspiration was Stan Laurel. She says she found him by looking up his name in the phone book in Santa Monica, California, where Skinny Laurel lived. The fat and the thin. He called him and Laurel invited him to her house. They became friends and when Laurel died, Van Dyke gave her farewell speech at the funeral.

It was 1965 and one comedy eminence was saying goodbye to another.