50 Fun Facts About Dick Van Dyke

Dick Van Dyke was born on December 13, 1925, in which state?

West Plains, Missouri, to be exact, though he grew up in Danville, Illinois, where he sang in the high school a cappella choir.

Van Dyke left high school in his senior year to train as a pilot in which service during World War II?

He ended up building sets, entertaining troops at Majors Army Airfield in Texas and working as a radio announcer.

In 1947 Van Dyke formed a nightclub comedy duo that mimed and lip-synched to 78 rpm records. What was it called?

Pantomime performer Phil Erickson talked him into it; they billed themselves 'Eric and Van'. The act later got a local TV show in Atlanta.

Van Dyke won a Tony Award for playing Albert Peterson in the original 1960 production of which musical?

He won Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1961 and reprised the role in the 1963 film opposite Ann-Margret and Janet Leigh.

What was the name of Van Dyke's character on The Dick Van Dyke Show?

A comedy writer for the fictional Alan Brady Show, living in New Rochelle with wife Laura, played by 24-year-old Mary Tyler Moore.

Who created The Dick Van Dyke Show and played the tyrannical star Alan Brady?

Reiner had cast himself in the pilot, Head of the Family, but CBS insisted on recasting and he chose Van Dyke to replace him.

The Dick Van Dyke Show ran on CBS from 1961 to 1966. How many episodes were made?

Five seasons of half-hours, shot at Desilu Studios. The series won 15 Emmys.

In the show's opening sequence, what does Rob sometimes trip over and sometimes step around?

The show varied it from episode to episode, and later sitcoms have paid homage to the gag.

Where did the Petries live on The Dick Van Dyke Show?

Reiner based the show on his own years as head writer for Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows.

How many Primetime Emmys did Van Dyke win as Outstanding Lead Actor for The Dick Van Dyke Show?

The series itself won four Emmys as Outstanding Comedy Series. His career total stands at six Emmys.

Which real-life relative of Van Dyke played Rob's sibling Stacey on The Dick Van Dyke Show?

Jerry Van Dyke later starred in Coach. Barry Van Dyke played Dick's son on Diagnosis Murder decades later.

Which of these is NOT one of Bert's jobs in Mary Poppins (1964)?

He is also a one-man band. The role earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.

Whose accent beat Van Dyke's Cockney in Empire's 2003 poll of the worst film accents ever?

Connery's Irish-American cop won him an Oscar regardless. Van Dyke has blamed his dialect coach, an Irishman.

Under what scrambled name was Dick Van Dyke credited as Mr. Dawes Sr. in Mary Poppins?

The letters unscramble to Dick Van Dyke in the closing credits, a trick repeated in Mary Poppins Returns, where he played Dawes Jr.

Van Dyke's only Grammy came in 1964, shared with Julie Andrews, for what?

The film won five Oscars, including Best Actress for Andrews in her feature debut and Best Original Song for 'Chim Chim Cher-ee'.

Mary Poppins received a record thirteen Academy Award nominations. How many did it win?

Best Actress, Film Editing, Original Music Score, Visual Effects and Original Song. It lost Best Picture to My Fair Lady.

Whose children's novel was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) based on?

The James Bond author wrote it in 1964; Dahl co-wrote the screenplay with director Ken Hughes, and Bond producer Albert Broccoli made it.

After the Mary Poppins Cockney mockery, how did Van Dyke handle the way Caractacus Potts spoke?

The film reunited him with the Sherman Brothers songwriters and choreographers from Mary Poppins. Sally Ann Howes co-starred as Truly Scrumptious.

In Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Baron Bomburst rules which fictional country?

The Baron tries to steal the car while it is stranded by the tide, and his spies fly off with Grandpa Potts inside his outhouse.

The 1969 movie The Comic was written especially for Van Dyke, casting him as what?

The character struggles with alcoholism and ego, themes that echoed Van Dyke's own life. He has cited Stan Laurel and Buster Keaton as his idols.

In Cold Turkey, Van Dyke's minister leads his Iowa town to do what for 30 days?

The prize is $25 million from a tobacco company. Shot in 1969, the film was not released until 1971.

After playing an alcoholic in the 1974 TV movie The Morning After, Dick Van Dyke revealed he had been one for how long?

The role earned him an Emmy nomination. He has spoken openly about his recovery ever since.

Which comedian made his prime-time debut on Van Dyke's 1976 sketch series Van Dyke and Company?

The show was cancelled after three months yet still won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy-Variety Series.

Who played Steve, Dr. Mark Sloan's homicide detective son, on Diagnosis: Murder?

His real son. The character first appeared on Jake and the Fatman before three TV movies led to the weekly CBS series.

Dr. Mark Sloan was introduced as a spin-off character from which series?

He debuted in a fourth-season episode called 'It Never Entered My Mind' before Diagnosis Murder premiered on CBS in October 1993.

Van Dyke and his son Barry appeared together in a 1987 episode of which action series, on which Barry was the lead?

Barry starred in the show's fourth and final season on USA Network.

Van Dyke has sung since 2000 with an a cappella group called what?

His love of a cappella goes back to the choir at Danville High School.

In 2012, at 86, Van Dyke married make-up artist Arlene Silver. How much younger is she?

His first marriage, to Margerie Willett in 1948, took place on a radio show called Bride and Groom.

Van Dyke's first wedding, in 1948, took place where?

The show was Bride and Groom, broadcast from the Chapman Park Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard; the couple got a free honeymoon out of it.

Which honour did the studio behind Mary Poppins give Van Dyke in 1998?

He got his Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 1993 and entered the Television Hall of Fame in 1995.

In 2013 Van Dyke received the Life Achievement Award from which organisation?

The Kennedy Center Honors followed in 2020, at 95.

In Mary Poppins Returns (2018), Van Dyke played which character?

The son of the banker he had played in heavy make-up in 1964. He was 91 and still danced on a desk.

Which of these later films did Van Dyke NOT appear in?

He also returned for the 2014 Night at the Museum sequel as the retired security guard Cecil.

In 2023, at 97, Dick Van Dyke performed on The Masked Singer as which character?

He was the first eliminated that season, but the reveal drew a standing ovation.

In 2024, at 98, Van Dyke became the oldest Daytime Emmy winner ever for a guest role on which soap opera?

He won Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series at the 51st Daytime Emmys.

On his 99th birthday in 2024, Van Dyke starred in the video for which band's 'All My Love'?

He produced the video with his wife Arlene Silver. Two documentaries followed for his 100th birthday in December 2025.

Which two silent-era comedians has Van Dyke most often named as his heroes?

He once phoned Laurel to confess he had stolen from him for years; Laurel replied, 'Yes, I know.' Van Dyke gave the eulogy at Laurel's funeral.

Before Hollywood, in 1953 Van Dyke hosted a daily children's show on local television in which city?

The Merry Mutes had moved there in the early 1950s; he also worked as a morning DJ and radio talk host in the city.

The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited, a 2004 CBS reunion, was hosted by which sitcom star?

Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Jerry Van Dyke and Carl Reiner all returned.

The 100th-birthday documentary Starring Dick Van Dyke aired as part of which PBS series?

The other, Dick Van Dyke: 100th Celebration, played in cinemas on December 13 and 14, 2025.

Who played Rob's wife Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show?

She was just 24 when the show began. The two reunited decades later for a 2003 TV production of The Gin Game.

Rejected as underweight, Van Dyke finally passed his wartime weigh-in after eating a lot of what?

He washed them down with a large amount of water. He later transferred from pilot training to Special Services, building sets and announcing on radio.

Van Dyke returned to Broadway in 1980 as Harold Hill in a revival of which musical?

The revival followed a US tour in the title role. His Broadway debut had been the short-lived 1959 revue The Girls Against the Boys.

In 1968, producer Albert R. Broccoli reportedly offered Van Dyke which role?

He turned it down with the question 'Have you heard my British accent?', a nod to his much-mocked Cockney in Mary Poppins.

Van Dyke grew up, and later spun records on WDAN, in which Illinois city?

At Danville High School he acted alongside Bobby Short and Donald O'Connor, an experience that convinced him to turn professional.

Van Dyke has said his dream role would have been which character?

He told Larry King he also turned down the lead in The Omen, which went to Gregory Peck.

Having left school early to enlist, Van Dyke received his high school diploma in which year?

He had dropped out of Danville High in his senior year for Army Air Forces pilot training, and was discharged in 1946.

After buying an Amiga in 1991, Van Dyke took up which hobby, later showing his work at SIGGRAPH?

He is credited with 3D effects on a Diagnosis: Murder episode and still works with LightWave 3D.

On the 2010 children's album Rhythm Train, Van Dyke rapped alongside the drummer of which band?

Chad Smith and singer Leslie Bixler were his collaborators. In 2017 he released Step (Back) In Time, his first solo album since 1963.

From 1965 to 1982, Van Dyke owned an AM radio station, KXIV, in which city?

Radio ran through his career: he had been a DJ in Illinois and a morning host in Georgia before television made him a star.