Dick Van Dyke Trivia
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This Dick Van Dyke trivia quiz has 43 free questions with answers and covers a career that runs from a mime act called the Merry Mutes to a Coldplay music video released on his 99th birthday. In between: the Tony for Bye Bye Birdie, five seasons as Rob Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bert and the most-mocked Cockney accent in film history, Caractacus Potts, Dr. Mark Sloan on Diagnosis Murder, and the Daytime Emmy he won at 98. Expect questions on the show's cast and creator, the Emmys and other honours, the roles he took under a scrambled name, his brother Jerry, his idols Stan Laurel and Buster Keaton, and the personal story he has told openly, including his battle with alcohol. Difficulty runs from easy to details only serious fans will know. Every answer was checked against a reference page and each question carries the sentence that supports it.
30 of 43 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Dick Van Dyke was born on December 13, 1925, in which state?
Missouri
Missouri: though born in West Plains, he grew up in Danville, Illinois, where he acted in high school plays.
Q 02Van Dyke left high school in his senior year to train as a pilot in which service during World War II?
US Army Air Forces
US Army Air Forces: he left Danville High in 1944 to train as a pilot, but ended up in Special Services building sets and working as a radio announcer.
Q 03What was the nightclub comedy duo Van Dyke formed in 1947, miming and lip-synching to 78 rpm records?
The Merry Mutes
The Merry Mutes: pantomime performer Phil Erickson talked him into the act, billed as 'Eric and Van', and they later landed a local TV show.
Q 04Van Dyke won a Tony Award for playing Albert Peterson in the original 1960 production of which musical?
Bye Bye Birdie
Bye Bye Birdie: he was still starring in it on Broadway when he was tapped to lead his own TV sitcom.
Q 05On The Dick Van Dyke Show, Rose Marie played which wisecracking comedy writer?
Sally Rogers
Sally Rogers: Rose Marie had been performing since age three, when a talent contest launched her as the child singing star Baby Rose Marie.
Q 06Who created The Dick Van Dyke Show and played the tyrannical star Alan Brady?
Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner: he had played Rob himself in the unsold 1960 pilot before handing the lead to Van Dyke for the series.
Q 07The Dick Van Dyke Show grew out of which 1960 pilot?
Head of the Family
Head of the Family: the pilot went unsold, and when the idea was reworked into the series, the role of Rob went to Van Dyke.
Q 08In the opening credits of The Dick Van Dyke Show, what does Rob sometimes trip over and sometimes avoid?
An ottoman
An ottoman: after a shaky first season the show shot a fresh opening, and the trip-or-sidestep takes were rotated for the rest of its run.
Q 09Where did the Petries live on The Dick Van Dyke Show?
New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle, New York: the show's creator based Rob, the TV writer who lived there with his wife and son, on himself.
Q 10In 1977, Van Dyke took a regular sidekick role on which comedian's long-running variety show?
Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett: that same year his own Van Dyke and Company won the Emmy for comedy-variety series, beating her show.
Q 11Which real-life relative of Van Dyke played Rob's sibling Stacey on The Dick Van Dyke Show?
His younger brother Jerry
Jerry Van Dyke later starred in Coach. Barry Van Dyke played Dick's son on Diagnosis Murder decades later.
Q 12In Mary Poppins, Bert works as a chimney sweep, a kite seller, a pavement artist and what else?
One-man band
One-man band: Bert juggles all these odd jobs, and one of his chalk pavement pictures becomes the doorway into the film's animated fantasy.
Q 13Whose accent beat Van Dyke's Cockney in Empire's 2003 poll of the worst film accents ever?
Sean Connery in The Untouchables
Q 21Which comedian made his prime-time debut on Van Dyke's 1976 sketch series Van Dyke and Company?
Andy Kaufman
Andy Kaufman: the show lasted just three months, yet it still won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy-Variety Series.
Q 22Who played Steve, Dr. Mark Sloan's homicide detective son, on Diagnosis: Murder?
Barry Van Dyke
Barry Van Dyke, Dick's real-life son, and the show kept it in the family: Barry's teenage sons and Dick's daughter Stacy also appeared.
Q 23Diagnosis: Murder's Dr. Mark Sloan first appeared in an episode of which series?
Jake and the Fatman
Jake and the Fatman: Sloan debuted in its episode 'It Never Entered My Mind', which led to three TV movies and then his own series.
Sean Connery in The Untouchables: Empire said his Highland burr always remained, whatever role he played, and Van Dyke's Cockney came second.
Q 14In Mary Poppins, Dick Van Dyke took a second, heavily made-up role under which scrambled credit?
Navckid Keyd
Navckid Keyd: after landing the role of Bert, Van Dyke lobbied to take on this second, much older part as well.
Q 15Van Dyke's only Grammy came in 1964, shared with Julie Andrews, for what?
The Mary Poppins soundtrack
The film won five Oscars, including Best Actress for Andrews in her feature debut and Best Original Song for 'Chim Chim Cher-ee'.
Q 16Whose children's novel was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) based on?
Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming: he first told the flying-car tale as a bedtime story for his son, Caspar, and wrote it up while recovering from a heart attack.
Q 17In Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Baron Bomburst rules which fictional country?
Vulgaria
Vulgaria: the Baron wants Caractacus Potts to build him a copy of the magical car, but his men kidnap Grandpa Potts by mistake.
Q 18The 1969 movie The Comic was written especially for Van Dyke, casting him as what?
A self-destructive silent-era comedian
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.
Q 19In Cold Turkey, Van Dyke's minister leads his Iowa town to do what for 30 days?
Quit smoking
Quit smoking: as a publicity stunt, a tobacco company offers $25 million to any American town that can stop smoking for a month.
Q 20In a 1974 TV movie, Van Dyke played a businessman ruined by which addiction?
Alcoholism
Alcoholism: the drama aired not long after Van Dyke himself had been treated for a drinking problem.
Q 24Van Dyke guest-starred in a 1987 episode of which action series, whose final season his son led?
Airwolf
Airwolf: its revived fourth season on USA Network brought Stringfellow Hawke's lost brother St. John back to life, played by Van Dyke's son.
Q 25Van Dyke has sung since 2000 with an a cappella group called what?
The Vantastix
The Vantastix formed after a young man told Van Dyke he'd heard he liked to harmonize, and the quartet went on to sing the anthem at Lakers games.
Q 26As a Malibu wildfire approached in December 2024, who carried the 98-year-old Van Dyke to safety?
Three neighbors
Three neighbors: he had exhausted himself trying to crawl to the car, so they carried him out and then put out a small fire in his guest house.
Q 27Which honour did the studio behind Mary Poppins give Van Dyke in 1998?
Disney Legend
Disney Legend: Walt Disney is said to have cast him as Bert after reading that Van Dyke wanted to make films his children could watch.
Q 28In 2013 Van Dyke received the Life Achievement Award from which organisation?
Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild: the award honors humanitarian work as well as a career, and he had long volunteered at the Midnight Mission, a Los Angeles homeless shelter.
Q 29In Mary Poppins Returns (2018), Van Dyke played which character?
Mr. Dawes Jr.
Mr. Dawes Jr.: 54 years after playing the elderly banker Dawes Sr., he came back as the banker's son.
Q 30In 2023, at 97, Dick Van Dyke performed on The Masked Singer as which character?
Gnome
Gnome: after being unmasked, he sang 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' from Mary Poppins as his encore.