15A star of both stage and screen, Dick Van Dyke has endeared himself to generations of fans.
Van Dyke — who has four Emmys, one Grammy and a Tony Award to his name — married Arlene Silver in 2012. During a February 2023 interview with Yahoo! Music, the Mary Poppins star joked that “having a beautiful young wife half my age to take care of me” has kept him young.
Prior to his marriage to Silver, Van Dyke wed his first wife, Margie Willett, in 1948. The pair had four 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren: Christian, Barry, Stacy and Carrie Beth.
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In addition to his real-life loves, Van Dyke also had palpable chemistry with his onscreen wife Mary Tyler Moore on the Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran from 1961 to 1966 and earned 15 Emmy Awards.
Keep scrolling to see Van Dyke’s life and career in photos:
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1948Van Dyke married his first wife, Willet, and together they had four 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren.
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1961
The Diagnosis Murder alum originated the role of Albert Petersen in the Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie, winning the Best Featured Actor in a Musical Tony Award for his performance. Van Dyke reprised the award-winning part in the hugely successful film version two years later.
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1961 to 1966Van Dyke became a household name in the early ‘60s, thanks to his own titular sitcom — which earned 15 Emmy awards and one Golden Globe across its five-season run.
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1964
The Divorce American Style actor starred alongside Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins, one of the most famous movies of his career. Van Dyke famously played Bert the chimney sweep in the beloved Disney movie, putting on a Cockney accent that people still give him a hard time for — even decades later. (Van Dyke was also credited under a pseudonym for his role as villain Mr. Dawes.)
In 2017, upon receiving the Britannia Award for Excellence in Television, he quipped, “I appreciate this opportunity to apologize to the members of BAFTA for inflicting on them the most atrocious Cockney accent in the history of cinema.”
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1968
Four years after the enduring success of Mary Poppins, Van Dyke had another hit on his hands with the fantasy musical film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
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1970s
Van Dyke began dating Michelle Triola Marvin, whom he was in a decades-long relationship with until her death in 2009.
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1984Despite splitting decades prior, Van Dyke and Willet officially divorced.
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Late 1980sAfter losing his granddaughter Jessica to Reye’s Syndrome in 1987, Van Dyke became vocal about teaching parents the unknown dangers of giving 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren aspirin — a leading cause of the illness — appearing in commercials to promote awareness.
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2006
Van Dyke joined the legendary cast of Night at the Museum — starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson and more — playing a crucial (and villainous!) role as former Museum of Natural History security guard Cecil Fredericks.
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2012
The Alfred Hitchcock Presents alum married Silver after meeting five years earlier at the 2007 SAG Awards, where she was doing his makeup.
“He said, ‘Hi, I’m Dick,’” Silver told Closer Weekly in 2012. “The first thing I asked him was, ‘Weren’t you in ‘Mary Poppins?’ We got along immediately as friends, so it didn’t feel like he was so much older than me.”
Van Dyke, for his part, told Closer: “We share an attitude. She can go with the flow. She loves to sing and dance, which we do almost every day. She’s just delightful.”
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2013
Van Dyke was awarded with the Life Achievement Award at the 2013 Screen Actors Guild Awards.
“I’ve knocked around in this business 70 years, and I still haven’t quite figured out what it is I do,” he joked in his acceptance speech. “But it’s been – the years have just been full of surprises for me. And a lot of fun. Aren’t we lucky to have found a line of work that doesn’t require growing up?”
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2018
The Illinois native appeared in Mary Poppins Returns — thought not as Bert, but as Mr. Dawes, Jr. as a nod to his special appearance as villain Mr. Dawes Sr. in the original film.
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February 2023
Van Dyke not only stunned fans but also the judges when he was unveiled as the Gnome on season 9 of The Masked Singer at age 97 — making him the oldest contestant to participate on the singing competition show.
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December 2023
On the eve of his 98th 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡day, Van Dyke was seen heading to the gym for a workout with Silver. He flashed a big smile for the photos and joked to photographers that Silver “makes [him] go to the gym,” per Page Six.
The actor also joked about his upcoming 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡day. “My God, nobody should be 98 years old,” he said.
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December 2024
Days before ringing in his 99th 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡day, Van Dyke and Silver were forced to evacuate their Malibu home due to dangerous wildfires. “I forgot how old I am, and I realized I was crawling to get out,” he told NBC News at the time, noting that he attempted to prevent the flames by dousing his home with water.
“Three neighbors came and carried me out and came back and put out a little fire in the guest house and saved me,” he shared. “Thank God for them.” Van Dyke and Silver were able to return to their residence shortly after.
