
Dick Van Dyke, 99, sparks health concerns after dropping out of comedy event last-minute
Dick Van Dyke, 99, had to skip a comedy event this weekend after coming down with an unspecified illness.
The 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' star was scheduled to host his musical fundraising event, Vandy Camp, on Saturday, June 28, but canceled his appearance at the last minute, according to People.
Advertisement
5 Dick Van Dyke had to skip a comedy event this weekend after coming down with an unspecified illness.
BACKGRID
His wife, Arlene Silver, announced the news at the Arlene & Dick Van Dyke Theater at Malibu High School.
She explained that Van Dyke was not having a 'good day.'
'I have to inform you that Dick is not up to coming to celebrate with us today. I'm sorry,' Silver, 53, told the audience after introducing herself as 'not the Van Dyke you're expecting.'
Advertisement
'When you're 99 and a half years old, you have good days and bad days, and unfortunately, today is not a good day for him, and he's sick that he can't be here,' she added.
Van Dyke ended up attening the show via livestream, and Silver said that she was 'pretty confident' he would be at the next Vandy Camp event 'in person.'
5 His wife, Arlene Silver, announced the news at the Arlene & Dick Van Dyke Theater at Malibu High School on Saturday.
BACKGRID
Advertisement
Elsewhere during the event, Silver emphasized her husband's passion for the musical fundraiser and explained that Vandy Camp is more than 'just Dick Van Dyke.'
'It is a celebration of your childhood, all of our childhoods, the music that's in the fabric of all of us,' she said. 'Dick Van Dyke is a big part of that.'
Silver also gushed about Van Dyke and their musical group, the a cappella quartet the Vantastix, for providing her with 'so much confidence to be able to stand up here right now.'
5 'When you're 99 and a half years old, you have good days and bad days, and unfortunately, today is not a good day for him,' Silver said.
BACKGRID
Advertisement
'I would never be able to do this maybe, like, a year ago, but I've had so many experiences pushing myself out of my comfort zone, and right now I'm out of my comfort zone,' she said.
'But I have to wear my big girl pants and hold the reins without Dick here as the safety net that he's always here with me,' Silver added.
Van Dyke and Silver, a makeup artist, first met at the SAG Awards in 2006 and married in 2012. They discussed their surprising 46-year age gap back in April.
5 Van Dyke ended up attening the show via livestream.
Courtesy Everett Collection
The 'Dick Van Dyke Show' legend has insisted that he has no plans of slowing down even despite turning 100 later this year.
'I'm a ham. I love it. I get a jolt of energy from an audience,' he said during another Vandy Camp event in April.
But living so long also has its downsides.
5 Van Dyke has insisted that he has no plans of slowing down even despite turning 100 later this year.
CBS via Getty Images
Advertisement
'I've lost a lot of friends,' Van Dyke lamented earlier this year while discussing the 2021 death of his late friend Ed Asner.
'He's outlived everybody,' Silver added at the time. 'That's the curse of living to almost 100.'
Still, the entertainment legend isn't complaining.
'Well, life's been good to me,' Van Dyke acknowledged. 'I can't complain.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Buzz Feed
4 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Kylie Jenner Timothee Chalamet Breakup Rumors Explained
What is going on with Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet's relationship? Perhaps this is a question you've found yourself asking in general across the last year or so — but now there's an actual reason to ask it. So, it's possible you've witnessed a bit of breakup speculation about this formerly elusive and always-a-little-evasive couple. This is primarily because Timothée recently skipped out on Kylie's birthday party — which, as relationship veterans and newbies alike well know, can sometimes mean that bad vibes are afoot. So what's the haps? Well, People notes that Kylie recently — and very subtly — supported Timothée in public by "liking" his IG post that shared the trailer for his hotly anticipated new film Marty Supreme. So there is that. A source also tells the publication that Timothée's absence can be chalked up to little more than busy schedules for two of the most famous people on the planet. 'They haven't seen each other for a few weeks only because Timothée's been filming Dune in a studio in Budapest, and Kylie's been working too,' the source claims. 'She visited him in July." "But even though Kylie has a private jet, the flight is still 12 hours," the source also claimed. "She's a mom and she works as well. She has a lot of responsibilities in LA. Timothée's schedule is grueling, with very little downtime.' So there you have it. We've reached out to Timothée and Kylie's reps for further comment, and we'll let you know if we hear anything back.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Tristan Rogers,' General Hospital' Star, Dies at 79
The Australian actor began playing Robert Scorpio on the daytime soap opera in 1980 Tristan Rogers has died at the age of 79. The Australian actor was best known for playing Robert Scorpio on General Hospital. He first joined the soap opera in 1980. His longtime manager, Meryl Soodak, confirmed his death to ABC 7 Eyewitness News on Friday, Aug. 15. It was revealed in July that Rogers has been diagnosed with cancer. Soodak told the outlet that Rogers' General Hospital role "meant everything to him." 'He loved being Scorpio and he created that role from nothing,' Soodak continued. 'He was supposed to work a day and he ended up making it into something huge. He was just a genuinely loyal, kind human being and he loved his family." PEOPLE has reached out to Rogers' manager and the General Hospital team for comment. Rogers was born in Melbourne in 1946. He left school in 1964 and eventually started a rock band with his friends. At 21, he turned to modeling and commercials to make money. Then he decided to become an actor — with no experience. 'As far as I was concerned, it was a way to make a bit of money. That's all,' he told in 2022. Many of his earliest roles came on Australian television. He appeared on the Aussie soaps Bellbird, Number 96 in 1974 and The Box in 1975. He also appeared in a few British films, including 1972's Four Dimensions of Greta. Rogers moved to the United States in 1980 and shortly after was cast as Robert Scorpio on General Hospital. Robert was a spy for the fictional World Security Bureau and later served as the police commissioner and district attorney of Port Charles. The character was good friends with Luke Spencer (played by Anthony Geary) and, in 1981, was part of Luke's wedding to Laura (Genie Francis) as Luke's best man. The wedding brought in 30 million viewers and remains the highest-rated soap opera episode in U.S. TV history. 'I didn't know at the time the importance of General Hospital; it was just one more job for me,' he told Soap Opera Digest in 2020 about his casting. 'But it was really exciting, to be fresh off the boat and walk into this role. Of course, after that, everywhere I went, people would go, 'You're on General Hospital? That's the hottest thing in the country! You're working with Luke and Laura? Oh, my God!'. . . . I got caught up in the General Hospital tidal wave and just got swept away by it.' Robert eventually became a fan-favorite character and was one of the show's leading men. He was killed off in 1992 and Rogers departed the series. But — as often happens on soaps — Robert returned, alive, in 2006, when the show brought back many popular characters from the '80s. "I think this character will follow me to my grave," he told The New York Times at the time. Rogers continued to make sporadic appearances on General Hospital throughout the next decade, and since 2019 had appeared as a recurring character. 'I've seen this show at its best and at something less than that,' he told PEOPLE in 2023 for the show's 60th anniversary. In 2008, Rogers took the character to the General Hospital spin-off General Hospital: Night Shift, where Robert learned he had colon cancer and reconnected with his family. 'This [storyline] was about the deconstruction of an iconic character done in a way it hadn't been done before,' he told Entertainment Weekly at the time. 'Characters like mine don't get colon cancer. They get shot, they get beaten up, they get hit by trains. They don't get colon cancer. It's not very glamorous. I thought it was a hell of a challenge, more than the usual fare that you're given going into this: Go through the investigation, find the bad guys, have a gunfight, get a schmooze….This was a whole different animal.' He added, 'So I thought, maybe along the way, if somebody watches this and sees what we're doing, they might go out and get tested. And if we inspired that, then it's a bonus.' Reflecting on the dominance of soap operas — and their decline — he said in an interview for the 2011 book The Survival of Soap Opera, 'This is not a genre that will be around in another 50 years… in many respects, it isn't necessary. They have made their mark, and almost every type of medium owes something to the way the soaps have been put together, whether they want to admit it or not.' Rogers' other roles included an arc on The Young and the Restless from 2010 to 2011, as well as the TV series Fast Track and Babylon 5. He also did voice over work, most notably in the 1990 Disney film The Rescuers Down Under, and won a Daytime Emmy for his performance in the 2019–2020 Prime Video series Studio City. Rogers married Barbra Meale in 1974, and they divorced in 1984. He briefly dated his General Hospital costar (and on-screen love interest) Emma Samms, but they split in 1985 when she left the show. He married Teresa Parkerson in 1995. They share two children, Sara and Cale. Rogers is survived by his wife and children. Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword


Buzz Feed
7 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Taylor Swift And Blake Lively Reportedly Aren't Speaking
It sure seems like the fallout from Taylor Swift being subpoenaed in Blake Lively's lawsuit against Justin Baldoni is continuing. You might remember that, back in May of this year, reports emerged that Taylor and Blake's famous friendship — the former literally named a song after one of Blake's children, for Christ's sake — had "halted" after Taylor had become temporarily involved, seemingly against her will, in Blake's legal battle against Justin. "Taylor wants no part in this drama," a source told People at the time, while another source added that the pair "taking some space" from each other for the time being — but, also, that they're "not no longer friends," which is a fairly important distinction to make. Of course, you're also probably aware that Taylor's upcoming album The Life of a Showgirl features a song called "Ruin the Friendship," which people are already speculating is about a presumed falling-out with Blake. And while there's no official confirmation that the song is concerning itself with that topic, a new report from People suggests that Blake and Taylor's friendship is still not going very well at the moment. "Taylor and Blake aren't speaking," the source tells the publication. Yikes! These reports usually come with a bit more to them, but that's pretty much it for the moment, which We've reached out to Blake and Taylor's reps for comment, and we'll let you know if we hear back.