Acting legend Dick Van Dyke, 99, shares the biggest curse of being nearly 100
Dick Van Dyke will turn 100 later this year but the Hollywood icon revealed the sad thing about being an almost centenarian
Dick Van Dyke has revealed what the biggest curse of being almost 100 is. The Hollywood legend, who is famous for films like Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, will reach the milestone birthday in December this year.
But in a Q&A with his producer and actress wife Arlene, 53, the 99-year-old - who is still working - shared that although "life's been good to me" the sad thing about being an almost centenarian is losing his loved ones, particularly his peers.
He revealed how he and good friend Ed Asner were set to do a remake of the 1970s American sitcom The Odd Couple before Ed's death at the age of 91 in August 2021. Dick said: "That would have been such fun - and we lost it. I've lost a lot of friends."
His wife Arlene cut in and said: "He's outlived everybody. That's the curse of living to 100." Asked what the secret to a long life is, Dick said his work and continuing to perform keeps him young because it "energises" him.
PEOPLE magazine reported the star told the audience at the special Q&A event in Malibu, California: "I'm a ham. I love it. I get a jolt of energy from an audience." Despite his age, Dick still regularly performs and did on the night with his musical group, barbershop quartet The Vantastix.
He also opened up on what it was like to work with co-star Dame Julie Andrews, 89, in the classic 1964 film Mary Poppins. He shared: "I'm not a real singer, so I tend to be under, fighting to get up there and sing on top of the note. Just took me forever in the recording.
"Julie was just patient as could be and kept helping me, saying, 'Think high. Think up there.' And it turned out great. She was wonderful. We had a wonderful time together."
Earlier this year, the screen icon said the secret staying so youthful at his age was also down to his strict regime of regular workouts. And his famous all-singing and all-dancing act still shines through at the gym because he 'literally' dances between weight machines instead of walking.
He revealed how he likes to workout for an hour and swim laps in the pool before taking a nap at home. He said: "I've always exercised. Three days a week we go to the gym, still. Three days a week. And I think that's it - why I'm not stove up like my equals."
Fellow actor Ted Danson, 77, who is known for Cheers and more recently in Netflix series A Man on the Inside, recalled seeing Dick at the gym in Malibu. He said: "If I got there early enough I would see you literally workout on some weight machine and then - almost like you were doing circuit training - you would not walk to the next machine, but dance. You literally danced to the next machine and I watched that for a couple of weeks." His wife Arlene added: "He still does that."
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