After 75 Years in Show Business, Dick Van Dyke Knows How He Wants to be Remembered

In 1957, Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House, America was in a post-war boom, and television was becoming the medium of mass communication. It was that year when 32-year-old Dick Van Dyke made his television debut on The Phil Silvers Show.

Dick Van Dyke would kick around television for a few years, making appearances on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Look Up and Live, and The Jack Benny Program. 

It wouldn’t be until 1964 that Van Dyke got his breakout role in Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins alongside Julie Andrews. That would lead to The Dick Van Dyke Show and a career that would span eight decades.

This weekend, the Disney Legend became the oldest person to win an Emmy Award at 98. He received a Creative Arts Emmy for Oustanding Variety Series for Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic. 

After receiving his award, the 98-year-old actor met the media. He was asked how he wanted audiences and fans to remember him. He responded:

For laughter, for making people laugh for 75 years. I’ve been in the business for 75 years. I can’t believe I’m still here and performing. I’m looking for work if anybody is asking. 

While Van Dyke may have been joking about looking for work, there was also some truth to it. Van Dyke has been working steadily into his 90s.

Dick Van Dyke on how he wants to be remembered after winning an Emmy last night at the age of 98.

“For laughter. For making people laugh for 75 years, I’ve been in the business for 75 years, I can’t believe it that I’m still here & performing! I’m looking for work if anyone’s… pic.twitter.com/tO8RlOVsV8

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 8, 2024

He appeared in Mary Poppins Returns (2018) and lent his voice to The Simpsons. He is also in pre-production on Capture the Flag, a film co-starring John Amos and Louis Gossett Jr.

At 98, Dick Van Dyke also joked about his mortality. He said:

I invited everyone to my memorial. I don’t have a date yet, but I’m not feeling too well about it.

The Emmy Award is Van Dyke’s fourth. He only needs an Oscar to obtain EGOT status (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony). He joked that he would probably receive his Oscar “posthumously.”

Van Dyke ended his night with some advice for young actors, telling them:

You have to stick with it. You’ll go through hard times and many auditions, but you must stay with it.

Be patient, but have confidence in yourself. It’s very important to believe that you can do it. I don’t know how I did it, tell you the truth. 

The iconic actor will live in our collective memory after 98 years on this planet and 75 years in show business. As a performer and human being, few do it better than Dick Van Dyke.

What is your favorite memory of Dick Van Dyke?