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Fewer actors seem more loved than Mary Poppins (1964) star Dick Van Dyke. Throughout his more than six decades in the entertainment industry, Mr. Van Dyke has appeared in a number of iconic films and television shows. In addition to Mary Poppins, he also starred in The Dick Van Dyke Show, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Diagnosis Murder, Night at the Museum (2006), and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014).
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While Mr. Van Dyke isn’t acting as much as he used to — he is 98 years old, after all — he has not slowed down. He enjoys things like exercising with his wife, Arlene Silver, playing the ukulele, and talking about many of his wonderful memories on set.
It seems that the beloved actor truly is a spoonful of sugar, but no one’s life is one hundred percent perfect. And that includes Dick Van Dyke, who recently spoke about his decades-long struggle with alcohol addiction.
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On a recent episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s podcast, Awards Chatter, Mr. Van Dyke was asked if it was The Dick Van Dyke show, and the fame that came with it, that led him to turn to booze.
“I don’t recall that it did, because I’ve known performers who had to have a slug the minute the show was over. But I never needed that. “I don’t know what started it. Hanging out with the wrong crowd, I think.”
He also revealed that he first started drinking when he was a teenager, and it did not take him long to develop a dependency. Then, in 1972, he checked into rehab for three weeks.
Credit: Arlene Silver YouTube
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He has been sober ever since.
He also revealed that one of his films, The Morning After (1974), did him the “most good” when it came to keeping him clean and sober. In it, he played a public relations writer, Charlie Lester, who becomes an alcoholic, which threatens to destroy his career and his marriage. Sadly, despite his family’s best efforts, Charlie ends up alone, with nothing but the bottle to keep him company.
“The number of people who decided to quit [drinking] because in the show the guy doesn’t make it.”
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Thankfully, Mr. Van Dyke has been able to remain clean and sober to this day, but he does admit he still needs to be careful.
The nonagenarian recently made history when he won the Daytime Emmy Award for Best Guest Performer in a Daytime Drama Series. He won it for a role that was also a first for him, acting in a soap opera. He appeared as Timothy Robicheaux in the long-running soap opera, Days of Our Lives.
What is your favorite Dick Van Dyke role? Let us know in the comments!
It has broken my heart that Matthew Perry died last fall. I think he was alone too much & possibly got lonely & turned to drugs. He did write a text or something saying Ketamine had hus name written all over it, obviously implying he loved it. He worked so hard to become clean & sober but it’s a tough one to heat. Still, it’s so heartbreaking.