Overview
- At a Nov. 30 Vandy High Tea at his Malibu home, Van Dyke led a two-hour Q&A and sing-alongs that raised money for The Van Dyke Endowment of the Arts and an in‑development Dick Van Dyke Museum.
- He told guests he is probably the last person alive who knew Walt Disney, praising him as enthusiastic and kind despite their differing politics.
- He recounted that Disney personally called to offer him Mary Poppins after hearing an interview in which Van Dyke lamented the lack of quality children’s entertainment.
- Van Dyke said he recognized an addictive personality in his 50s and gave up drinking and smoking, noting he entered treatment for alcoholism in the early 1970s and later found quitting cigarettes even tougher.
- His wife, Arlene Silver, says he plans a quiet Dec. 13 birthday at home, as a centennial film screens in select theaters Dec. 13–14 and a PBS American Masters profile is available in December.