I grew up on a steady diet of Dick Van Dyke. I watched the eternal re-runs of his brilliant television program The Dick Van Dyke show. At the same time he was on our big screens in various Disney films and not Disney films.
I adored the man and his ‘obvious’ talent for comedy. I thought, when I was really small, that he was the perfect father and I would set in front of the TV set and laugh at his trials as Rob Petrie. I do have to admit that my understanding of what he did for a living in the show was a bit hazy.
By the time I saw him in Mary Poppins, I knew what Rob Petrie aka Dick Van Dyke did for a living. He was an actor. But like many things we learn when we are younger that was an oversimplification. It was a few years later that I discovered that Van Dyke was not just an actor, he is an entertainer.
I can think of only one other individual who fills the job title of entertainer and that was Sammy Davis Jr. Both men fascinated me with the amount of sheer talent that God or whoever plunked into one body.
Like Davis, Van Dyke can dance, sing, act, do various different accents and the only thing that I can think of that he cannot do is impressions. But he might just be able to do that as well.
This is the man who fought alcoholism and won. In fact he wouldn’t talk about his role of Bert in Mary Poppins because he couldn’t really remember a lot of what happened. Alcoholism is like that. You can function, sometimes really well, but you lose a lot in the way of memories. I know about that because it’s very similar to drug addiction in that you can function but so easily forget.
This is also the same man who, at 81 years of age, did a soft shoe routine in the 2006 film Night at the Museum. That is on top of acting in the film. I don’t know many octogenarians who can be so supple or industrious.
I think it’s about high time that Dick Van Dyke got a lifetime achievement award from somebody.
This incredibly talented man who has fought his personal demons and still continued to entertain us while doing so. He made us laugh in his television shows. He made us smile at his infamous cockney accent in Mary Poppins, and he enthralled us as the crime solving doctor in his show Diagnosis Murder.
I know I keep harping on only a small part of what this talented man has done. If you want to see just how prolific his career has been, check out IMDb or Wikipedia.
Hell, I’d give him an award, not that it would mean a lot, but I’m pleased that he is getting one. I only have one wish.
I hope that he can continue to do what he does best.
Entertain.
21/08/2012
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Amen, indeed! 🙂
Amen to that! And you’re absolutely right about DVDs! Lol I have probably a few hundred myself! 🙂 And I had no idea that Van Dyke started in Vaudeville, but I guess that helps explain it though! What I’d give to watch some of that old-fashioned entertainment, and live in that era, if only for a while! Sometimes you really envy the simplicity of the past.
Thank God for DVD’s! Van Dyke actually was one of the last entertainer who started in Vaudeville with his brother Jerry. The ‘old’ greats are slowly shuffling off this mortal coil and not being replaced. Sad but true. Legends for a reason and not forgotten because of the same.
I loved Van Dyke as a kid; he always reminded me of one my uncles! Great article, Mike. Couldn’t agree more on your thoughts about ‘entertainers’. That’s something I’ve often thought a lot about myself. I’ve always loved the era combining the 40s and 50s, for many reasons, but also because so many incredible entertainers rose out of those decades. Like you said, real entertainers, not merely comedians, singers, or actors. Nothing like what we have today, that caliber and class is gone, and that incredible generation is quickly leaving us behind. That’s what’s great about recordings though, right? I’ve got Sinatra in my car stereo right now, so the legends stay with us. 🙂