Dick Van Dyke, 96, says he’s just grateful to be alive. The Mary Poppins icon was photographed on Thursday as he exited from lunch with a pal in Los Angeles, looking cheerful.
Last week, well-wishers inquired the cherished father-of-four if he had plans for Father’s Day, and he said the weekend would be low-key, joking, ‘I’m just grateful to still be here,’ before getting behind the wheel of his car and heading out to run errands.
Dick has seven grandchildren and four with his ex-wife Margerie Willet, whom he married on the radio show Bride and Groom in 1948 before divorcing 36 years later.
His longtime partner Michelle Triola Marvin died in 2009 after 30 years of marriage, and he has been married to Arlene Silver, 50, since 2012.
Dick wore a big white beard and dressed down in a long-sleeve grey shirt and navy blue slacks. Dick was also observed buying up artificial tanning spray at a Malibu drugstore, revealing his key to perpetual youth.
As per the product description, he ordered a can of Neutrogena micro-mist self-tanning spray, which guarantees users the capacity to generate a tan two or three shades deeper than their natural skin tone.
Dick fought in the US Army during WWII and is only one Oscar away from being an EGOT.
He is most remembered for his parts in The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-66), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), and, most recently, Mary Poppins Returns (2018).
Dick demonstrated he could still act, sing, and dance alongside his wife 46 years his junior, former make-up artist Arlene Silver, 50, in their Everybody Loves a Lover music video on Valentine’s Day this year.
Along with barbershop trio the Vantastix and trumpet player Tony Guerrero, the pair played a cheerful rendition of a Richard Adler and Robert Allen song made popular by Doris Day in 1958.
The seven-time grandpa of the 2020 group he founded explained that he loves to harmonise, so that keeps him going. It’s sort of his retirement diversion. He is not a golfer. He enjoys singing and dancing more.
Dick first met Arlene when he awarded Julie Andrews with a lifetime achievement award at the 13th Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2007.
“Hello, my name is Dick,” he said. The first question she asked him was, ‘Were you in Mary Poppins?’ she recounted.
They became friends right away, so it didn’t feel like he was so much older than her.
Arlene expressed that he is the most wonderful human being. She has never met somebody who was that cheerful, real, and great. He’s like a joyful pill.
