Trivia of Dick Van Dyke

Trivia of Dick Van Dyke (13 December 1925)

*He began his career as a radio announcer before transitioning to the world of entertainment.Van Dyke was wed to his first wife, Margie Willett live on a radio program called Bride and Groom. The show offered romantic hopefuls a free ceremony and various prizes in exchange for the live broadcast and post-service interviews.“We were too broke to get married, but a radio producer offered to pick up the tab and send us on honeymoon if we got hitched on his show,” told Van Dyke. “In 1948, they exchanged wedding vows in front of a minister and two radio microphones while 15 million people listened.

*Often hosted game shows when he was still a struggling actor. He hosted Mother's Day (1958) and Laugh Line (1959).

*One of the most significant milestones in Dick Van Dyke’s career was his role as Rob Petrie in the television sitcom “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” The show aired from 1961 to 1966 and was a major success, earning him three Emmy Awards.

*Van Dyke began his film career by playing the role of Albert J. Peterson in the film version of Bye Bye Birdie (1963).The song that made Dick Van Dyke's career, "Put on a Happy Face", was unsuccessful in early stage previews, and was almost cut from the production. The creative team found a different spot for it in the musical, and it played beautifully.

*Walt Disney choose him to play role Mr Dawes Sr in musical movie Mary Poppins (1964).His cockney accent in that movie was so heavily criticized that it may have cost him a Best Leading Actor Academy Award nomination the following year.

*Although highly praised for his dancing in Mary Poppins (1964) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), Van Dyke was never trained as a dancer and did not begin dancing until he was 34.He also did not appear in his first movie until he was age 36.

*In 2023, Dick Van Dyke set a modest show business record. At age 97, he was the oldest contestant ever to appear on Fox's reality series "The Masked Singer." Underneath the gnome costume, Van Dyke competed in the singing show, his identity hidden even from the crew. He sang a Dixieland arrangement of "When You're Smiling," and when he was unmasked, he brought judge Nicole Scherzinger to tears. Ken Jeong called it the greatest reveal in the show's history and praised Van Dyke as one of his comedy inspirations.