Dick Van Dyke Reflects On His Extraordinary Life As His 100th Birthday Approaches
Dick Van Dyke will celebrate his 100th birthday on December 13. As he nears this extraordinary milestone, he’s been doing a lot of reflecting on his life…and why he’s made it this long.
The iconic actor recently hosted a Vandy High Tea charity event at his home in Malibu, California. PEOPLE reported on the event, where Van Dyke spoke about two bad habits he kicked years ago, which he believes attributed to his nearly century-long life.
“I think I was probably in my 50s before it dawned on me that I had an addictive personality,” Van Dyke remarked at the event. “If I liked something, I was going to overdo it.”
He said this in reference to smoking, after his son, Barry Van Dyke, remarked that his dad never smoked that much. “I smoked a lot, actually,” Van Dyke quipped.
Once he realized that he had “an addictive personality,” Van Dyke vowed to turn his life around. “So I got rid of booze and cigarettes and all that stuff, which is probably why I’m still here,” he said.
Van Dyke has been incredibly open about his troubled relationship with alcohol. In his 2016 memoir, Keep Moving, he wrote about receiving three weeks of treatment for alcoholism in 1972.
Speaking on The Dick Cavett Show two years later in 1974, he said:
“…by the time I realized I was in trouble, I was too deluded. Like most alcoholics are, to be able to understand what was wrong with me.”
He added, “…for centuries they’ve been putting the blame on the character of the addict, and it’s not so. There’s no degeneration, or loose morals, or character defects in an alcoholic. It’s a physical disease.”
Still, Van Dyke admits he found it more challenging to give up smoking than drinking. As he told the Real No Really podcast in 2023, it took him “forever” to stop smoking. “It was much worse than the alcohol,” he said.
In addition to ditching his bad habits, Van Dyke believes his positive attitude contributed to his long life. During a previous conversation with PEOPLE, he said:
“I’ve always thought that anger is one thing that eats up a person’s insides — and hate. And I never really was able to work up a feeling of hate. I think that is one of the chief things that kept me going.”
Van Dyke Shares What He Thought About Walt Disney
As he nears his 100th birthday, Van Dyke can’t help but think of the many friends, family members, and co-workers he has lost. One of those people being Walt Disney.
At age 100, Van Dyke believes he may be the last person alive who knew Disney personally.
“I got to know Walt, I’m probably the last person alive who did,” he said at the Vandy High Tea event, as quoted by PEOPLE. “I got to know Walt pretty well, and we just got along.”
He added, “We decided that emotionally we were both 13 years old and that’s why we love to do children’s entertainment.”
Van Dyke, who worked with Disney on 1964’s Mary Poppins and 1966’s Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N., said, “He was a big kid, just so full of enthusiasm, and I just loved him.”
(It’s worth noting that Van Dyke’s Mary Poppins co-star, Julie Andrews, also worked with Disney, and she is still alive. She turned 90 in October 2025.)
“Yeah, he was a wonderful guy,” Van Dyke said about Disney. “He just smoked too much! Doggone.” Disney died at the age of 65 in 1966, shortly after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Hear Dick Van Dyke speak more about Walt Disney and Mary Poppins in the video below.
