Dick Van Dyke, 97, has been in show business since the 1940s and has no intentions to slow down as he has now picked up his first-ever soap opera gig.
The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star will play “a mystery man with amnesia” on the soap opera, Days of Our Lives, in an episode airing this fall on Peacock.
Dick – who was honoured with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2013 – will star opposite three-time Daytime Emmy Award nominee Deidre Hall and his gym pal Drake Hogestyn.
Revealing how he got the part, Dick said: “Drake and I went to the same gym together. I used to kid him, ‘Say don’t you ever have any parts for old people? Come on, give me a part!’ And he took me seriously. He got me a part.”
“I have played old men before, but comedy old men. First time I ever just played my 97-year-old self.” Dick added in a new interview with Access Hollywood.
Back in February, Dick lifted the lid on his secret to staying so young as he nears 100, crediting his wife, Arlene Silver, for his vitality.
In an interview with Yahoo, the legendary star revealed his secret to staying young is: “Having a beautiful young wife half my age to take care of me – that works!”
Dick and Arlene have been married for 11 years after originally meeting in 2006, and the singer admitted she even had a hand in inspiring his Masked Singer performance as she picked out the song When You’re Smiling by Frank Sinatra.
Arlene was working behind the scenes at the 2006 Screen Actors Guild Awards while Dick was centre stage for the event when they first met.
At the time, the actor was 81 and in a long-term relationship with Michelle Triola, while Arlene was just 35, but they quickly became good friends.
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When Michelle tragically died from lung cancer in 2009, Dick and Arlene found their love blossoming out of the loss.
The Mary Poppins actor shared just after his wedding how although he was slightly worried about the reaction they would receive due to the 46-year age gap, he was pleasantly surprised.
He told People in 2012: “My grandkids call her Grandma. My four kids just love her.”
Dick has four children from his previous marriage to Margie Willett, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
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