The key force keeping Dick Van Dyke so vibrant…
Dick Van Dyke is nearly 100, but he actually doesn’t appear it.
Steve Boettcher, the director behind the upcoming documentary “Dick Van Dyke: 100th Celebration,” has revealed that the “Mary Poppins” star’s spouse, Arlene Silver, is the “key force” keeping him “so vibrant” at 99 years outdated.
“I think they just want to play. And I think you saw that probably too when you were at Vandy Camp,” Boettcher told People on Monday. “And I think that’s reflected in the relationship.”
Dick Van Dyke attends the forty third annual Kennedy Center Honors at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2021. Getty Images
Arlene Silver and Van Dyke during the CBS authentic particular “Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic” in 2023. CBS via Getty Images
“And honestly, I think she’s been a key force in keeping him so vibrant and alive today,” he added of the couple’s “magical” relationship. “I really feel that that love affair is amazing.”
Van Dyke is set to flip 100 on Dec. 13.
In preparation for the “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” star’s milestone birthday, Boettcher started interviewing the comic and those closest to him 30 years in the past for the upcoming “100th Celebration” documentary.
Director Steve Boettcher is releasing a new documentary, “Dick Van Dyke: 100 Celebration,” on the “Mary Poppins” star’s a hundredth birthday on Dec. 13, 2025. AP
The director explained that the purpose of the project was to “interview the people that worked with [Van Dyke] and not people that remember watching him all the time.”
Although Boettcher started with the intention to only interview former solid members from “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” he admitted the project shortly started “gaining its own momentum.”
“This is an 80-year career in the making, and I think it’s easy to look at a few shows and say, ‘Wow, those are great,’” he explained to People. “But collectively, what does that all mean? Why is he so extraordinary today? Why do we love him so much?”
Van Dyke attends the 76th Creative Arts Emmys Winner’s Walk at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 7, 2024. Getty Images
Van Dyke and his spouse, Arlene Silver, at the 51st annual Daytime Emmys Awards in Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2024. Getty Images
“There’s some really touching, sweet, fun moments in it,” he added. “And I think we also, we laugh again with him. We kind of hum along to the songs he sings. I think it’s all those things. It’s really a celebration.”
Van Dyke and Silver, 54, first met at the SAG Awards in 2006. They went on to tie the knot in 2012, just a few years after the death of the actor’s longtime accomplice, Michelle Triola, in 2009.
The “Night at the Museum” star and Silver mentioned their 46-year age hole earlier this yr.
Van Dyke and Silver at the premiere of “Mary Poppins Returns” in Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 29, 2018. Penske Media via Getty Images
Van Dyke and his spouse attend Carol Burnett’s Hand and Footprint in the Cement Ceremony in Hollywood, California, June 20, 2024. Getty Images
“We get along so well,” Van Dyke said back in April. “Everybody said it wouldn’t work.”
“We just care about each other so much,” his spouse shortly added at the time. “I mean it’s like eerie how well it works. People the same age don’t last.”
However, the “Bye Bye Birdie” star sparked health considerations a few months later when he dropped out of Vandy Camp – the live fundraising and fan event he and Silver host in Malibu every month – at the last-minute.
Van Dyke during a sketch for his “Van Dyke and Company” selection show in 1976. NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Van Dyke and Silver at the premiere of “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast” in Beverly Hills, California, on May 17, 2017. MovieMagic
“I have to inform you that Dick is not up to coming to celebrate with us today,” Silver told the viewers in June. “I’m sorry.”
“When you’re 99 and a half years old, you have good days and bad days,” she added, “and unfortunately, today is not a good day for him, and he’s sick that he can’t be here.”
As for his upcoming birthday, Van Dyke joked that “it’d be funny” if he didn’t make it to 100 during another Vandy Camp event early last month.
Van Dyke on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Dec. 5, 2024. Disney
Silver and Van Dyke attend the forty third annual Kennedy Center Honors at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2021. Getty Images
“That’s right. I’m not officially a hundred until December,” the previous Broadway star said. “Two months. Two months.”
“It’d be funny if I didn’t make it,” he quipped.
But the comic acquired more severe later on in the event while opening up about how he’s managed to make it as long as he has.
Van Dyke speaks at the nineteenth annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 27, 2013. John Shearer/Invision/AP
“I brag sometimes about how I made it to a hundred and the truth is, if I had known I was going to live this long, I would’ve taken better care of myself,” the Emmy winner shared at the time. “And it is frustrating because I don’t know what I did right.”
“Other than her, I didn’t do anything right,” he added concerning his spouse of 13 years.
We present you with the trending topics. Get the best latest Entertainment news and content on our web site daily.
