More than six decades into his legendary career, Dick Van Dyke just keeps going, and despite being just months away from turning 99 years old, he’s as fit as a fiddle.
The consummate entertainer gave Forbes a rare interview earlier this week and was joined by his wife of 12 years Arlene Silver, 52, a make-up artist who is now his professional partner as much as she is his personal partner.
He spoke not only about his immense love for his profession, but also his growing love for fitness and how strives to keep healthy and in shape well into his 90s.
“It’s getting more important,” he noted. “I’m only about five months from 99, so I find it the legs – I would tell everybody who’s getting old – get your legs together. If you’re going to get around, you’re alright, and that’s what I’m working on.”
Van Dyke credited his longevity in both his life and career to “keeping moving,” crediting a workout routine that emphasized an active lifestyle. “My mother lived within months of 96 – everyone else went in their sixties and seventies.”
“I put a book out years ago called Keep Moving, so I still exercise everyday. We try to go to the gym and do a little bit of light weight training and everything. I believe that’s it – keeping moving.”
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He then took the opportunity to gush over his wife and credited her with keeping him alive. “Oh my god! I don’t think I’d even be here, to tell you that truth,” he said of life without her.
“She keeps me in shape, feeds me and I love her more everyday. We’re just getting closer and closer,” he added, and to Silver, that couldn’t be more true. “He’s really made me a better person,” she said.
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“I was very cynical, I think, when I first met him. He’s such a great human being and he’s so pure in his thoughts and his heart, that it’s rubbed off on me. Just all the wholesome things of life – that’s what he has and he’s just made me a better person.”
Recently, the Mary Popppins star achieved another significant milestone at 98 — he became the oldest nominee for a Daytime Emmy in history thanks to his Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series nod for his portrayal of Mystery Man/Timothy Robicheaux on Days of Our Lives.
He is up against Linden Ashby for The Young and The Restless, Ashley Jones for The Bold and The Beautiful, Alley Mills for General Hospital, and Guy Pearce for Neighbours. The awards will take place on June 7, and Van Dyke could potentially become the oldest Daytime Emmy winner in history.
Van Dyke has a single Daytime Emmy from two nominations, won back in 1984 for Outstanding Performer in Children’s Programming. He does, however, have four Primetime Emmy awards from six nominations, a majority of which were for The Dick Van Dyke Show, with nominations spanning from 1964 to 1990.