Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, comedian, singer, dancer, writer, and producer.
Longevity in my family's been pretty good. And my grandparents were pretty spry at their age, so I figured I'd probably stay skinny and fairly agile. I used to do old men all the time in sketches. And there used to be an organization called the Gray Panthers. And they would send me, oh, terrible letters about making fun of old people. And I would just always say, "I'm playing the old person I intend to become!"
I was the worst game show host that ever lived, and I knew it.
I was lucky to get the kinds of parts I wanted. I always said I didn't want to do anything my kids can't see.
I think, the 'Van Dyke Show' and 'Mary Poppins' are two of the best periods of my life. I had so much fun, I didn't want it to end.
I never had a lot of drive, but because I had family responsibilities, I had a lot of tenacity - the tenacity of a drowning man.
Some people never change their mind through their whole lives, about anything, despite new information that comes in. And now that we know that homosexuality is not a choice, it's biological, I think we have to love and understand them.
I sing and dance. That's my job.
I turned down some movies that were quite good. mainly on the basis of taste.
But once we got on the air, everybody except Morey Amsterdam pretty much stuck to the script.
Oh, well, my first love is comedy or singing and dancing.
So as my kids will tell you, they had a pretty normal life.
Put me on solid ground and I'll start tapping! At my age they say to keep moving.
I taught Sunday school when I was younger, and ended up an elder in the church, and it just seemed to me that a lot of people who went to church certainly weren't - the rest of the week - living what I would call an Christian life.
I wasn't a falling-in-the-gutter type. I drank at home because it relaxed me. I was shy around new people, but after a drink or two, I became more sociable.
[My mother] once cooked a ham and later found it in my father's shirt drawer. I am not kidding.
My son Barry, of course, has been on from the beginning. And his son Shane is playing now a med student regularly on the show. And at one point or another, I've had all four of his kids on the show.
I'm really in retirement. My career is over. I'm just playing now and having a great time. I like to keep busy, and I'm doing what's fun for me.
I just think everyone needs their own private space.
If you spend your life thinking, "I wonder if today is when it ends," you're going to miss out on everything wonderful.
I have four kids, seven grandkids, and four great-grandkids. Maybe I can become a great-great-grandfather if I hang on!