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by Jim Longworth

On June 19, 2009, I had the honor of producing and hosting “A Father’s Day Salute to TV Dads” at the Television Academy’s Leonard Goldenson Theatre in Los Angeles.

Aside from the EMMYs and the Television Hall of Fame awards, it was the largest gathering of stars for any Academy event and the highlight of my broadcasting career.

On that special evening, I gathered together nine iconic TV Dads to discuss their life and career. Panelists included Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”), Patrick Duffy (“Dallas”), Michael Gross (“Family Ties”), Stephen Collins (“7th Heaven”), Reggie Vel Johnson (“Family Matters”), the late great Dick Van Patten (“Eight is Enough”), Jon Cryer (“Two and a Half Men”), and my friend Bill Paxton (“Big Love”) who sadly would only see seven more Father’s Days. But the undisputed star of the evening was Dick Van Dyke who played a Dad on two hit series, “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “Diagnosis Murder”, and who I introduced as being 84 years old. “I’m only 83”, he jokingly corrected me. Sixteen years later he would publish his eighth book, “100 Rules for Living to 100”, and this Saturday he will realize the milestone of which he wrote.

Dick was born Richard Wayne Van Dyke on December 13, 1925, in West Plains, Missouri to Hazel, a stenographer, and Loren, who was a traveling salesman. While still in high school, Dick worked part time at a radio station in Danville, Illinois, then left before graduation to enlist in the Air Force. After the war he formed a comedy team called the Merry Mutes, but struggled financially. He served a short stint as host of the CBS morning show in New York before working on the stage and eventually landing a starring role in “Bye Bye Birdie”, for which he won a Tony award. That landed him the same role in the film version as well as a string of successes on television beginning with “The Dick Van Dyke Show” for which he won three EMMYs. He would go on to win three more, the last of which came in 2023 at the age of 97. His role as Bert in 1964’s “Mary Poppins” made Dick an international film star and cemented his reputation as a bankable performer in all genres whose talents remained in constant demand throughout his life. What follows are highlights from my conversation with Dick during our TV Dads event.

Jim: On “The Dick Van Dyke Show” Rob and Laura slept in separate beds. Did they ever fool around?

Dick: Of course. It was implied. We had a kid didn’t we? (laughs)

Jim: How did you learn about the facts of life?

Dick: Well, I didn’t know what puberty was until I was almost past it. But I learned a lot about sex from the Sears and Roebuck catalog.

Jim: I thought that was a hardware magazine.

Dick: Not in those days. Actually, though my wife taught me most of what I know.

Jim: Dick I understand that your Dad’s nickname was “Cookie” because he worked for the Sunshine Biscuit company.

Dick: How’d you know that?

Jim: ’cause I did my homework. Tell me about him.

Dick: He was a traveling salesman, so he was only home on weekends. My association was mainly with my mother because Dad was very distant. But I grew up during the Depression and times were really tough. We were constantly in debt and worried about money. I was 4 years old when the stock market crashed, and I lost everything (audience laughs). But my Dad’s saving grace was that he had a great sense of humor about his condition in life and about himself, and I can remember laughing until I had tears in my eyes. My mother was the same way, and they could both laugh about their poverty. My brother Jerry and I have often talked about it because we didn’t know we were poor. We had a wonderful childhood, I think much better than kids today because we weren’t micromanaged. Our summer vacation was ours and we did what we wanted to. Those were great days.

Jim: I read somewhere that your first acting role was when you were 4 years old and you played the baby Jesus.

Dick: That’s right, and I got laughs (laughter).

Jim: What was your first paid acting job?

Dick: I loved magic as a child and at age twelve I was doing Kiwanis Club luncheons and things like that for $3. So, I liked performing right from the beginning. In high school I was in all the shows, and I never really thought it was a chance to be in show business, I just loved it so much, but I got all the breaks.

Jim: I heard that when filming the pilot for “The Dick Van Dyke Show”, you sweated through six dress shirts because you were uptight.

Dick: Yeah, but not only that. I was doing Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway, and they gave me a week off to film the pilot and I was so nervous, and it meant so much to me that I developed five fever blisters on my mouth and I had to kiss Mary Tyler Moore like that (he cringes).

Jim: When you start any new project do you still get butterflies?

Dick: No, these days I just have a wonderful time. All the nerves stopped years ago because I did a lot of stuff that I had never done before. I auditioned for Bye Bye Birdie for Gower Champion when I couldn’t even sing and dance, so I got up and did a little soft shoe, singing “Once in Love with Amy”, and they gave me the job. And I thought, “Oh great. Now I gotta learn how to sing and dance.” (Laughs).

As we wrapped up our discussion I asked each panelist to name their favorite TV Dad, and Bryan Cranston spoke for everyone, saying, “When I first started to work on ‘Malcolm in the Middle’, I really didn’t know where my character was going, but I knew all I had to do is look to my hero Dick Van Dyke. I adore you. You know that. You have always been my idol and every stitch of comedy that I’ve ever attained has come from you (audience applauds and they shake hands).

“I also owe you a lot of commission money by the way.”

At the end of the event, I summoned co-stars and family members to come up on stage and say a few words about the TV Dads, then I pressed Dick into service to perform with his quartet, Dick Van Dyke and the Vantastix. Not surprisingly they garnered an enthusiastic standing ovation from the capacity crowd.

A few weeks ago, Dick graced the cover of PEOPLE magazine, proclaiming, “I’m having the time of my life !”. I felt the same way being able to work with Dick on that memorable summer evening sixteen years ago. Happy 100th birthday to everyone’s favorite TV Dad.

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