Dick Van Dyke, 99, skips out on comedy event due to illness
The 99-year-old actor was set to host Vandy Camp at Malibu High School, but never showed. His wife, Arlene Silver, hosted alone instead. She told the crowd she was "not the Van Dyke you're expecting," according to People magazine.
"I have to inform you that Dick is not up to coming to celebrate with us today. I'm sorry."
"When you're 99 and a half years old, you have good days and bad days ... and unfortunately, today is not a good day for him, and he's sick that he can't be here," she continued.
Van Dyke attended the comedy event via a live stream and Silver promised fans the comedian would be at the next Vandy Camp "in person."
Vandy Camp featured multiple performances, games and a Q and A session.
Silver also spoke about Van Dyke's love of the fundraising event, telling the audience it's about more than "just Dick Van Dyke."
"It is a celebration of your childhood, all of our childhoods, the music that's in the fabric of all of us, [and] Dick Van Dyke is a big part of that," she continued.
Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for the actor.
Van Dyke celebrated his 99th birthday in December. The "Dick Van Dyke Show" star opened up about his age while appearing in Coldplay's music video for the song "All My Love."
"I'm acutely aware that I could go any day now, but I don't know why, it doesn't concern me, I'm not afraid of it," Van Dyke said in the video. "I have that feeling, totally against anything intellectual, that I'm going to be alright."
"I think I'm one of those lucky people who got to do for a living what I would have done anyway," he added. "When you think how lucky I am — I got to do what I do, play and act silly."
In September, Van Dyke opened up about how he'd like to be remembered following his Creative Arts Emmy win.
"For laughter," he said while holding his trophy for outstanding variety special for "Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic," per People magazine. "I hope for making people laugh for 75 years."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
13 minutes ago
- CBS News
Colorado Music Festival musician pursues heights of Colorado, Florida
The Colorado Music Festival brings together exceptional musicians from 44 orchestras across the country and around the world. For four weeks, they live and play in Boulder, performing a packed calendar of four concerts each week. Under the baton of Music Director Peter Oundijian, the orchestra plays to a high standard and has become a world-class creative experience. "This is a great orchestra to play with," said Andrew Karr, Assistant Principal and 3rd horn. "It's made up of musicians from around the country, so it's high level. We're on a tight schedule, so we prepare at a really high level, which I enjoy." For Karr, playing in an orchestra is a childhood dream come true. He lives and plays with the Florida Orchestra in Tampa, Florida. In 2000, he auditioned to be a part of the Colorado Music Festival, and he's been coming to Colorado ever since. "When I first arrived in Colorado, I had zero experience with outdoor stuff," he told CBS News Colorado. Then, like most people who spend time in the state, he heard the call of the 14'ers. "I was really taken by the beauty and the challenge," he explained. "Particularly, I was taken by the concept of doing peaks that were on lists. I think there's something about that for a classical musician because we work so methodically in our profession. There was something about having something methodical I could do outside in the mountains that really sort of appealed to me." He's checked off a fair few 14'ers, but he was missing his list when he was back home. "So I started visiting the high point of each county in Florida," Karr said. He travelled across the state meeting landowners and mapping locations. He said he even needed to learn to kayak to reach islands that held that high point. "I decided that my last county in Florida would be the high point of Florida, which is Britton Hall, which is all of 340 feet about sea level," Karr recalled. Florida is finished now, but Karr keeps climbing in Colorado. "For me, the pursuit is as much as the successful completion," Karr said. From Beethoven to Bierstadt, Karr is pursuing new heights every single summer. LINK: Colorado Music Festival Colorado Music Festival runs from July 3 to August 3, 2025, at the Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder, Colorado.
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The unusual meanings behind south east London's weirdest pub names
South east London is home to some of London's pubs with the most unusual names with one named after a famous comedy sketch. Beyond the usual 'King's Head' or 'Red Lion', this corner of the capital boasts waterholes named after soft toys, fireworks factories, old-school beer barrels and even Laurel and Hardy's dog. If you've ever wondered what the stories behind some of south east London's more eccentric pub names like John the Unicorn or The Fox & Firkin are, here's what they mean: John the Unicorn, Peckham The name behind this pub in Peckham has a surprisingly sweet backstory. The pub was named after the soft toy that belonged to the daughter of the original management team and has been a part of the community since 2016. The pub was named after the soft toy that belonged to the daughter of the original management team. (Image: Google) The pub is housed in what was once a decorator's shop just off Peckham High Street and has become a favourite for its laid-back vibes, neon cocktails, craft beers and stone-baked pizzas courtesy of Proper Slices. But despite its whimsical name, the space is sleek and industrial, with exposed beams and DJ nights upstairs — proof that you shouldn't judge a unicorn by its sparkle. The Pyrotechnists Arms, Nunhead Whilst this pub is currently closed as the search for new management continues, this Nunhead pub earned its name due to its links with fireworks. The Pyrotechnists Arms pays tribute to nearby Brocks Fireworks, once one of Britain's oldest and most prestigious firework manufacturers, which was first founded in 1700s and later moved to the Norwood area. The Pyrotechnists Arms pays tribute to nearby Brocks Fireworks. (Image: Google) The pub's name is a rare tribute to the pyrotechnic history of the area — a spark of local industrial heritage hidden in plain sight. The Fox and Firkin, Lewisham Lewisham's The Fox and Firkin has had an animal-related name since it first opened in the 19th century as The Black Bull. The pub was rebranded in the 1980s as part of the Firkin pub chain. (Image: Google) The pub was rebranded in the 1980s as part of the Firkin pub chain and the name links back to the company's longstanding brewing legacy, with the word "firkin" itself an old English for a quarter-barrel of beer. The Jolly Farmer, Lewisham This quintessentially British-sounding pub in Lewisham first opened in 1882, originally as The Jolly Farmers. (Image: Google) This quintessentially British-sounding pub in Lewisham first opened in 1882, originally as The Jolly Farmers, before it underwent a series of changes in the 20th century, being named as Elephant, Hogshead, and Jordan. But eventually it returned to its original name of The Jolly Farmers in the 2000s, before losing the 's' to become The Jolly Farmer more recently, with its timber-heavy décor paying a nod to its rustic-sounding name.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘Fantastic Four: First Steps' review: Ugh, here we go again
movie review FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Running time: 115 minutes. Rated PG-13 (action/violence and some language). In theaters July 25. Calling 'Fantastic Four: First Steps' the best 'Fantastic Four' movie is not exactly a quote I'd advise Disney to slap on the poster. Talk about grading on a curve. The last three pathetic attempts to put the story of Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and the Thing onscreen have made miserable viewers go, 'Global annihilation? Sounds nice.' Not to be deterred, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is dragging the raggedy group out of storage for their 37th movie. That figure is unfortunately not a typo. The result? 'First Steps' marks a slight improvement from the preceding trilogy of terror. But Marvel still can't nail what should be one of its premiere attractions. 'Fantastic Four'? Forgettable, 1 ½. The movie begins, appropriately, with a pep in its step. Dropping the heroes in the retro-futuristic NYC that appears to be a technologically advanced 1960s is the right call by director Matt Shakman and his army of screenwriters. There's 'Jetsons' visual panache that sets the film apart from the other, oy, 36. The team's New York lair could be the TWA Hotel at JFK. Also, gold star for racing through the exposition in a newsreel at the beginning — four years ago some astronauts got neat powers in space, yada yada — to avoid the usual origin story portentousness. However, trembling in fear, 'First Steps' can't resist the comic-book urge to contort the mood ASAP to grave, gloomy and un-fun for most of the runtime. The stakes may be stratospherically high, but our serotonin levels are low, low, low. For the supes, Marvel has recruited some super-serious actors. There's Pedro Pascal, who has probably been frowning so much because he's overworked, as stretchy Reed Richards; Vanessa Kirby, making Medea seem like the life of the party, as vanishing Sue Storm; Joseph Quinn, nervously tip-toeing around genuine comedy, as flaming Johnny Storm; and Ebon Moss-Bachrach with a Zen take on rocky Ben Grimm. They're all fine, if oddly joyless for people wearing powder-blue 'Star Trek' uniforms. I can't say I ever want to see them play these parts again. Good thing they've been cast in at least two more MCU films through 2027. The Four face a couple foes. There's the humongous Galactus, who is essentially Megatron from 'Transformers.' And his shiny cowabunga henchwoman, the Silver Surfer, played by Julia Garner. Whose dumb idea was it to cast Garner, one of the most expressive and electric actors working today, as a slab of metal that speaks in monotone? Fee-fi-ho-hum Galactus is going to gobble up the world. But he offers the Four another option: He'll slow his roll if Reed and Sue hand over their new baby. The doting parents aren't on board with that plan. So, in a scene that lasts — I kid you not — two minutes, they try and fail to teleport the Earth to another part of the universe. In the end, Galactus goes Godzilla and stomps around Manhattan crushing skyscrapers. The Thing, a dude made of rocks, is the closest the movie comes to a fleshed-out person. And only because he cooks pasta and flirts with Natasha Lyonne twice. I'll give 'First Steps' this: It doesn't tie itself in knots making tedious connections to the rest of the MCU. The story is relatively simple, if poorly paced, and the neat aesthetic imagines what an Apple Store would look like during the Kennedy administration. But that's just not enough to prevent Shakman from joining the sorry ranks of filmmakers who couldn't wrap their heads around what the tone of the Fantastic Four should be. Are they funny? Are they grounded? Are they deep? The film is so unbalanced, one wonders if the director and writers donned a blindfold and threw a dart. How dramatic and depressing can a character named Mister Fantastic possibly be? Just you wait. During the climactic battle scene, Galactus torturously stretches Mister Fantastic nearly beyond his limits as Pascal wails an excruciating cry worthy of 'One Life to Live.' I, on the other hand, let out a big laugh. Solve the daily Crossword
