Latest news with #Vantastix
Los Angeles Times
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Dick Van Dyke, 99, has to skip fan event due to illness: ‘Today is not a good day for him'
Dick Van Dyke was reportedly under the weather Saturday and couldn't host his recurring Vandy Camp fan event with his wife at the couple's namesake theater at Malibu High School. Introducing herself as 'not the Van Dyke you were expecting,' Arlene Silver explained, via People, that 'when you're 99½ years old, you have good days and bad days ... and unfortunately, today is not a good day for him.' Van Dyke and makeup artist Silver, who married in 2012 when he was 86 and she was 40, usually helm the celebrations together, along with their musical group the Vantastix. Silver told the audience that she had to wear her 'big girl pants and hold the reins without Dick here as the safety net.' Fans were disappointed but undaunted as the show — described by Silver as a 'whimsical, vintage circus' — did go on. 'All of the people at the event were so kind and amazing. Many had flown in from around the world and country. I did fly in from the Bay Area,' one fan, Christy Vaca, wrote on Saturday night on Facebook. 'It turned into everyone sending amazing messages to Dick Van [Dyke] who was watching at home. He means so much to us all. 'It was really Heartbreaking.' Last time we checked in with the 'Mary Poppins' star, he was being rescued by neighbors during the Franklin fire, which started in Malibu in early December 2024 and burned for nine days. 'I'm out there laying on the ground trying to undo this fire hose, and the fire's coming over the hill,' Van Dyke said a few days after the fire started. 'What I did was exhaust myself. I forgot how old I am, and I realized I was crawling to get out.' Neighbors managed to get the beloved entertainer, wife Silver and a number of their pets into a vehicle and out of danger, he said. Cat Bobo was missing, but he turned up when they returned home the next day. Thousands of people had to evacuate. The neighbors 'carried me out,' he said, 'and came back and put out a little fire in the guesthouse and saved me.' Van Dyke's home was spared. Twenty structures were destroyed and 28 were damaged in the fire, according to Cal Fire. The Van Dykes did not evacuate a month later during the tremendously destructive Palisades fire, Silver said on social media in January. 'Keeping Dick warm and entertained has been the two things that have been my top priority, so, you know, we don't have power […] or regular electricity, so we don't have Wi-Fi,' she said, via Page Six. At the time of her Instagram live, they were cooking and charging their devices courtesy of her small camper-trailer. 'I don't know of any other person of, you know, senior citizen age that would put up with this,' she added, calling her husband a 'trouper.'
News.com.au
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Last-minute cancellation sparks health concerns for 99-year-old icon Dick Van Dyke
Even legends need a sick day. Dick Van Dyke, 99, had to skip a comedy event this weekend after coming down with an unspecified illness. The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star was scheduled to host his musical fundraising event, Vandy Camp, on Saturday, June 28, but cancelled his appearance at the last minute, according to People. His wife, Arlene Silver, announced the news at the Arlene & Dick Van Dyke Theater at Malibu High School. She explained that Van Dyke was not having a 'good day.' 'I have to inform you that Dick is not up to coming to celebrate with us today. I'm sorry,' Silver, 53, told the audience after introducing herself as 'not the Van Dyke you're expecting.' '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 added. Van Dyke ended up attending the show via livestream, and Silver said that she was 'pretty confident' he would be at the next Vandy Camp event 'in person.' Elsewhere during the event, Silver emphasised her husband's passion for the musical fundraiser and explained that Vandy Camp is 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,' she said. 'Dick Van Dyke is a big part of that.' Silver also gushed about Van Dyke and their musical group, the a cappella quartet the Vantastix, for providing her with 'so much confidence to be able to stand up here right now.' 'I would never be able to do this maybe, like, a year ago, but I've had so many experiences pushing myself out of my comfort zone, and right now I'm out of my comfort zone,' she said. 'But I have to wear my big girl pants and hold the reins without Dick here as the safety net that he's always here with me,' Silver added. Van Dyke and Silver, a makeup artist, first met at the SAG Awards in 2006 and married in 2012. They discussed their surprising 46-year age gap back in April. The Dick Van Dyke Show legend has insisted that he has no plans of slowing down even despite turning 100 later this year. 'I'm a ham. I love it. I get a jolt of energy from an audience,' he said during another Vandy Camp event in April. But living so long also has its downsides. 'I've lost a lot of friends,' Van Dyke lamented earlier this year while discussing the 2021 death of his late friend Ed Asner. 'He's outlived everybody,' Silver added at the time. 'That's the curse of living to almost 100.' Still, the entertainment legend isn't complaining. 'Well, life's been good to me,' Van Dyke acknowledged. 'I can't complain.'
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Dick Van Dyke, 99, reveals what the 'curse' of living to almost 100 is
Dick Van Dyke has opened up about the reality of living to be a nonagenarian. The 99-year-old legendary filmmaker — who recently remarked on his 46-year age gap with wife Arlene Van Dyke — reflected on his long life during a Q&A at their Dick & Arlene Van Dyke Present Vandy Camp event. During the conversation, Dick revealed he and his late friend Ed Asner had planned to do a remake of The Odd Couple before his death at age 91 in August 2021. 'That would've been such fun, and we lost it. I've lost a lot of friends,' the actor noted, according to an account from People. His 53-year-old wife added, 'He's outlived everybody. That's the curse of living to almost 100.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. When asked by his significant other what the secret to remaining positive is despite his losses, he answered, 'Well, life's been good to me. I can't complain.' Dick, who turns 100 in December, said he continues to perform at his age because it energizes him. 'I'm a ham. I love it. I get a jolt of energy from an audience,' the star told People at the Malibu, California gathering. While there, he performed live with his musical group, the barbershop quartet The Vantastix. He also highlighted his role as Albert Peterson in Broadway's Bye Bye Birdie from April 1960 to October 1961. '[It's] the one that got me off the ground,' Van Dyke explained. 'It was the biggest thrill. And I got a Tony [Award] later.' He went on to reprise the role in the 1963 movie adaptation while simultaneously starring in his self-titled sitcom. On The Dick Van Dyke Show, the Hollywood hot commodity played played a comedy writer named Rob Petrie for five years. The success of the show led to him being cast in dual roles — chimney sweeper Bert and bank chairman Mr. Dawes Sr. — for 1964's Mary Poppins starring Julie Andrews. He reflected about working with Andrews, now 89, 'I'm not a real singer, so I tend to be under, fighting to get up there and sing on top of the note. Just took me forever in the recording. '[Andrews] was just patient as could be and kept helping me, saying, "Think high. Think up there."'
