Richard Wayne Van Dyke born December 13, is an American actor, comedian, singer, and dancer, whose entertainment career has spanned seven decades. Among Van Dyke's high school classmates in Danville were Donald O'Connor and Bobby Short , both of whom would go on to successful careers as entertainers. Only the medium and the message changed. I have still endeavored to touch people's souls, to raise their spirits and put smiles on their faces.
In the latest edition of his memoir Keep Moving , the Mary Poppins legend opened up about the guilt he felt over his extra-marital affair and his "battle" to stay sober. Both Van Dyke and his wife of 24 years Margie Willett suffered from addiction. While he spent time in hospital receiving treatment for alcoholism, she checked into the same hospital for her addiction to prescription drugs. The acting icon explained that he relapsed a few times before arbitrarily losing his "taste" for the hard stuff.
Sign in. His younger brother is entertainer Jerry Van Dyke. Although he'd had small roles beforehand, Van Dyke was launched to stardom in the musical "Bye-Bye Birdie", for which he won a Tony Award, and, then, later in the movie based on that play, Bye Bye Birdie He has starred in a number of films throughout the years including Mary Poppins , Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Fitzwilly , as well as a number of successful television series which won him no less than four Emmys and three made-for-CBS movies.
Registered in Ireland: The actor, 92, has a role in Mary Poppins Returns, the sequel to the first film, which was released in Although he was best known for playing cockney chimney sweep and street artist Bert, he also had another minor role as Mr Dawes Sr, the old director of the bank where Mr Banks worked, for which he sported special make-up to age him.