Dick Van Dyke shares his key to staying alive for a century as he turns 100
Hollywood superstar Dick Van Dyke has shared his secret for a long life as he celebrates 100 trips around the sun.
The Mary Poppins icon has just turned 100 today (December 13), and says he hopes to live for much longer.
"100 years is not enough. You want to live more, and I plan to," he insists.
Born on 13 December 1925 in West Plains, Missouri, Van Dyke rose to fame after he starred in Bye Bye Birdie in 1961, winning him a Tony Award, and the 1968 classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
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He credited a love of Laurel and Hardy films for his desire to work in movies, and has had an incredible career ever since.
He's still incredibly spritely and has often shared his secrets for living a long and healthy life, showing absolutely no signs of slowing down.
But his big secret for making it to a century? The gym.
“I’ve got one game leg from, I don’t know what… I still try to dance”, he told Good Morning America, adding that he and his 'health nut' wife Arlene Silver go to the gym several times a week.
“That’s good advice for anybody, of course,” he said.
Silver is 46 years younger than him, and he says his wife 'keeps me young'.
“She gives me energy, she gives me humour and all kinds of support," he praised.
He also had another technique to make the most of his time in the gym, and it's no surprise that he still loves dancing.
Talking on the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast previously, he shared that he dances between weight machines instead of walking.
"Somebody said, 'To what do you attribute your age and physical condition?' I said, 'I’ve always exercised'. Three days a week, we go to the gym still. Three days a week," he explained.
The podcast host, Ted Danson, said he'd seen Van Dyke there: "If I got there [to the gym] early enough, I would see you literally work out on some weight machine and then – almost like you were doing circuit training – you would not walk to the next machine, but dance. You literally danced to the next machine and I watched that for a couple of weeks."
Van Dyke says he likes to end his workout with a swim and a nap, which sounds like a great idea to us.
The star has even written a book, called 100 Rules For Living To 100: An Optimist’s Guide To A Happy Life.
He also swears by his positivity and good humour, telling PEOPLE: "I’ve always thought that anger is one thing that eats up a person’s insides — and hate. And I never really was able to work up a feeling of hate. I think that is one of the chief things that kept me going."
"There were things I didn’t like, people I don't like and disapprove of, but I never really was able to do a white heat kind of hate. My father was constantly upset by the state of things in his life, and it did take him at 73 years old."
"When you expire, you expire. I don’t have any fear of dearth for some reason.
"I can’t explain that but I don’t. I’ve had such a wonderfully full and exciting life. That I can’t complain."
He also confessed to kicking some bad habits, saying he wasn't always as healthy: "I smoked a lot, actually!"
"I think I was probably in my 50s before it dawned on me that I had an addictive personality. If I liked something, I was going to overdo it. So I got rid of booze and cigarettes and all that stuff, which is probably why I'm still here."
Happy birthday, Dick Van Dyke!
Topics: Film, TV and Film, Health, Celebrity
Jen Thomas