Dick Van Dyke has marked a major career milestone at the age of 97, having added a new string to his bow after seven decades in the business.
Van Dyke has become one of the biggest names on the planet thanks to credits spanning film, television and stage.
From 1964 family musical Mary Poppins to huge Broadway productions like Bye Bye Birdie, he’s pretty much done it all – not forgetting his starring role in medical crime drama Diagnosis: Murder, where he played a doctor who somehow manages to find time between saving lives to solve crime.
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Over the years, he’s accumulated a number of awards including a Golden Globe, a Grammy and four Primetime Emmys – in fact, he now just needs to land an Oscar for EGOT status, one of the entertainment industry’s biggest honours.
But despite having more than 70 years of experience in the industry, Van Dyke clearly has no plans to stop.
He’s still looking for ways to reinvent himself, having just ticked off a new career first.
The actor has just filmed his first ever guest-star role on a soap opera, having shot scenes for long-running American series, Days of Our Lives.
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In an episode airing this autumn on Peacock, Van Dyke will play a ‘mystery man with amnesia’, featuring opposite his gym pal, Drake Hogestyn and co-star, Deidre Hall.
Speaking to Access Hollywood, he said: “Drake and I went to the same gym together. I used to kid him, ‘Say don't you ever have any parts for old people? Come on, give me a part!’ And he took me seriously. He got me a part.
“I have played old men before, but comedy old men. First time I ever just played my 97-year-old self.”
Van Dyke went on to explain how he prepared for his soap opera debut, having given himself some simple but important ‘homework’.
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“I started watching [an episode] and some of those people have been doing it for 20 years,” he said.
“That's about all the homework I could do was watch one and see how they did it.
“The other thing, you have to hold [a moment] because there's this thing of music and we've said something exciting.”
Actor Carol Burnett - Van Dyke's long-time friend - also offered up some advice for the gig after guest-starring on All My Children.
The star, who turns 90 next week, told him: "Make sure you know all your lines because they don't do retakes.
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"If anything goes wrong, you're stuck!"
Topics: Celebrity, TV and Film
Jess Hardiman