1947–1959: Early work and Broadway debut During the late 1940s, Van Dyke was a
radio DJ on
WDAN in
Danville, Illinois. In 1947, Van Dyke was persuaded by
pantomime performer Phil Erickson to form a comedy duo called "Eric and Van—the Merry Mutes." The team toured the
West Coast nightclub circuit, performing a mime act and
lip synching to
78 rpm records. They moved to
Atlanta, Georgia, in the early 1950s and performed on a local television show featuring original skits and music called "The Merry Mutes". Van Dyke's start in television was with
WDSU-TV New Orleans Channel 6 (
NBC), first as a single comedian and later as
emcee of a comedy program. Van Dyke's first network TV appearance was with
Dennis James on James'
Chance of a Lifetime in 1954. He later appeared in two episodes of
The Phil Silvers Show during its 1957–58 season. He also appeared early in his career on
ABC's
The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom and
NBC's
The Polly Bergen Show. During this time a friend from the Army was working as an executive for CBS television and recommended Van Dyke to that network. Out of this came a seven-year contract with the network.
1960–1968: Career stardom Bye Bye Birdie (1960–1963) He played the lead role of Albert Peterson in
Bye Bye Birdie, which ran from April 14, 1960, to October 7, 1961. Van Dyke starred alongside
Chita Rivera, Barbara Doherty, and
Paul Lynde. The production received mixed reviews from critics, such as from
Brooks Atkinson of
The New York Times, who praised Van Dyke as "likable" but opined, "As a production it's neither fish fowl nor good musical comedy. It needs work." Despite this, the musical won four Tony awards, including for Van Dyke, who won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1961. Van Dyke began his film career by playing the role of Albert J. Peterson in the film version of
Bye Bye Birdie (1963). Despite his unhappiness with the adaptation—its focus differed from the stage version in that the story now centered on a previously supporting character—the film was a success. The film starred
Ann-Margret,
Janet Leigh, and
Maureen Stapleton with Van Dyke and Lynde reprising their roles.
Variety wrote of Van Dyke's performance, "Van Dyke displays a showbiz knowhow far more extensive than his television outings communicate".
The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–1966) From 1961 to 1966, Van Dyke starred in the CBS sitcom
The Dick Van Dyke Show, in which he portrayed a comedy writer named
Rob Petrie. Carl Reiner conceived the program and cast himself as the lead in the pilot, but CBS insisted on recasting, and Reiner chose Van Dyke to replace him in the role.
The Dick Van Dyke Show received positive reviews from its start, with
The Hollywood Reporter praising Van Dyke's comedic performance writing, "Sure to catch on as a new personality is Dick Van Dyke who, though he can play it straight when need be, proves a master of the double take, juicing up to solid laughs what would possibly be just amusing lines with his physical reactions. Yet, he doesn't over-mug. In this one, his "drunk husband" bit was a masterpiece of timing and ingenuity." Ken Tucker of
Entertainment Weekly reviewed the series following its
Blu-ray boxset release in 2012 writing, "The Dick Van Dyke Show certainly wasn't the first sitcom featuring a lead character who presided over a TV-show-within-the-TV-show —
Jack Benny's
The Jack Benny Program, among others, had beaten Van Dyke to that. But this was the first sitcom to meld the workplace sitcom with the domestic sitcom so seamlessly. The episodes themselves move with the same smoothness and grace that Van Dyke and Moore did, whether the Petries were clowning, dancing, or romancing". The series had a reunion in 2004 and was aired on
CBS as
The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited with
Ray Romano serving as host and Van Dyke,
Mary Tyler Moore,
Rose Marie, Jerry Van Dyke and
Carl Reiner returning.
Morey Amsterdam and
Richard Deacon appeared in archival footage, both having died.
Mary Poppins (1964) '', 1964 In 1964, Van Dyke was cast in two roles in
Walt Disney's
Mary Poppins: as Bert, a man who goes through multiple odd jobs, ultimately and memorably becoming a
chimney sweep; and as bank chairman Mr. Dawes Senior. For his scenes as the chairman, he was heavily costumed to look much older and was credited in that role as "Navckid Keyd". At the end of the credits, the letters
unscramble into "Dick Van Dyke", which was repeated in
Mary Poppins Returns. Van Dyke's attempt at a
cockney accent has been lambasted as one of the worst accents in film history, cited by actors since as an example of how not to sound. In a 2003 poll by
Empire magazine of the worst-ever accents in film, he came in second (to
Sean Connery in
The Untouchables, despite Connery winning an
Academy Award for that performance). According to Van Dyke, his accent coach—veteran actor
J. Pat O'Malley—was Irish and "didn't do an accent any better than I did", and no one alerted him to how bad it was during the production. Still,
Mary Poppins was successful on release and its appeal has endured. "
Chim Chim Cher-ee", one of the songs that Van Dyke performed in
Mary Poppins, won the
Academy Award for Best Original Song for the
Sherman Brothers, the film's songwriting duo. Van Dyke received a Grammy Award in 1964, along with
Julie Andrews, for his performance on the soundtrack to
Mary Poppins. Many of the comedy films Van Dyke starred in throughout the 1960s were relatively unsuccessful at the box office, including
What a Way to Go! with
Shirley MacLaine,
Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N.,
Fitzwilly,
The Art of Love with
James Garner and
Elke Sommer,
Some Kind of a Nut,
Never a Dull Moment with
Edward G. Robinson, and
Divorce American Style with
Debbie Reynolds and
Jean Simmons. But he also starred as
Caractacus Potts (with his native accent, at his own insistence, despite the English setting) in the successful musical version of
Ian Fleming's
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), which co-starred
Sally Ann Howes and featured the same songwriters (the Sherman Brothers) and choreographers (
Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood) as
Mary Poppins.
1969–1992: Established star from the premiere of
The Dick Van Dyke Show, 1961 In 1968, it was reported that
Albert R. Broccoli had offered Van Dyke the chance to replace
Sean Connery as
James Bond. Van Dyke declined the offer, asking Broccoli: "Have you heard my British accent?". In 1969, Van Dyke appeared in the comedy-drama
The Comic, written and directed by Carl Reiner. Van Dyke portrayed a self-destructive
silent film era comedian who struggles with
alcoholism,
depression, and his own rampant ego. Reiner wrote the film especially for Van Dyke, who often spoke of his admiration for silent film era comedians such as
Charlie Chaplin and his hero
Stan Laurel. Also in 1969, Van Dyke played Rev. Clayton Brooks, a small-town minister who leads his Iowa town to quit smoking for 30 days to win $25 million (equal to $ today) from a tobacco company. The film,
Cold Turkey, was not released until 1971. In 1970, he published ''Faith, Hope and Hilarity: A Child's Eye View of Religion'' a book of humorous anecdotes based largely on his experiences as a
Sunday School teacher. Van Dyke was principal in "KXIV Inc." and owned 1400 AM
KXIV in Phoenix from 1965 to 1982. From 1971 to 1974, Van Dyke starred in an unrelated sitcom called
The New Dick Van Dyke Show in which he portrayed a local television talk show host. Although the series was developed by Carl Reiner and starred
Hope Lange as his wife, and he received a
Golden Globe nomination for his performance, the show was less successful than its predecessor, and Van Dyke pulled the plug on the show after just three seasons. ,
Carol Burnett and Van Dyke, 1977 In 1973, Van Dyke voiced his animated likeness for the October 27, 1973, installment of
Hanna-Barbera's
The New Scooby-Doo Movies, "Scooby-Doo Meets Dick Van Dyke", the series' final first-run episode. In 1974, he received an Emmy Award nomination for his role as an alcoholic businessman in the television movie
The Morning After (1974). Van Dyke revealed after its release that he had recently overcome a real-life
drinking problem; he admitted he had been an alcoholic for 25 years. That same year he guest-starred as a murderous photographer on an episode of
Columbo,
Negative Reaction. Van Dyke returned to comedy in 1976 with the
sketch comedy show
Van Dyke and Company, on which
Andy Kaufman made his prime time debut. Despite being canceled after three months, the show won an
Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy-Variety Series. After a few guest appearances on the long-running comedy-variety series
The Carol Burnett Show, Van Dyke became a regular on the show, in the fall of 1977. However, he appeared in only half of the episodes of the final season. In 1980, Van Dyke appeared in the title role in a United States tour and
Broadway revival of
The Music Man. For the next decade he appeared mostly in TV movies, including a made-for-cable remake of
The Country Girl (1982) with
Faye Dunaway. One atypical role was as a murdering judge on the second episode of the TV series
Matlock in 1986 starring
Andy Griffith. In 1987, he guest-starred in an episode of
Airwolf, with his son
Barry Van Dyke, who was the lead star of the show's fourth and final season on
USA Network. In 1989, he guest-starred on the NBC comedy series
The Golden Girls portraying a lover of
Beatrice Arthur's character. This role earned him his first Emmy Award nomination since 1977. On
Larry King Live, Van Dyke mentioned that he turned down the lead role in
The Omen which was played by Gregory Peck. He also mentioned that his dream role would have been the
Scarecrow in
The Wizard of Oz. Twenty-one years later in 1990, Van Dyke, whose usual role had been the amiable hero, took a small but villainous turn as crooked DA Fletcher in
Warren Beatty's film
Dick Tracy.
1993–2001: Diagnosis Murder Van Dyke's film work affected his TV career: the reviews he received for his role as DA Fletcher in
Dick Tracy led him to star as the character
Dr. Mark Sloan first in an episode of
Jake and the Fatman, then in a series of TV movies on CBS that became the foundation for his popular television drama
Diagnosis: Murder. The series ran from 1993 to 2001 with son
Barry Van Dyke co-starring in the role of Dr. Sloan's son
Lieutenant Detective Steve Sloan. Also starring on the same show was daytime soap actress
Victoria Rowell as Dr. Sloan's pathologist/medical partner,
Dr. Amanda Bentley, and
Charlie Schlatter in the role of Dr. Sloan's student,
Dr. Jesse Travis. Van Dyke became a
computer animation enthusiast after purchasing an
Amiga in 1991. He is credited with the creation of 3D-rendered effects used on the
Diagnosis: Murder episode “Down and Dirty Dead” and
The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited. Van Dyke has displayed his
computer-generated imagery work at
SIGGRAPH, and continues to work with
LightWave 3D. As an
a cappella enthusiast, Van Dyke has sung in a group called "
Dick Van Dyke and The Vantastix" since September 2000. The
quartet has performed several times in Los Angeles as well as on
Larry King Live, The First Annual
TV Land Awards, and sang the
national anthem at three
Los Angeles Lakers games including a nationally televised
NBA Finals performance on NBC. Van Dyke was made an honorary member of the
Barbershop Harmony Society in 1999.
2002–2025: Later career and television resurgence with Van Dyke, 2010 Van Dyke continued to find television work after
Diagnosis: Murder, including a dramatically and critically successful performance of
The Gin Game, produced for television in 2003 that reunited him with
Mary Tyler Moore. In 2003, he portrayed Doctor Doug Townshend on
Scrubs. A 2004 special of
The Dick Van Dyke Show titled
The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited was heavily promoted as the first new episode of the classic series to be shown in 38 years. Van Dyke and his surviving cast members recreated their roles; although nominated for a Primetime Emmy, the program was roundly panned by critics. In 2006 Van Dyke starred as college professor Dr. Jonathan Maxwell for a series of
Murder 101 mystery films on the
Hallmark Channel, once again with son Barry as his co-star. Van Dyke returned to motion pictures in 2006 with
Curious George as Mr. Bloomsberry and villain Cecil Fredericks in the
Ben Stiller film
Night at the Museum. He reprised the role in a cameo for the sequel,
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), but it was cut from the film. It can be found in the special features on the DVD release. He also played the character again in the third film,
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014). In 2010, Van Dyke appeared on a children's album titled
Rhythm Train, with
Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer
Chad Smith and singer Leslie Bixler. Van Dyke
raps on one of the album's tracks. In 2017, Van Dyke released his first solo album since 1963's
Songs I Like. The album,
Step (Back) In Time, was produced by Bill Bixler (who also played sax), with arrangements by Dave Enos (who also played bass) and features noted musicians John Ferraro (drums),
Tony Guerrero (trumpet & vocal duet), Mark LeBrun (piano), Charley Pollard (trombone) and Leslie Bixler (vocals).
Step (Back) In Time was released by BixMix Records and showcases Van Dyke in a jazz and big band setting on classic songs from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Van Dyke recorded a duet single for Christmas 2017 with actress
Jane Lynch. The song, "We're Going Caroling", was written and produced by
Tony Guerrero for Lynch's KitschTone Records label as a digital-only release. In 2018, Van Dyke portrayed Mr. Dawes Jr. in
Mary Poppins Returns. He had previously portrayed both Bert and Mr. Dawes Sr. (Mr. Dawes, Jr.'s late father), in the original film. For the
Marvel Cinematic Universe television series,
WandaVision, Van Dyke was consulted by the producers on how to emulate
The Dick Van Dyke Show. In 2023, Van Dyke competed in
season nine of
The Masked Singer as "Gnome" and was the first to be eliminated. The episode had been promoted as "the most legendary, decorated and beloved unmasking in history". After Van Dyke revealed his identity, he received a lengthy standing ovation from the audience and judges. Before departing the stage, Van Dyke sang as an encore of his part in the song "
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from
Mary Poppins, in which he starred. At age 97, Van Dyke became the oldest person ever to compete on the series. In April of the same year, it was announced Van Dyke would guest-appear on
Days of Our Lives for several episodes. On December 21, 2023, he was honored with a CBS special,
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic, celebrating his 98th birthday. On December 13, 2024 (in celebration of his 99th birthday), Van Dyke starred in the music video for the
Coldplay song "
All My Love". He produced the video with his wife, actress Arlene Silver.
2025–present: Centenarity and later In December 2025, two documentaries about Van Dyke were released in honor of his 100th birthday:
Starring Dick Van Dyke, which aired as part of the
American Masters series on
PBS on December 12, 2025, and
Dick Van Dyke: 100th Celebration, which was released in theaters from December 13 to 14, 2025. ==Influences==