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If age is just a concept, a frame-of-mind, then the iconic Dick Van Dyke (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mary Poppins) might just be a fresh-faced spring chicken with many-a brilliant performance ahead of him if his winning of yet another well-deserved award this past Friday is any real indicator. After all, most of the great performances from an actor can sometimes come on the coattails of a major award-winning moment which Van Dyke has just experienced.
From our ‘you’re only as old as you feel’ crew of pals over at Variety comes the welcome news that Dick Van Dyke has shattered the history-making record books with his win this past Friday at the 2024 Daytime Emmy Awards for his work as a guest performer on the Peacock soap opera Days of Our Lives; hey, it may not be Proust, but we’re sure the one time Robert “Rob” Simpson Petrie equipped himself quite well on that long-running daytime soap, thank you very much!
The win for Van Dyke makes him the oldest thespian to receive this particular honor. Incidentally, he also made the record books for being the oldest living nominee in the 51 year history of the Daytime Emmys.
Making light of this historic achievement, Van Dyke joked with reporters that “I feel like a spy from nighttime television. I’m the oldest nominee in history. I can’t believe it. I was playing old men all my life. If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself!”
According to all who were present while Van Dyke was on-set for his Emmy-winning turn in Days of Our Lives, it was a light and fun shoot, with the Man of the Hour admitting to having such a good time at one point that he began to laugh, thus ruining a shot.
The other nominees up for the particular Emmy Van Dyke won were Linden Ashby for The Young and the Restless, Ashley Jones for The Bold and the Beautiful, Alley Mills (forever stuck in our hearts and minds as Norma Arnold from The Wonder Years) for General Hospital, and Guy Pearce for Neighbours. And though we’re not entirely sure on this, we have a hunch that none of these talented folks had any problem forfeiting their chance at the Emmy statue to a living legend such as Dick Van Dyke.
While accepting the award, Van Dyke modestly said that “I’m 98 years old, can you believe it? This tops a lifetime of 80 years in the business. I love you, God bless.”
God bless you, Dick Van Dyke; here’s to 98 more years of magic and fun!
