After the terrible accident in which Dick Van Dyke, 97, crashed his Lexus LS 500 into a gate and split his lips, the “Mary Poppins” star made his first public appearance on Friday.
The actor and performer talked about how he was feeling after the accident that left him with two stitches in an exclusive video.
The Disney legend said,
I’m fine, just sore all over,
on being asked how his recovery was going.
The airbag did not deploy, so I just did a face plant right into the steering wheel and it just made me a little dumber,
Dick Van Dyke added.
The actor, who has won Daytime and Primetime Emmys, added,
I’m 97, all my friends are dead.
The Grammy-winning 100-year-old actor also thanked his wife, Arlene Silver, 51, for taking care of him and said that “without her,” he “probably would be dead.”
The makeup artist married the “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” star in 2012, six years after they first met at the SAG Awards. The couple took a drive through the city, and Silver wore a quilted vest over a red-and-black-striped blouse and a turquoise handbag. The actor from “The Comic” wore camouflage-print pants, a long-sleeved shirt with navy and white stripes, and black sneakers.
Reports say that the “Bye Bye Birdie” star’s car slid in the rain and he lost control of it. Van Dyke had blood in his mouth, nose, and possibly a concussion, so paramedics helped him at the scene. He wasn’t taken to the hospital. Instead, he was picked up by a friend and driven home.
A lucky escape in 2013
Before the Malibu accident, the Hollywood “Walk of Famer,” who was 87 at the time, was in another accident in 2013. On August 19, 2013, the veteran actor’s sports car caught fire on a highway in California. A bystander helped him get out of the burning car. Jason Pennington, the person who helped save Van Dyke, said he saw a smoke-filled Jaguar pull over to the side of Route 101 in Calabasas. It was said that Dick Van Dyke was trying to get out from inside.
As the engine of the car caught fire, Pennington quickly opened the driver’s door with the help of two off-duty nurses and took out the “Mary Poppins” star. After his wife Arlene picked him up at the scene, Van Dyke was said to have gotten better at home without needing medical care. In 2013, Dick Van Dyke made a joke tweet about the accident.
My “rescue” was like the Boy Scout who helped the old lady across the street, who didn’t want to cross the street!!
My "rescue" was like the Boy Scout who helped the old lady across the street, who didn't want to cross the street!!
— Dick Van Dyke (@iammrvandy) August 21, 2013
‘Keep Moving’
I’ve always been an exerciser and still am … I get in the pool and exercise. At my age, they say to keep moving. Put me on solid ground and I’ll start tapping,
Dick Van Dyke said in 2019.
The 100-year-old also said that his “good genes” were the reason he was so fit. He also said that he used to go to the gym three times a week and loves to do water aerobics, lift weights, and walk on a treadmill. He also said that his wife kept him in shape and happy.
I sometimes forget that we’re doing a great experiment here — 46 years’ difference. And we work at it to some extent,
Dick Van Dyke said, before adding,
There’s got to be some understanding. Find out what old habits don’t work anymore. It takes some adjusting and fitting in, but that’s part of the fun of it.
