98-Year-Old Dick Van Dyke Opens Up On Staying Young: 'I'm Still Dancing!' He Says

Jun 28, 2021 by apost team

American actor Dick Van Dyke is a broadway a star and TV personality. Probably most famous for his sitcom, "The Dick Van Dyke Show," Van Dyke has received Primetime Emmys, a Tony, and a Grammy Award. The actor has become a household name through his roles in motion picture musicals such as "Bye Bye Birdie," "Mary Poppins," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," and "The Comic." In terms of TV shows and sitcoms other than his own, Van Dyke has made noteworthy guest appearances on shows such as "Columbo," "The Carol Burnett Show," "Diagnosis: Murder," and "Murder 101." As a cumulative award for all of his achievements, Van Dyke was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995.

In 2015, Van Dyke ventured out from the stage and into book writing. In that year, he published "Keep Moving," an autobiography that explains how Van Dyke has lived his life in a way that means life gets better the older he gets. The book highlights Dyke's humor, optimism, and tips for living well longer, even in his ninth decade of life. With anecdotes and a plethora of aging topics, including how to go through social changes, Dyke has convinced readers that the key to aging successfully is to just "keep moving."

Born on December 12, 1925, Van Dyke is now 98 years old, and in an interview with NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro from 2015, the now-98-year-old star talked about his book as well as his top tips for staying young, youthful, and moving. Read on to learn more about Van Dyke's aging secrets and how dancing keeps the 98-year-old happy and healthy in life. 

According to NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, while interviewing Dick Van Dyke, the tips in his book "just flowed out of him." When it comes to staying young, Van Dyke stuck to his motto of "keep moving," as he said:

"Keep moving is the main thing. I think I reiterate three or four times in the book, "do not start going down the stairs sideways." It feels good on your knees but it throws the hips out and the back starts to go out, the next thing you know, you've fallen down and broken your hip. So even if it hurts a little, go down the stairs front-ways."

Van Dyke then went on to discuss how he's an optimist, and this affects how he starts his day every day:

"It's more in my nature to be optimistic, I think. I'm one of those people who gets up on the right side of the bed in the morning. I get up and have a cup of coffee and go to the gym before I talk myself out of it because I will as anybody will."

Van Dyke also noted that despite his old age, he still loves to dance. This comes as no surprise, given his Broadway background. In particular, Van Dyke fancies tap dancing to this day:

"Oh yeah they caught me tap dancing out here in the lobby here – nice marble floor. Everyone should dance. And everyone should sing. People say, "Well, I can't sing." Everybody can sing. That you do it badly is no reason not to sing."

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Van Dyke then mentioned his wife, Arlene Silver. He said that she loves to dance:

"I have a beautiful, young wife who sings and dances, so there's a lot of duetting going on at my house."

Van Dyke and Silver have been married since 2012, and they have a 46-year age gap between them. However, this doesn't affect their marriage. Van Dyke said:

"I sometimes forget that we're doing a great experiment here — 46 years difference. And we work at it to some extent, 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."

Despite Van Dyke's generally sunny outlook, he did admit that there are some downsides to aging. He said the hardest parts of getting old are:

"Giving up the things that you enjoy doing. I can't handle the tennis court anymore. I can still run and dance and sing."

Van Dyke said he frequently also asks others to share their experiences on aging:

"You know, I made a habit of asking other people in their old age: of all the things you enjoyed doing when you were younger that you can't anymore, what do you miss? And some people mention golf or tennis. One woman said "I miss having lunch with the girls." But the people who said I wish I had made smarter business decisions, I think they're missing the point."

However, to conclude his interview, Van Dyke left it on a positive note as he said:

"The point is to enjoy. You have to pick what you enjoy doing, what fulfills you, what interests you."

Which aging tip from Dick Van Dyke is your favorite? Will you start moving more often? Let us know your thoughts, and be sure to pass this on to your loved ones!