Dick Van Dyke appeared at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards over the weekend, joking that he was looking for new work just ahead of his 99th birthday.
The 98-year-old Hollywood legend won an award for outstanding variety special at the event for his 2023 birthday special, “Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic.”
He answered questions from reporters after winning the award, including one about how he hopes to be remembered. “For laughter,” Van Dyke said in reply, per TV Insider. “I hope for making people laugh for 75 years.”
“I’ve been in the business 75 years. I can’t believe that I’m still here and performing,” he added. The “Mary Poppins” star then took a dramatic pause and looked around the room, saying with a smile, “I’m looking for work if anybody has.”
Dick Van Dyke on how he wants to be remembered after winning an Emmy last night at the age of 98.
“For laughter. For making people laugh for 75 years, I’ve been in the business for 75 years, I can’t believe it that I’m still here & performing! I’m looking for work if anyone’s… pic.twitter.com/tO8RlOVsV8
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 8, 2024
Later, Van Dyke was asked to give advice to the up-and-comers. “You have to stick with it,” he said. “You’re gonna go through hard times and a lot of auditions … but you have to stay with it. Be patient if you’ve got the confidence in yourself, and it’s very important to believe that you can do it.”
During his speech, Van Dyke thanked the crowd and had a special word of thanks for his wife and producer of the birthday special, Arlene Silver. “Thank you! That reception, I cannot tell you what it means,” he said.
“The young lady who got this award, you may think of the word nepotism and I would understand it, but this lady got the job all by herself as producer of the Dick Van Dyke special because she knows me inside and out, and knows how I work, and don’t take no sass from anybody,” Van Dyke went on.
Van Dyke won multiple accolades over the course of his decades-long career including several Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award. He’s best known for classic television and films including “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” “Dick Tracy,” “Night at the Museum,” and many more.
“I’m the oldest nominee in history. I can’t believe it,” he told the Daytime Emmys crowd in June, per Variety. “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!”
