Dick Van Dyke reveals to his fans the secrets of his good health at 98 years old.
The Emmy Award winner, known for his roles in “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” and “Mary Poppins,” is still going strong in the gym. But he hasn’t always lived this way. “If I had known I would have lived this long, I would have taken better care of myself,” he told CBS News in 2023.
Now that he’s lived nearly 10 decades, including a legendary career that has earned him the respect of generations, here’s what the actor has shared about how he manages his health.
He sweats regularly
At 98, Van Dyke has an impressive gym routine. “My wife, God bless her, makes sure I go to the gym three days a week and get a full workout,” the actor told CBS News, referring to his wife Arlene Silver.
He called the gym his “secret weapon” in an exclusive with Entertainment Tonight.
But he didn’t start taking care of his physique recently. In addition to a career devoted to dance, Van Dyke revealed in 1974 that he also does yoga on The Dick Cavett Show. “I do it in the morning when I get up,” he said at the time. He called the activity relaxing and exhausting, especially the abs. “It’s a great exercise, but it’s tiring. It’s hard.”
He has had problems with alcohol before
Van Dyke publicly revealed that he suffered from alcoholism and checked into a hospital for three weeks to treat his addiction in 1972. After that, he worked to change the stigma around the disease.
“It’s a physical disease,” Van Dyke said on The Dick Cavett Show in 1974. “It has nothing to do with the person not being mature enough not to drink too much. It’s a real addiction, like heroin addiction.”
While he barely drank in his 20s, as party invitations increased in his 30s, he found himself drinking more and eventually realized he had a problem, he added.
In 2016, he told Oprah Winfrey that alcohol was his lifeline in social situations. “I was very shy — around strangers — I couldn’t talk to people,” the then 90-year-old said. “And I found that having a drink relaxed me. The barriers came down and I became very outgoing. That’s what got me started.”
A friend once warned him about his drinking habits, but Van Dyke ignored his advice, he told Dick Cavett. Van Dyke estimates that he drank heavily for seven years. So by the time he realized he needed help, he was already in too deep and had to work on his recovery for many years.
Dick Van Dyke puts an end to the expression “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
Van Dyke said he spent a long time trying to pinpoint the exact moment his drinking habits changed, but couldn’t. “At what point did I go from drinking with my friends at a party or something to starting drinking way before they did?” he wondered.
Now that he’s sober, he doesn’t miss it anymore. “I love life without alcohol too much. Now that I’m completely free of alcohol, I don’t want to drink anymore.”
He quit smoking
After seeking help for his alcoholism, Van Dyke also tackled his smoking habit. “Trying to quit smoking was twice as hard,” Van Dyke said on the Really No Really podcast in 2023.
“It was way worse than alcohol,” he added, explaining that it took him “forever” to quit. “I still chew nicotine gum. I think it’s been 15 years.”
He suffered from mysterious headaches
In 2013, Van Dyke was forced to cancel his public appearances due to health reasons.
Last April, the performer was set to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for Bettering Humanity through Comedy from New York’s 92Y, but he had to cancel his appearance. His representatives said he was suffering from “fatigue and lack of sleep resulting from symptoms of a previously undiagnosed neurological disorder,” according to Entertainment Tonight.
That same month, the star took to X to share additional details and ask for advice: “My head bangs every time I lay down. All tests have shown that I am perfectly healthy. Does anyone have any ideas?”
The following month, he shared an update revealing that he suspects his dental work is the cause, as TODAY.com previously reported. “It appears my titanium dental implants are causing my headaches,” he wrote on X. “Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks for all the replies.”
He does a job that he always looks forward to
Aside from taking care of his health and making necessary changes in his life, it seems the key to Van Dyke’s longevity is contentment. “If I’m not having fun, I’m really bad. I am,” Van Dyke joked to CBS News.
“It’s such a blessing to find a way to make a living that you love, and that you would do for nothing. I feel so sorry for people who hate their jobs. I look forward to going to work every morning,” he said.
Van Dyke’s legendary career still brings him as much joy as it did when he first started on stage. He says it’s because he never wasted a moment doing something he didn’t like. “Take care of your life first and have the courage to try something,” he advised.
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