2 l June
6 - 12, 2021
Northeast Oregon TV Weekly
BY JAY BOBBIN
The Kennedy Center Honors
celebrate Dick Van Dyke and others
The Kennedy Center Honors still can be surprising, in
that some legends of the performing arts haven’t gotten
them sooner.
A prime example: Dick Van Dyke, one of the most
beloved stars in television history. He’s in this year’s Honors
“class” as CBS broadcasts the 43rd annual ceremony
Sunday, June 6, reconfigured for the coronavirus-pandemic
age with segments taped in and around the Center in
Washington, D.C. The latest Honors also celebrate actress-
director-choreographer Debbie Allen, singer-songwriter
and activist Joan Baez, country-music superstar Garth
Brooks and violinist Midori. Past Honors recipient Gloria
Estefan is the host.
A winner of five Primetime Emmy Awards plus a Tony
(for “Bye Bye Birdie”) and a Grammy, the ever-friendly
Van Dyke muses that being notified of his Kennedy
Center Honor “completely escaped my comprehension.
It’s just beyond my expectations. I had no idea this was
coming.”
While he’s gratified to receive the Kennedy Center
Honors, the 95-year-old Van Dyke reflects, “I just took
jobs as they came. I went from vaudeville to radio to
nightclubs to television. I’ve had it all ... and how lucky
can you get? I’ve been trying to piece together the events of
the past 70 years and how I got here!”
Here, Van Dyke reflects on some highlights of his career.
Dick Van Dyke
“Bye Bye Birdie” (1960-61 on stage, 1963 on film): “We
were doing previews in Philadelphia, and the writers came
down with a new song – and it was ‘Put On a Happy
Face.’ And Chita (co-star Rivera) said, ‘You know, Dick
doesn’t have anything to do in the first act. Why don’t you
give it to him?’ And my life changed, right there. What a
gal.”
“The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1961-66): “It was very
carefully crafted, because of the way Carl (creator-producer
Reiner) wrote. He made us all believable, and the cast
was just dynamite from the very beginning. Mary (Tyler
Moore) had never done comedy, and she picked it up so
fast.”
“Mary Poppins” (1964): “Out of Carl’s hands, I fell into
Walt Disney’s hands, and that was just lovely. That movie
is going to be around for a long time.”
“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” (1968): “As we were
finishing up that picture, Sean Connery was leaving the
James Bond series – and (‘Chitty’ and Bond producer)
Cubby Broccoli came to me and said, ‘Do you want
to play Bond?’ And I said, ‘Have you heard my British
accent?’ And that was the end of that!”
“Diagnosis Murder” (1993-2001 as a series, with related
TV-movies both before and after it): “I never saw myself
as a sleuth, but it worked. And at one point, I had all my
kids and all my grandkids on the show!”
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