On December 13, 2024, Dick Van Dyke will turn 99 years old. That’s right, we’ve now been living with the brilliance and charm of Dick Van Dyke for just under a century, and if his latest project proves anything, it’s that his guy is borderline immortal. Call it great fitness. Call it magic. Dick Van Dyke is still a fantastic dancer, despite being older than most people’s grandparents.
In a new music video in collaboration with Chris Martin, Dick Van Dyke dances, barefoot to the song “All My Love." It's a single from Coldplay’s latest album Moon Music, which was released in October of this year. Although the song wasn't about Van Dyke to start, its new music video turns it into a retrospective on the legendary entertainer's energetic career.
Famous for the sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961), Van Dyke is the modern American blueprint for how we think about a comic actor. Not only a master of physical comedy, Van Dyke’s joke delivery has always been spot-on. From Mary Poppins to Diagnosis Murder, a well-placed Dick Van Dyke quip is an art form all on its own. In the 1960s, he was so popular that he was even, briefly, offered the role of James Bond, which he famously turned down, saying “Have you heard my British accent?"
Despite that over-the-top cockney accent as Bert in Mary Poppins, Dick Van Dyke is beloved precisely because he knows how to laugh at himself. Early in the new music video, Van Dyke attempts to harmonize with Chris Martin, not quite hitting the note. He barely cares though, and instead, revels in dancing goofily, recreating some of his signature moves from his classic shows and movies.
Nobody can move quite like Dick Van Dyke, but we should all aspire to be moving, and loving life the way he does, for as long as possible.
