Dick Van Dyke - IMDb IMDb Actor | Producer | Soundtrack Dick Van Dyke was born Richard Wayne Van Dyke in West Plains, Missouri, to Hazel Victoria (McCord), a stenographer, and Loren Wayne Van Dyke, a salesman. His younger brother is entertainer Jerry Van Dyke . His ancestry includes English, Scottish, German, Swiss-German, and Dutch. Although he'd had small roles beforehand, Van Dyke was launched to ... See full bio » Born: a list of 43 people created 07 Jul 2011 a list of 41 people created 14 Jul 2012 a list of 45 people created 10 Sep 2012 a list of 45 people created 28 Jul 2014 a list of 32 people created 15 Aug 2014 Do you have a demo reel? Add it to your IMDbPage How much of Dick Van Dyke's work have you seen? User Polls Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 17 wins & 16 nominations. See more awards » Known For Diagnosis Murder Dr. Mark Sloan / Gangster John 'Mr.

G' Gotti / J. Edison Nash / Jonathan Nash / Judith Nash / Julian Nash (1993-2001) The Dick Van Dyke Show Rob Petrie / Hezekiah Petrie (1961-1966) Mary Poppins Bert / Mr. Dawes Senior (1964) 2015 The Middle (TV Series) Dutch Spence 2014 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (TV Series) Captain Goof Beard / Grandpappy Goof - Mickey's Pirate Adventure (2014) ... Captain Goof Beard / Grandpappy Goof (voice) 2003 The Gin Game (TV Movie) Weller Martin - Becker the Elder (1999) ...

Fred Becker 1993 Coach (TV Series) 1993 Chairman's Choice (TV Movie) Chairman 1991 Daughters of Privilege (TV Movie) Buddy Keys 1989 The Golden Girls (TV Series) Ken 1987 Highway to Heaven (TV Series) Wally Dunn 1986 Strong Medicine (TV Movie) Sam Hawthorne 1985 American Playhouse (TV Series) Les Dischinger 1983 Found Money (TV Movie) Max Sheppard 1983 CBS Library (TV Series) Father 1981 Harry's Battles (TV Movie) Harry Fitzsimmons 1974 The Morning After (TV Movie) Charlie Lester 1960 New Comedy Showcase (TV Series) Richard Alexander Pvt. Swiftington 'Swifty' Bilko / Pvt. Hank Lumpkin - Bilko's Cousin (1958) ... Pvt. Swiftington 'Swifty' Bilko - Hillbilly Whiz (1957) ... Pvt.

Hank Lumpkin Hide 2002 Diagnosis Murder: Town Without Pity (TV Movie) (executive producer) 1995-2001 Diagnosis Murder (TV Series) (executive producer - 137 episodes) 1971 Cold Turkey (executive producer - uncredited) Hide - Dick Van Dyke/Bill Burr/The Brian Setzer Orchestra (2015) ... (performer: "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang") 2013 Saving Mr. Banks (performer: "Jolly Holiday", "Step In Time", "Let's Go Fly a Kite") 2011 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Episode #19.144 (2011) ... (performer: "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" - uncredited) 2010 20 to 1 (TV Series documentary) (performer - 1 episode) - Episode dated 30 October 2009 (2009) ...

(performer: "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang") 2009 The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story (Documentary) (performer: "Chim Chim Cher-ee", "Let's Go Fly a Kite", "Jolly Holiday", "A Man Has Dreams", "I Love To Laugh", "Hushabye Mountain") 1997 MGM Sing-Alongs: Having Fun (Video short) (performer: "Toot Sweets") 1997 MGM Sing-Alongs: Searching for Your Dreams (Video short) (performer: "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", "Doll on a Music Box" and "Truly Scrumptious", "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Reprise") 1985 The 39th Annual Tony Awards (TV Special) (performer: "I Still Get Jealous", "Gus: The Theatre Cat") 1974 The Morning After (TV Movie) (performer: "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" - uncredited) 1968 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (performer: "You Two", "Toot Sweets", "Hushabye Mountain", "Me Ol

' Bamboo", "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", "Doll On a Music Box/Truly Scrumptious" - uncredited) 1961-1965 The Dick Van Dyke Show (TV Series) (performer - 15 episodes) - The Great Petrie Fortune (1965) ...

(performer: "Me and My Shadow", "Dixie" (I Wish I Was in Dixie) - uncredited) - Bupkis (1965) ... (performer: "It's a Funny War", "The Only Girl I Ever Loved" - uncredited) Show all 15 episodes 1964 Mary Poppins ("Chim-Chim-Cheree", uncredited) / (performer: "Jolly Holiday", "Pavement Artist (Chim Chim Cheree)", "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", "I Love to Laugh", "Fidelity Fiduciary Bank", "Chim-Chim-Cheree", "Step in Time", "A Man Has Dreams", "Sobre las Olas (Over the Waves)", "Let's Go Fly a Kite" - uncredited) 1963 The Danny Kaye Show (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Episode #1.13 (1963) ...

(performer: "Puttin' on the Ritz") 1963 Bye Bye Birdie (performer: "Put On a Happy Face", "Kids", "(Everything Is) Rosie/(Everything Is) Hugo") 1960 The Ed Sullivan Show (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Episode #14.6 (1960) ... (performer: "We Love You, Conrad!", "Put On a Happy Face") Mary Poppins (1964) - IMDb IMDb 29 December 2016 2:33 AM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video IN THEATERS ON DISC ALL A magical nanny helps bring the two children she's in charge of closer to their father through songs and magical adventures.

Director: Bill Walsh (screenplay), Don DaGradi (screenplay) (as Don Da Gradi) | 1 more credit » Stars: a list of 23 titles created 10 Dec 2011 a list of 23 titles created 29 Nov 2013 a list of 30 titles created 02 Dec 2013 a list of 21 titles created 4 months ago a list of 25 titles created 4 months ago Search for " Mary Poppins " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 5 Oscars. Another 15 wins & 14 nominations. See more awards » Videos A woman leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess to the children of a Naval officer widower. Director: Robert Wise Charlie receives a golden ticket to a factory, his sweet tooth wants going into the lushing candy, it turns out there's an adventure in everything.

Director: Mel Stuart A down-on-his-luck inventor turns a broken-down Grand Prix car into a fancy vehicle for his children, and then they go off on a magical fantasy adventure to save their grandfather in a far-off land. Director: Ken Hughes Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and 1 more credit » Stars: Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn Directors: William Cottrell, David Hand, and 4 more credits » Stars: Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille La Verne Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and 1 more credit » Stars: Ilene Woods, James MacDonald, Eleanor Audley Directors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, and 3 more credits » Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and 1 more credit » Stars: Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts, Peggy Lee Directors: Samuel Armstrong, Norman Ferguson, and 5 more credits » Stars: Sterling Holloway, Edward Brophy, James Baskett A misogynistic and snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society.

Director: George Cukor When a street urchin vies for the love of a beautiful princess, he uses a genie's magic power to make himself off as a prince in order to marry her. Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker Stars: Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and 2 more credits » Stars: Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Beaumont, Hans Conried Edit Storyline When Jane and Michael, the children of the wealthy and uptight Banks family, are faced with the prospect of a new nanny, they are pleasantly surprised by the arrival of the magical Mary Poppins. Embarking on a series of fantastical adventures with Mary and her Cockney performer friend, Bert, the siblings try to pass on some of their nanny's sunny attitude to their preoccupied parents. Written by Jwelch5742 See It Again and Again with that Supercalifragilistic Music! [re-release Australia 1976] See more » Genres: 11 September 1964 (Brazil) See more » Also Known As: Did You Know?

Trivia With five wins out of 13 nominations in total, this film marked Walt Disney 's single most successful night at the Academy Awards. Never before or since, as of 2016, has a single Disney film won as many Oscars in one evening. See more » Goofs When Mary Poppins is tidying the nursery, the pictures straighten, but in the next shot, they are still crooked. See more » Quotes [first lines] Bert : All right, ladies an' gents! Comical poem! Suitable for the occasion, extemporized and thought up before your very eyes! All right, 'ere we go! [sings] Bert : Room 'ere for everyone. Gather around. [speaks] Bert : The constable - responstable! Now 'ow does that sound? [no response] [dashes over to Miss Lark, sings] Bert : 'Ello, Miss Lark, I've got one for you. [...] See more » Crazy Credits In the end credit cast list, the actor playing Mr. Dawes, Sr.

is initially shown as NAVCKID KEYD, then the letters unscramble themselves to show that this is a second role played by Dick Van Dyke . See more » Connections Let's Go Fly a Kite (uncredited) I urge people to try it again. 14 December 1999 | by Spleen (Canberra, Australia) – See all my reviews `Tart', `not nearly so sentimental as The Sound of Music', `Disney's finest achievement' ... I'd read critics' comments like these with puzzlement. Had they seen the same film I had? Of course they had: it's just that someone had got it wrong; and as it turned out, it was me. I still think that anyone who calls `Mary Poppins' Disney's finest is being silly - Disney's finest hour was clearly the one that saw `Pinocchio', `Fantasia', `Dumbo' and `Bambi' - but what we have here is a fine, clever film, NOT overly sweet. What won me over was the ending. David Tomlinson changes from a mechanical banker to a human being with surprising fluency.

It's not any one scene: it's the entire extended sequence, from the run on the bank to the end credits. And it's not just Tomlinson's acting, either, but the long, lingering shots of him standing and walking in darkness, and a use of music that's far more sophisticated than I'd first supposed it to be, the general intelligence of the script. The last lines given to Mary Poppins I'd missed the point of the first time round. She's a riddle throughout the film which the film's conclusion partially, but only partially, unravels. Considered as a musical `Mary Poppins' lacks something. WHAT it lacks is revealed when we hear the Jane and Michael tramping around the house singing `Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' (a great song, by the way) - and they GET THE TUNE WRONG. They get it wrong in exactly the irritating way that children WOULD get it wrong. This may be an inspired touch of realism, but it surely violates the ethos of musicals, as do the deeply pedestrian songs `Stay Awake', `Sister Suffragette' and `A Spoonful of Sugar'.

This was the side of `Mary Poppins' I'd remembered. I'd forgotten the haunting quality of `Feed the Birds' and `Let's Go Fly a Kite', and the punch of the score as a whole. So anyway, I'm now a convert. I can't find anything to seriously object to except Dick Van Dyke's ludicrous accent, which makes him sound almost, but not quite, like Bugs Bunny. 45 of 64 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Dick Van Dyke tells 'Mary Poppins' stories - CNN.com Dick Van Dyke tells 'Mary Poppins' stories Story Highlights "Mary Poppins" came out 45 years ago; won five Oscars, including best actress Star Dick Van Dyke has been ribbed about his Cockney accent Van Dyke pleased that his show was among Michelle Obama's favorites By Todd Leopold CNN (CNN) -- Dick Van Dyke thought Walt Disney wanted to see him about "Mary Poppins" because of his singing and dancing skills. But the legendary studio founder had something else in mind.

Dick Van Dyke played Bert the chimney sweep in "Mary Poppins." "He had heard me in an interview talking about what was happening to family entertainment," says Van Dyke in a phone interview, still amused by the memory. "I was decrying the fact that it seemed like no holds were barred anymore in entertainment. ... That's why he called me in, because I said something he agreed with." Disney, after years of cajoling "Poppins" author P.L. Travers, was finally mounting a production of the books about a magical nanny. With Van Dyke, he knew he was also getting a star as well as a like-minded performer. The actor's TV sitcom, "The Dick Van Dyke Show," was a steady hit at the time, and he had won a Tony for his work in the stage version of "Bye Bye Birdie." With Van Dyke as the Cockney chimney sweep Bert, fellow Tony winner Julie Andrews (in her movie debut) as Poppins and several old pros in tow, Disney went ahead with production on the 1964 film, which was to become one of the biggest hits his studio ever produced.

The movie earned five Oscars -- including a best actress win for Andrews -- and its Richard and Robert Sherman songs, such as "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," "Feed the Birds" and the Oscar-winning "Chim Chim Cher-ee," have become standards. Forty-five years later, "Poppins" is also a hit stage show, with excerpts of the Broadway production featured on a new 45th-anniversary DVD. Van Dyke, 83, took a few minutes to talk about the film, his much-maligned Cockney accent and Michelle Obama's fondness for his old TV show. The following is an edited version of the interview. CNN: Tell me about Walt Disney. People think of him as a brand name nowadays, but he was a real person and still alive when you made the film. Was he a presence on the set? Dick Van Dyke: Absolutely. He was very much into this and believed in it. He hung around the set a lot. And I'm happy to say he was so pleased with the way it was going, as we all were. CNN: How did you end up with the part of Bert?

Van Dyke: Well, I thought he hired me because I was such a great singer and dancer. As it turns out, he had heard me in an interview talking about what was happening to family entertainment. I was decrying the fact that it seemed like no holds were barred anymore in entertainment. ... He knew about the "Van Dyke Show," about our little sitcom, but that's why he called me in, because I said something he agreed with. And I got the part. CNN: "The Dick Van Dyke Show" was still on at the time. Were you balancing the "Van Dyke Show" at the same time you did "Poppins," or were you on hiatus? Van Dyke: It was on hiatus. That whole decade of the '60s, that's what I did for 10 years -- I did the show and then a movie, a show and then a movie. I felt I'd better make hay while the sun shined. ... It always worked out pretty well. But I found myself getting up in the morning and taking off on the freeway and forgetting where in the hell I was supposed to go, and a couple times I showed up at the wrong studio.

CNN: You've taken a lot of ribbing over the years for your Cockney accent. Van Dyke: Oh, have I ever. CNN: Did Andrews or David Tomlinson [who played Mr. Banks] mention things to you about the accent? Or did they just go with the flow? Van Dyke: They just went with the flow! It's funny -- I was concentrating on the dancing, mostly, and they had given me a [voice] coach who turned out to be an Irishman, and his Cockney wasn't much better than mine. During the making of the picture nobody kidded me about the accent, but I sure took it afterwards. [One British poll named Van Dyke's accent the second-worst British accent ever; Van Dyke observes, however, that he was beaten out by Sean Connery's "Untouchables" performance.] CNN: Tell me about the way the movie was shot. There were a lot of scenes with animated characters, and today those would be shot with a blue screen or computer animation. Van Dyke: I think it's such a shame that Walt didn't live to see computer animation, because he would have had a good time with it. ...

In those days it was before the blue screen. They used what was called yellow sulphur lighting -- the screen was yellow, and we worked with that all day, and by the time the day was over you couldn't see anything. ... It was just an empty soundstage. And sometimes we didn't even have the music -- we would just dance to a click rhythm. But I think technically it holds up today just as well as anything. CNN: Did you know what some of the animated sequences were going to be? Van Dyke: Yes, that was in the script. But I had to go to Walt and talk him into letting me do the old [bank president]. I said, I'll do that part and I won't even charge you. So he made me do a little screen test and gave me the part. ... And he didn't pay me -- I had to donate $4,000 to his CalArts school. He was a little horse trader. CNN: You worked with Ed Wynn in the film, and I know you're a huge fan of the old comedians. What was Wynn like? Van Dyke: He was in his [late 70s] at the time, and not very well.

He did all that "I Love to Laugh" stuff hanging from the ceiling, and it was just so hard on him, but he was a trouper. He was a sweet old guy. He had a palsy -- his head would move from side to side, kind of involuntarily. But the minute they would say "Action," it would stop. And he'd do the scene, and the minute they said "Cut," it would start in again. CNN: Let me change gears. Michelle Obama has said that "The Dick Van Dyke Show" is one of her favorite shows. Van Dyke: I've heard that, and I sent them a note and said, "Thank you for making me famous all over again." I call them the black Rob and Laura. CNN: Is it nice that so much of your work has had longevity? Van Dyke: I just lucked into working with geniuses like ["Van Dyke Show" creator] Carl Reiner and Walt. I just lucked out.

Taking inspiration from Dick Van Dyke’s character Bert in Mary Poppins, Ipswich woman Jenny Wren sets up as chimney sweep - News - East Anglian Daily Times Taking inspiration from Dick Van Dyke’s character Bert in Mary Poppins, Ipswich woman Jenny Wren sets up as chimney sweep 11:51 01 December 2014 Gemma Mitchell Jenny Wrenâ€™s Home and Garden Maintenance Jenny Calver who has set up as a Chimney Sweep Cap on, braces up and brushes at the ready, Suffolk’s first female chimney sweep is “as lucky, as lucky can be” (to quote Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins). Email this article to a friend To send a link to this page you must be logged in. Jenny Wrenâ€™s Home and Garden Maintenance Jenny Calver who has set up as a Chimney Sweep Born on Bonfire Night and descending from coal merchants – being a sweep seemed like a natural career choice for Jenny Calver. In January 2013, Jenny, who lives in Ipswich, had the opportunity to take redundancy from her previous work as a care manager of a respite home for people with learning disabilities.

With help from enterprise agency Nwes, She decided to set up her own business offering help with house work and gardening to local people and Jenny Wren’s Home and Garden Maintenance service was launched. As the winter months set in she played with the idea of expanding her business to include chimney sweeping to fill in the later part of the year when there is less gardening work available. Jenny Wrens Home and Garden Maintenance Jenny Calver who has set up as a chimney sweep “To me the whole concept of chimney sweeping has links to my past – my grandparents were coal merchants in Suffolk,” Jenny said. “I also fondly remember being a little girl when Dad swept our home chimneys saying ‘Jen, go outside and shout when you can see the brush out the top and make a wish’.” Chimney sweeps were immortalised in 1964 when Dick Van Dyke played cheeky sweep Bert in Mary Poppins and delivered his lines in a infamously dodgy cockney accent. “People like to have a female chimney sweep – they think I’m going to be cleaner, but also there’s a lot more interest, they like to watch me working.

“I think they like the novelty of it, and I usually go wearing a cap and dungarees and look the part. “There’s definitely a knack to it – it builds up the forearms.” Carrying the image of fire and hearth, the chimney sweep has been a symbol of luck for over 100 years. Jenny upholds the tradition of attending local weddings and special events as a Lucky Sweep. Traditionally, the groom is supposed to shake the hand of the sweep, and the bride gets a kiss – Jenny has not been invited to a wedding yet, but thinks she would be “good for a gay ceremony.” Jenny lives with her 20-year-old son Alfie in Britannia Road, Ipswich. “He just accepts that I do strange things,” she said. “He’s never surprised really. He just thinks I’m a bit mad.” Jenny has always had an open fire in her home and likes to crisp her morning toast over the flames. With the installation of wood-burners becoming ever more popular, Jenny said choosing a natural way of heating is something that would take off in Suffolk. “People like the romantic side of having an open fire as well”, she said.

Jenny has her sights set firmly on the future and is confident her business can become a sweeping success. Mouseplanet - Mary Poppins Fun Facts by Jim Korkis by Jim Korkis , contributing writer August 14, 2013 Advertisement As some of you know, over the July 12 weekend I was in Detroit, Michigan, as a special presenter for the re-opening of the old movie palace, The Redford Theater (opened January 1928), that had been closed so the balcony could be restored. As part of the celebration, there was a fundraiser for the Detroit chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation with three showings of Mary Poppins on a big screen preceded by a concert on the old, original Barton Pipe Theater organ (only 250 ever made between 1918-1931 and only a handful exist today). I spoke before the film and at intermission. No, there is no official intermission for the film, but when it was first released in 1964, several theaters put one in after Mary Poppins sings Stay Awake to sell more concessions.

Patrons accepted this because other films at the time had intermissions and special scores written to be played at intermission. I shared some of the stories of P. L. Travers that I wrote about two weeks ago. Stories that will serve as the basis for the December film, Saving Mr. Banks. For those who have expressed some reservations about Tom Hanks playing Walt Disney, did Jimmy Stewart look and sound like aviator Charles Lindbergh in The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) or did Cary Grant look and sound like songwriter Cole Porter in Night and Day (1946) or did Don Ameche look and sound like inventor Alexander Graham Bell in The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)? Bell actually had a Scottish accent that Ameche didn't even attempt to duplicate for the film. I am reserving judgment until the film is actually released. Is no one concerned that actress Emma Thompson doesn't look and sound exactly like P. L. Travers?

I know for a fact that Tom Hanks made a sincere and extensive effort to contact everyone from Diane Disney Miller to studying films at the Disney Archives to talking to people who are still alive (like Disney Legend Floyd Norman) who actually saw and heard Walt to try to capture the spirit of Walt. I am looking forward to the film and if I am disappointed it won't be because the filmmakers and performers didn't make every effort to tell as best they could a very interesting story. We raised $3,000 to donate to Make-A-Wish so the SE Michigan Chapter of the Disneyana Fan Club (who were the hosts who brought me up, housed me and overfed me) bought me a seat in the theater. That's right. My birthday is tomorrow (August 15) so I considered it the best early birthday present I have ever received. It was totally unexpected. In the second row, seat number B201, right near the theater organ, there is a brass plaque on the top of the seat with the name "Jim Korkis." As I told the audience when I was presented with this great honor, "You now know the answer to the question that over 90 percent of you had when you showed up tonight.

Who is Jim Korkis? Jim Korkis is a seat in the Redford Theater." On the Friday morning I arrived (at 3:30 a.m. after a seven-hour flight delay on Spirit Airlines for the direct flight), I started bright and early at 8 a.m. with three back-to-back radio interviews on local stations to promote the event, followed by a short segment on the Channel 7 Action News. Obviously, I couldn't share the entire P.L. Travers story since the media want quick, snappy sound bites. So I had some fun facts up my sleeve and, while I am still trying to catch up from my trips over July, as well as presentations for a Youth Leadership Conference and a presentation at a local library after I returned, I thought MousePlanet readers might enjoy a peek at some of my notes filled with a few Mary Poppins fun facts: Double Your Pleasure Larri Thomas was Julie Andrews' stand-in as Mary Poppins. She has a small part as the beautiful lady in the carriage who blows a kiss to Bert the chimney sweep.

Director Robert Wise asked Walt Disney if he could view some of the daily footage of Mary Poppins that was in the process of being filmed and, after seeing some of the scenes, he immediately offered Andrews the role of Maria Von Trapp in his movie The Sound of Music. Thomas was also Andrews' stand-in for that film, notably the scene where the Captain and the Baroness are driving down the lane toward the villa. The Maria dangling out of a tree with the children is Thomas. Don't Tell The Children In order to get honest responses from the child actors, they were often not told what was about to happen. They were not told that the medicine that Mary Poppins pours would change color, so notice Karen Dotrice's surprise. They were not told that Mary would be pulling such an odd assortment of items out of her carpetbag. They were not told that it was Dick Van Dyke in makeup as the senior Mr. Dawes and they feared for the old man's health. Who's That Voice? Comic actor Don Barclay plays the role of "Binnacle," the first mate to Admiral Boom who lives next door to the Banks' family.

Barclay was in his early 70swhen he did the role and had supplied his voice to several Disney animated features. He was the live action reference model for the character of Mr. Smee in the Disney animated feature Peter Pan although the character's voice was supplied by Bill Thompson, best known as the voice of J. Audubon Woodlore, the little ranger of Brownstone National Park. His voice in Mary Poppins is supplied by David Tomlinson who played the father, Mr. George Banks. Tomlinson also did the voice of the parrot head handle on Mary Poppins' umbrella and several of the animated characters in the "Jolly Holiday" sequence, like a penguin waiter and the jockey who allows Mary Poppins to pass him in the race. Father Knows Best Many people know that the character of Mr. Banks was loosely based on P.L. Travers' memories of her father who worked in a bank and died from alcoholism when Travers was 7 years old. Walt was considering offering the father part to a host of different performers, including David Niven, Terry Thomas, James Mason, Richard Harris and George Sanders, among others.

Writer Bill Walsh said he "put a little bit of Walt" into his interpretation of the father in the story, especially a father who struggled to spend enough time with his two children while handling business concerns. Cherry Tree Lane Cherry Tree Lane was built in Soundstage No. 3 at the Disney Studios in Burbank from the designs of art director William Tuntke. Tuntke told writer John G. West Jr., "I had to design the Banks' house as well as the entire street it was on. Where Mary Poppins made her entrance and all the way up to the Banks' house, I built the set full-scale. The Banks' house itself was 7/8ths scale. The next house was 3/4th scale. The next house was half scale. And the next one was 1/4th scale. And you would see these houses all receding. "I got real cherry trees to line the street, and I had all the greensmen to put twigs on them and paper cherry blossoms.

There were 18 trees in all, and they were decreasing scale, as well….in the background we used a couple of smaller people that would walk from one house to another." Using those same designs that authentically captured the Edwardian era homes, Disney Imagineers duplicated some of the section for the Upper Regency Street area directly opposite the gazebo at the United Kingdom pavilion at Epcot's World Showcase. When Imagineer Marty Sklar first saw the section completed, he remarked, "That's wrong." The Imagineers struggled to figure out what was wrong until Marty finally pointed out, "If people are living there, there would be soot on the chimneys." Imagineering soot was added and has remained there for more than 30 y years. Bird Lady The song "Feed the Birds" was the first song written for the film and it was the last scene filmed. Walt Disney felt that the perfect actress to portray the role was Jane Darwell, who had retired from acting in 1959 and was living at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital. She had received an Academy Award for her role as the mother in the film The Grapes of Wrath (1940).

Walt personally visited her to persuade her to perform one final time on screen, despite the fact that she was 83 years old and in frail health because of a heart problem. Walt promised her it would be only one day of shooting and he sent a limo to pick up her and take her to the Disney Studios and then ferry her back after the scene. Her voice was so weak that her only two lines had to be enhanced by the voice of co-producer/writer Bill Walsh. Darwell died of a heart attack in 1967, ironically outliving Walt by half a year. To make her more comfortable, a hole was cut into the steps of the Disney version of St. Paul's Cathedral and filled with pillows so that she would not have to sit on a hard surface. By the way, it is now illegal to feed the birds at St. Paul's Cathedral because of the increase of the flock and its tendency to poop on everything making it a health hazard. Bert's Accent Over the years, actor Dick Van Dyke has been given a hard time, unfairly, for his somewhat unorthodox Cockney accent. The Disney Studios gave him a voice coach, actor J.

Pat O'Malley, who besides portraying the butler in the Spin and Marty serials on the original Mickey Mouse Club did several voices for Disney animated cartoons including Cyril Proudbottom in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), Colonel Hathi the leader of the elephants in Jungle Book (1967) and the Colonel and Jasper in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). However, O'Malley was not Cockney. While he was born in England, his ancestry was Irish. So basically, an Irishman was trying to teach an American to speak Cockney. If you listen to O'Malley's attempts at Cockney in his animated voice-overs for Disney, Dick Van Dyke sounds very similar. Walt had originally considered offering the role to Anthony Newley, Danny Kaye, Fred Astaire or Tommy Steele among others. After he was shown an episode of the Dick Van Dyke television show, he was convinced that Van Dyke was the man for the job. Mary Poppins was filmed during the summer hiatus of Van Dyke's television show that was still in production.

Director Robert Stevenson Stevenson had previously directed Disney films like Old Yeller (1957) and The Absent Minded Professor (1961). As a boy, he had grown up with an English nanny in an upper-middleclass in Edwardian England. Disney Legend Bill Walsh credited the director's attention to detail which often frustrated actor Dick Van Dyke when he was trying to perform, especially as a one-man band. Walsh once said, "With Bob, you were always sure when the film finished that you had everything you needed; he covered it from all angles, so it was a cinch to cut together." In 1977, Variety called Stevenson "the most commercially successful director in the history of films" with 19 of his features making a list of all-time top grossing movies. He was nominated for a Directing Oscar for his work on the film but didn't win. Peter Ellenshaw, who was responsible for doing roughly 100 matte paintings for the film, was also born in England and raised by a nanny and clashed with Emile Kuri who did set decoration for Mary Poppins because Ellenshaw felt that the interiors didn't look English enough. Walt backed Kuri.

Tony Walton, Julie Andrews' husband at the time, did some of interiors, as well, in addition to some of the costumes. For The Birds Disney Historian Scott Wolf did a wonderful interview with Imagineer Harriet Burns about creating the robins for Mary Poppins at this link. I am going to summarize some of that story and add some additional information. In the film, outside the Banks' house, is a nest with two robins. Walt felt that this would be a wonderful opportunity to include bird Audio-Animatronics into the film, especially after all the success of the Disneyland attraction, The Enchanted Tiki Room, which had opened in 1963, as the film was beginning production. The robins needed to look real on the large screen but they were federally protected, so obtaining skins and feathers posed a challenge. Walt wrote to Washington, D.C. to get special permission, but never heard back. It was discovered that a Los Angeles museum had drawers filled with bird skins preserved in arsenic, including robins from 1893. Walt was desperate and the film was nearly half-completed, so how much was he willing to pay to get a precious robin skin?

Walt actually got the skin at the cost of a handful of free Disneyland tickets. If Julie Andrews' hand looks awkward in that scene, it is because she is wearing a ring to support the robin that connects to a wire that runs down her sleeve and to the floor where there were yards of wiring necessary for early Audio-Animatronics to perform movements, from flipping a tail to opening a beak to turning a head. Andrews herself supplied the whistling for the bird (and the voice of the bird repeating a lyric from the song that was cut from the final film). Walt had been impressed with her whistling during the song What Do The Simple Folk Do" in the Broadway production of the musical Camelot that he had seen and had convinced him to offer her the part of Mary Poppins. These special robins survived the film and were incorporated into the 1964 New York World's Fair Disney attraction, The Carousel of Progress, in the first scene. However, Clarence "Ducky" Nash supplied the whistles for the birds in their new show.

One thing that few if any fans notice is that the robins are clearly American robins in terms of size and coloring, and not the European robins that are common in the United Kingdom. Mary Poppins Attraction Planned in 1971 for Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland at Walt Disney World Resort was a Mary Poppins attraction that would take the place of the popular Peter Pan Flight ride. Roy O. Disney himself cancelled those plans, feeling that the East Coast guests would want some of the same Disneyland park experiences. One version of the attraction would have had guests on colorful carousel horse ride vehicles hopping through Bert's chalk drawings to be immersed in fanciful tableaus. Another version had flying umbrellas taking guests over the rooftops of London. Walt Disney Imagineering has dozens of Mary Poppins attractions concepts on its shelves, including one from Imagineer Tony Baxter that would have incorporated carousel horses. Step In Time, Hal Stanley Kubrick was said to have seen Mary Poppins three times while prepping 2001: A Space Odyssey. Ghost Voice Marni Nixon supplied the singing voices for the three geese in the "Jolly Holiday" animated section.

She also supplied the vocals for actress Audrey Hepburn in the film My Fair Lady when Eliza Doolittle sings. Julie Andrews originated the role on Broadway but was not cast by producer Jack Warner because he felt she was not well-enough known and apparently disliked her screen test so much that he destroyed it. Nixon taught classes at California Institute of the Arts from 1969–1971. She also dubbed Natalie Wood's singing in West Side Story and Deborah Kerr in The King and I. Caricatured Horses The carousel horses were sculpted by Disney Legend Blaine Gibson, who may be best known for his "Partners" sculpture, as well as his work on Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, and The Hall of Presidents. The faces of each horse were sculpted to be caricatures of their riders with Dick Van Dyke's horse's chin being especially prominent. There were several other fun facts that I had in my bag of tricks, but I might just save those for next year, when the film celebrates its 50th anniversary. Share this article Bert | Disney Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia “Wind's in the East...mist coming in.

Like something is brewing, about to begin. Can't put my finger...on what lies in store, but I fear what's to happen all happened before.” ―Bert's famous prediction that Mary Poppins will arrive again Bert (Herbert Alfred on Sundays, and called, The Match Man in the books) is the deuteragonist in Disney's 1964 film Mary Poppins . Contents [ show ] Background Bert is a jack-of-all-trades with a Cockney accent. He never stays with one trade too long, and adapts to current conditions. He is a long time friend of Mary Poppins , though their relationship is noted to be strictly platonic (but there are hints to suggest a more romantic interest between them). He is shown to be very much at ease with her magic, and implies that she has helped numerous families using her powers. He is incredibly energetic and easygoing, never losing his temper or raising his voice with anyone at all and always looking on the bright side. However, he shows a deeply empathetic side to his personality when Jane and Michael run from the bank - he expresses his sympathy for their father, in that he is shaped and pressured immensely by the financial world that has imprisoned him.

Nevertheless, he compassionately looks after the children until George Banks returns. Physical appearance Bert is a slender man with dark hair, blue eyes, and has fair skin. He usually wears worn-out clothing. While working as a chimney sweep, his face is covered in soot. While in the street picture of the English country side, he wears a red, orange, and yellow suit with a blue bow tie. He also sports a straw hat. Role in the film Bert appears at the beginning of the film, trying to earn money as a one-man-band. After impressing the crowd with various songs, as well as impromptu poetry, he notes a change in the weather, which he notes as a sign of events to come. He then notices the viewer. After being asked, he shows the viewer the route to 17 Cherry Tree Lane, home of the Banks family. Along the way, he introduces the viewer to some of the residents, and is warned by Admiral Boom and Mr. Binnacle , that the Banks residence is dealing with "heavy weather". Upon arrival, he is surprised to hear loud arguing coming from the house. Later, Bert is shown trying to earn money as a street artist. He has drawn pictures depicting his adventures with Mary Poppins.

Soon, Mary appears along with the Banks children, Jane and Michael , for whom she has been employed as a nanny. They tell him that they are on their way to the park. He scoffs at the mundane outing, and is able to successfully goad Mary into transporting the group into one of his pictures, a depiction of the English countryside. While Jane and Michael go to a nearby fair, Bert and Mary enjoy a stroll through the countryside and eat lunch at a small cafe. They talk of their long relationship, which is shown to be platonic. Afterwards, they join the children for a ride on Mary's private carousel. At Mary's word, the horses jump off the carousel, and the group enjoys a horseback ride. Along the way, Bert notices a fox running from hunters, and saves it by putting it onto his horse. They end up in a horse race, where they see Mary easily win it. After being asked for a word to describe herself, she tells them of her special word, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious , and Bert contributes by noting that he used to say the word to save his nose from being tweaked by his father for being rude for not speaking.

Soon, it begins to rain, which washes off the drawing, and the group is forced to cut the outing short. Though Mary laments the loss of the pictures, Bert notes that are more of them coming soon and that he intends to take advantage of the rain and change businesses by selling hot chestnuts. Bert appears the next day, at the home of Mary's Uncle Albert , who is "suffering" from a strange sickness. Apparently he has laughed too much, and is floating in the air, unable to come down. Bert warns the children not to laugh, as the condition is contagious. However, he succumbs to it himself, and joins Uncle Albert in the air. After the children float as well, Mary allows them to enjoy tea together, by making the table float to join them. Eventually, they float to the ground, due to the sadness at realizing they must go home. Mary asks Bert to stay and keep an eye on Uncle Albert. He attempts to cheer him up with a joke, but fails and both of them end up sobbing. After a disastrous outing with their father , Jane and Michael run away and become lost.

They run into Bert, but do not recognize him initially, as he is covered in soot from cleaning chimneys. He helps them to understand that their father does not hate them as they fear, and takes them home. At the Banks residence, he is abruptly hired by Mrs. Banks to babysit the children, as it is Mary's day off. He cleans the chimney and allows them to watch. Mary soon returns home after enjoying her day off, and warns the children of the danger. Just as she speaks, they are drawn up the chimney onto the roof. Bert and Mary follow, and she leads them on an exploration of the rooftops. They run into Bert's chimney sweep friends, and a joyous party breaks out, which eventually ends up at the Banks' home. After Mr. Banks returns, Bert shoos off the sweeps. As he is cleaning up he talks with Mr. Banks, who confides that he feels that the bank outing was a setup by Mary, and notes that his dreams have seemingly been shattered. Bert sympathizes, but implies that Mr. Banks has focused so much on work, that he has ignored the emotional needs of his children. Bert apologizes for troubling him and leaves.

Bert is seen at the end of the film selling kites to various bypassers learning the news that Mr. Banks has changed, the children are now close to him, and that he has gotten back his briefly lost job at the bank. He sees Mary as she is leaving, and asks her not to stay away too long. Bert is a somewhat common character at the Disney theme parks, mostly appearing at Disneyland . He appears as an animatronic figure with Mary Poppins in The Great Movie Ride in a scene based on Chim Chim Cher-ee . Trivia Dick Van Dyke , who portrayed Bert, also portrayed Mr. Dawes Sr. as a dual role. Gallery Mary Poppins' Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke reunite for Saving Mr Banks premiere | Daily Mail Online comments Their performances as magical nanny Mary Poppins and chimney sweep Bert in the beloved 1964 Walt Disney film have been cherished by generations. And 50 years on from its release, Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke rolled back the years as they reunited at the Los Angeles premiere of a new film which explores the making of the musical movie.

Both Julie, 78, and Dick, 87, looked far younger than their years as they laughed and joked together outside the theatre at the Saving Mr Banks event in Burbank, California. Scroll down for video... Step In Time! Julie Andrews joined her Mary Poppins co-star Dick Van Dyke at the Disney premiere of Saving Mr Banks in Burbank, California on Monday It's a jolly holiday: Julie and Dick as Mary Poppins and Bert in the 1964 film Julie looked stunning and youthful in a black velvet suit and coral scarf, while Dick sported a dapper charcoal suit with grey tie as he arrived with wife Arlene Silver. She greeted Saving Mr Banks star Emma Thompson on the red carpet and Dick happily posed with Tom Hanks who plays Walt Disney in the film. Julie, who scooped a Best Actress Oscar for the film, has always spoken with affection for Poppins which, along with 1965 musical movie The Sound Of Music are her best remembered films. 'It's always those two that are remembered,' she told BroadwayWorld.com earlier this year. 'I was lucky to be asked to do those iconic movies and I never, ever put them down. Ever.

'It fell to my great fortune to be in these movies that have just gone on, and on.' In a later interview with The Today Show, the actress discussed the film's 50th anniversary.'It's mind boggling,' she said. 'I cannot believe it's been 50 years. I've lost 20 years since then.' The star, who lives in Los Angeles, said starring in such well loved movies early on in her career, didn't worry her. 'Well you always set a bar for yourself that's high,' she told the show. 'People are so lovely and you want to give them pleasure. We love to laugh: Julie and her friend and co-star shared a joke together, while Emma Thompson can be seen chuckling in the background Practically perfect: Julie looked stunning in a black velvet suit with coral scarf and subtle make-up and Dick was dapper in suit and tie Star-studded chorus: Julie and Dick joined the film's stars Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson on the carpet She added: 'You give the best you can and you hope that any movie you do is going to be what people will enjoy and love to see.

Some are and some are not.' Dick Van Dyke had more mixed reviews for his performance as Bert, with many critics slamming his cockney accent. 'I was concentrating on the dancing, mostly, and they had given me a [voice] coach who turned out to be an Irishman, and his Cockney wasn't much better than mine,' the actor and entertainer once told CNN. 'During the making of the picture nobody kidded me about the accent, but I sure took it afterwards.' Pleased to see you! Emma greeted Julie with fondness on the red carpet Iconic: The two Oscar winners looked like they had a lot to talk about on the carpet Chim chim cher-ee: Dick happily posed with Tom who plays Walt Disney in the film Happy together: Dick arrived with his wife Arlene Silver In the days before CGI, Dick performed many of his scenes alongside animated characters in the Jolly Holiday sequence. 'I think it's such a shame that Walt didn't live to see computer animation, because he would have had a good time with it,' he said. 'In those days it was before the blue screen.

'They used what was called yellow sulphur lighting - the screen was yellow, and we worked with that all day, and by the time the day was over you couldn't see anything. 'It was just an empty soundstage. And sometimes we didn't even have the music - we would just dance to a click rhythm. But I think technically it holds up today just as well as anything.' In the most delightful way: Emma looked stunning in her taupe dress with black embroidery and long black coat Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: The star was showing off her chic platinum blonde crop His leading ladies: Tom managed to make Emma and wife Rita Wilson chuckle in between posing for pictures Stars of the show: Colin Farrell, Tom and wife Rita Wilson, Paul Giamatti, Emma and Jason Schwartzman posed on the carpet together Rubbing shoulders: Emma greeted co-star Paul Giamatti like an old friend Saving Mr Banks explores the efforts of Walt Disney (Hanks) to try to persuade cantankerous Mary Poppins author P.L.Travers let him adapt her lovable nanny into a movie.

The film has already started generating award buzz, with Emma recently commenting that the screenplay was 'one of the best scripts I’d been offered in a long time'. 'We were all surprised that Disney let us make the film in the first place,' she added. Suited and booted: Colin Farrell arrived in a dark suit, grey patterned shirt and dark grey tie The life I lead: Jason Schwartzman plays composer Richard Sherman in the movie while Bradley Whitford stars as Poppins co-screenwriter Don DaGradi Composing legends: Schwartzman and B.J. Novak play the legendary Sherman Brothers, here posed with Melanie Paxson, who plays Walt Disney's secretary Dolly A touch of glamour: Victoria Summer glittered in gold while Karina Smirnoff wore bright orange Emma, who stars as Poppins frosty author P.L. Travers, looked stunning in a taupe dress with black embroidery and black high heels, while she showed off her chic bright blonde hairdo.

She also embraced Paul Giamatti, who plays Travers's chauffeur Ralph in the film, before sharing a joke on the carpet with Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson Also at the event were Colin Farrell who stars as Travers's father in flashback scenes, Jason Schwartzman who plays composer Richard Sherman in and Bradley Whitford who stars as Poppins co-screenwriter Don DaGradi. Based on real life: Hanks and Thompson play Walt Disney and P.L. Travers in Saving Mr Banks Read more: Dick Van Dyke: "I’d go to work with terrible hangovers. Which if you’re dancing is hard" - Telegraph Film news Dick Van Dyke: "I’d go to work with terrible hangovers. Which if you’re dancing is hard" Master of song, dance and pratfalls, Dick Van Dyke is one of the last great entertainers. What’s his secret? Helena de Bertodano meets him – and his young wife – at home Dick Van Dyke Photo: Mark Hill Image 1 of 4 Mickey Rooney, Dick Van Dyke and Bill Cobbs in Night At The Museum, 2006. Photo: REX FEATURES Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 1968.

Photo: REX FEATURES By Helena de Bertodano 6:00AM GMT 07 Jan 2013 Meeting an actor is often a disappointing experience – usually they bear little similarity to their roles either in looks or character. Dick Van Dyke is an exception. Although 87, he still has so much exuberance and charm that, when we meet at his Malibu home, it is almost as though Bert the chimney sweep has stepped off the set of Mary Poppins . Or Caractacus Potts from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has sprung back to life. Van Dyke even looks the same as he did in his heyday – white-haired now, of course, but with that familiar larger-than-life grin and jauntiness. One suspects that he might break into dance at any moment. “It’s quite hard to act yourself all the time,” jokes Van Dyke, his voice as rich and mellifluous as ever. “My first wife, Margie, used to say she could see no difference between Rob [the husband he played on The Dick Van Dyke Show for five years] and me. She said ‘You’re not acting.

You are exactly the same on screen as you are at home.’” His apparently effortless brand of deadpan humour – plus a talent for pratfalls – became his trademark, and made The Dick Van Dyke Show a sensation. First airing in 1961, it was grown up, sophisticated and ahead of its time in its treatment of marriage, equality and celebrity culture. Even today, The Dick Van Dyke Show is still talked about as one of the best sitcoms of all time. Later this month, Van Dyke will receive a Life Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). “Dick is the consummate entertainer,” says the the union's co-president Ken Howard, of why they decided to give him the award. “He sets a high bar for actors.” During his 60-plus year career, Van Dyke has worked with, or befriended, almost every great name in the industry. On his wall are paintings of Buster Keaton and Stan Laurel, two of his biggest heroes, both of whom he eulogised at their funerals. They provide a clue to Van Dyke’s own brand of comedy.

“I was a Laurel and Hardy nut,” says Van Dyke. One day he looked Stan Laurel up in the local phone book and dialled his number; the two men became firm friends. “I got to know Laurel at the end of his life and it was a great thrill for me. He left me his bow tie and derby and told me that if they ever made a movie about him, he’d want me to play him.” Sadly this has not transpired. At least not yet. But Van Dyke is still very active. So can he still dance? “I asked Fred Astaire once when he was about my age if he still danced and he said ‘Yes, but it hurts now’. That’s exactly it. I can still dance too but it hurts now!” Tall and limber, he works out in the gym every day. “I’ve always kept moving. I was at the gym at six this morning. Of course marrying a beautiful young woman has been a big help.” Earlier this year Van Dyke married Arlene Silver, his 40-year-old make-up artist. “There are so many years between us and we don’t feel it,” he says.

“I’m emotionally immature and she’s very wise for her age so we kind of meet in the middle.” Van Dyke sits at a polished wooden table in his home, drinking a cup of coffee, his wirehair terrier Rocky weaving between his legs, which are so long that he sits sideways at the table. He is dapperly dressed in a white long-sleeved polo shirt, cream slacks and Stars and Stripes trainers. Related Articles Emma Thompson in new Mary Poppins film 10 Apr 2012 Around the room are several Emmy awards and a Grammy. As for the SAG award, presented annually to an actor who fosters “the finest ideals of the acting profession”, Van Dyke – referring to the all-encompassing nature of the award – says: “I’ve found a home here because actors have always said ‘He’s really a dancer’ and dancers said ‘No, no he’s a singer’ and singers said ‘No I think he’s an actor.’” I ask him what he sees himself as. “I don’t know, I was never that good at anything but I did a little bit of it all. I’ve never studied dancing but I’ve always loved to dance.

I never sang anywhere except the shower and it took me forever to get into the high school choir. When I auditioned for Bye Bye Birdie [he did the Broadway musical before the movie, which launched him in Hollywood], I did a song and a little soft-shoe and for some reason they saw I could move. And I’ve never studied acting – which is maybe lucky otherwise I’d just be a copy of everybody else.” Endlessly self-deprecating, Van Dyke refuses to see his career as anything other than one long string of lucky breaks. Indeed his autobiography, published in 2011, was titled My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business – although frankly it is hard to spot a time when he was out of it. Born in 1925 in Missouri, to housewife Hazel and Loren “Cookie” Van Dyke, a travelling salesman, Dick describes himself as a shy child who used humour as a way to connect with people. “We worried about you,” his father once told him. “We didn’t think you’d amount to anything.” During the Second World War, Van Dyke enlisted in the US Army Air Corps where he became a radio announcer.

After the war, he opened an advertising agency which went bust within the year, then took to the road with a comedy-pantomime act he put together with a friend. Calling themselves The Merry Mutes, they mimed to records by Bing Crosby and Doris Day. Eventually they became a television show. Finding himself in Los Angeles, he persuaded the producers of a programme called Bride and Groom to let him marry his high school sweetheart, Margie Willet, on-air, thus saving himself the cost of the wedding and honeymoon. Nevertheless, money was tight. “We rented a little duplex here on the beach in Malibu for more than we could afford,” he tells me. “The lowest day of my life was when Margie miscarried [she was pregnant with twins] and we came back home and all our clothes and belongings were on the highway.” The couple had been evicted. “Now,” says Dick, gesturing around his lovely house overlooking a lawn with a swimming pool, “I’m back with a vengeance to Malibu.

I’ve lived back here 27 years, and I won’t go anywhere else, I just love it.” He lives on a secluded, gated estate spread over the hills in Malibu, where the houses are almost invisible behind the high fences and dense shrubbery. Van Dyke’s house is relatively modest in comparison to others in the vicinity, backing straight on to the winding road, with his white Jaguar parked outside. “Mel Gibson was a neighbour for years. And Olivia Newton John.” He chuckles at the memory of her: “She was a typical Aussie, she’d just open your front door and walk in saying ‘Hi, anybody home?’ Then we had, what’s her name?” – he racks his brain, then his face lights up – “Britney Spears! She moved back here and we had paparazzi and helicopters everywhere. But she only lasted a year.” After the miscarriage, Dick and Margie went on to have four children and remained married for 36 years. Despite Dick’s burgeoning career – by then he had done several major movies as well as The Dick Van Dyke Show – Margie persuaded him to move to Arizona. “We had a little ranch way out in the middle of nowhere.

My wife didn’t like showbusiness – as most spouses don’t: they get shunted aside. “But it was too soon for me. I could not afford either emotionally or financially to quit and retire. Not in my forties. We finally parted company because of that. And now another 40 years have gone by and I’ve been very busy. I still am.” For many years afterwards he lived with Michelle Triola, an actress, until her death from lung cancer in 2009. There followed a lonely time for Dick. “I’d go to the movies and find myself talking to strangers. I am not a loner. I never even had a bachelorhood: I went straight from my parents’ home to a marriage.” His solitude following Triola’s death was not long-lived. He began a relationship with Silver, whom he had glimpsed backstage at an awards show. “I thought she was startlingly beautiful and I just introduced myself. Later I was doing a murder mystery and I hired her as my make-up artist. It just grew from there.” Silver, who is attractive with shoulder-length brown hair, comes into the room and sits down. “I didn’t know who he was at first,” she confesses.

“I had never seen Mary Poppins. He looked familiar but I didn’t really know why.” “My family all love her,” says Van Dyke. “Both my daughters are crazy about her. My oldest, Christian, he’s the most responsible one and he was the only one who had some doubts about this marriage, thinking possibly I got a gold digger or something…” Silver interjects: “He thought you were getting taken.” “And after we did our vows,” continues Van Dyke, “he came up to me and said ‘Dad, I get it.’” “There’s no role model for this kind of age difference,” says Silver. “Obviously there’s Anna Nicole [Smith, a model who married an octogenarian 62 years her senior] but Dick is not your normal 87 year-old. He has changed the way I look at life – he has such a happy outlook on everything.” The sitting room where we talk is a shrine to their wedding party – the menu, including a Sea of Love elixir and a Cotton Candy martini, stands on a sideboard next to a bouquet of turquoise and white feathers.

Silver dreamt up every detail of the wedding herself – the dancing jellyfish, the circus barker, the giant stuffed bear. “Instead of flower girls [bridesmaids] I had feather boys with burlesque fans.” Silver, who has not been married before, says she has not really thought about a family. “I’m not considering kids yet but if it happens, it happens.” Van Dyke is planning a visit to the set of Saving Mr Banks, the forthcoming Disney film starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, about the making of the original Mary Poppins movie. “It took Walt [Disney] 20 years to talk Travers [Pamela Travers, author of the Mary Poppins novels] into giving him the rights for the picture and then she fought him tooth and nail all the way through it. She hated me, she hated Julie Andrews, she didn’t think either one of us were right. After the premiere she met Walt in the lobby and said ‘All the animation has to go.’ Walt said, ‘Pamela, the boat has sailed.’” Dick roars with laughter at the memory. He says he still gets a lot of stick about his terrible Cockney accent in Mary Poppins.

“People from the UK love to tease me. I invented a whole new dialect. I never could do a British accent, not even in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” Although he is still sent lots of scripts, few appeal to him. “They keep asking me to do sitcoms but all I see are a lot of people trying very hard to be funny. And they’re not. I swear all those actors are interchangeable. “Now they shoot scenes with no rehearsal, no read-through, no discussion, they don’t even know the other actors. I just don’t get it. When we did The Dick Van Dyke Show, it was like an improv group – Carl Reiner [the writer and producer] had a rule: ‘I don’t care how crazy it gets as long as it could happen in real life and you react accordingly.’ The minute you try to be funny, you’re not.” At the height of his career, he had such a reputation for playing the amiable hero that he refused to take on any character that was less than wholesome, even turning down a role in The Omen. “My god, that was stupid,” he says today of his decision.

“Gregory Peck got the part, but at that time there was a lot of violence in it – people impaled on things. I was pretty puritan at the time, a goody-two-shoes, I felt I’d put myself in a position where the audience trusted me. I turned down several things for that reason – either taste or violence or sex or something.” Later in his career, he did branch into more villainous territory, playing a crooked cop in Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy and a scheming night security guard in Ben Stiller’s Night at the Museum. Indeed he is eager to reprise the role in Night at the Museum 3, which is said to be in the works. “Those movies were such fun to do. I remember Ben Stiller and Ricky Gervais trying to improvise a scene but they were both laughing so hard we all ended up crying.” He talks so highly of everyone he has ever worked with that I ask him if there is anyone he has not liked. “Faye Dunaway,” Van Dyke says immediately – but out of the side of his mouth as though he is ventriloquising. “I think she was on something that made her testy.

She was nice to me but she yelled at everybody else.” In his autobiography he describes her as a “handful”. He played her husband in The Country Girl: “I only agreed to the role because I thought Blythe Danner was going to be my wife,” he jokes today. “But I got to New York to find that she’d been replaced with Faye. We shot one scene that I thought was my best dramatic work ever. Six weeks later, Faye insisted on reshooting it and I had to go back to New York to redo it.” Despite his relentlessly upbeat nature, there have clearly been darker times. He talks openly about fighting alcoholism, which led him into deep depression in middle age. “I was an alcoholic for about 25 years. In the Fifties and Sixties, everybody had their martini, everybody smoked incessantly. The funny thing is that all through my twenties and early thirties I didn’t drink at all. Then we moved to a neighbourhood full of young families with the same age kids and everyone drank heavily, there were big parties every night. I would go to work with terrible hangovers which if you’re dancing is really hard.” He checked himself into treatment clinics twice, but they didn’t help.

“I was in deep trouble, you get suicidal and think you just can’t go on.” Did he really contemplate suicide? “I had suicidal feelings, it was just terrible. But then suddenly, like a blessing, the drink started not to taste good. I would feel a little dizzy and a little nauseous and I wasn’t getting the click. Today I wouldn’t want a drink for anything. But I do occasionally think of taking a nice drag [he mimes drawing deeply on a cigarette].” He looks wistful and pops a Nicorette into his mouth. “I’ve been on this gum for 10 years and it’s just as addictive but at least it’s not hurting my lungs.” These days, Van Dyke tends to hang out with a younger generation because, as he puts it bluntly, most of his contemporaries are dead. “My whole generation has disappeared on me. My contemporaries, not in talent but in age, were Paul Newman, Jack Lemmon, Rock Hudson. All gone.” When he is presented with the SAG award, he plans to announce his desire to continue working.

“I’m going to say ‘My bucket list is almost empty but I want to work with either Judi Dench or Helen Mirren.’ I’m crazy about Judi Dench.” Knowing Van Dyke’s luck, his wish may yet come true. “Everything in my life has been a surprise. Every turn has been something I never expected.” He looks across at Silver and smiles. “And still is.” Follow Seven magazine on Twitter: @TelegraphSeven Start your free 30 day Amazon Prime trial»

Question: What was the first name of Dick Van Dyke’s Cockney character in ‘Mary Poppins’?
Answer: BERT