At the beginning of the year, Dick Van Dyke was listed as one of the celebrities that was most
likely to pass away in the year 2023. This came as a shock to fans, who have since
been nervously awaiting bad news from the actor’s camp. Only a couple of months into the year, Dick
has now apparently suffered a car crash. The news made many fans think that the end
had finally come, but it appears that Dick is doing okay physically. Still, the accident has
apparently resulted in the 97-year-old having to retake his driving test. Join Facts Verse as
we take a look at how Dick Van Dyke was injured in a car crash and police revoked his license.
Dick Van Dyke Just Got Into a Car Crash In late March of 2023, it was reported
that Dick Van Dyke had gotten into a single-car crash while he was behind the wheel. The Mary
Poppins star is now 97 years old, making him one of the oldest living celebrities
around. The fact that he’s still able to get out and drive himself is quite the feat,
but this recent accident may end up changing that. The consequences of the accident were not nearly
as large as they could have been, especially considering the fact that Dick is believed by
many to be at death’s door. Still, that doesn’t mean that the elderly celebrity got off scot-free.
The car crash occurred in Malibu, California, and it saw Dick Van Dyke lose control of his
vehicle and accidentally collide with a gate. Of course, the first thing that authorities
wondered when they got to the scene was whether or not the iconic celebrity was
sober. Many decades ago, Dick had a pretty serious problem with alcohol. However,
he’s been clean for many years. It seems that Dick was of a perfectly sound mind when he
crashed his vehicle. The thing that made the 97-year-old driver lost control was a
thick sheet of rain that was coating the roads. The area had been suffering from some serious
rainfall for quite some time, and it appears that Dick’s car simply hydroplaned into the gate.
Dick Van Dyke was driving a 2018 Lexus LS 500 at the time of the accident. It’s unclear what
kind of shape the car is in, but the actor himself is doing okay. First responders claimed that the
actor was bleeding from his mouth and his nose when they first showed up on the scene,
and it was speculated that he had perhaps suffered from a concussion. Hospital care
was advised for the elderly icon, but he flat-out refused the ambulance trip. Instead,
Dick ended up making his way home after the accident as if nothing had happened.
Dick Is No Average 97-Year-Old Man When you think of a nearly 100-year-old
man getting into a car crash, you might expect the consequences to be a good deal more severe than
they were in this scenario. Though Dick has been a favorite in celebrity death pools for years based
on his age alone, the actor is actually incredibly healthy and physically active when you consider
the fact that he is in his 90s. Dick endeared himself to fans as a dancer during his career,
and he has never stopped. According to the actor, he still can’t help but tap his feet whenever
he finds himself on solid ground. Staying active keeps Dick alive and in good spirits,
so it’s not too surprising that he was able to recover from his recent car crash fairly quickly.
Another thing that helps Dick Van Dyke stay in good spirits is his wife. Dick has been
married two times over the course of his life, with the actor being married to first wife Margie
Willett from 1948 to 1984. Since 2012, he has been married to a woman by the name of Arlene
Silver. Given that she’s in her 50s, Arlene is no spring chicken. However, the fact that she’s
nearly half of her husband’s age has led many to make jokes about Dick robbing the cradle. It
seems that Dick and Arlene get along swimmingly, and they share a youthful spirit. Arlene also
helped her husband out when it came to his recent appearance on the show The Masked Singer.
Dick Van Dyke has been keeping himself active in many ways as of late, perhaps
because he’s privy to the fact that so many are expecting him to drop dead at any moment!
Besides paying homage to his original Mary Poppins role in 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns,
another notable thing that the actor did recently was compete on The Masked Singer. The actor showed
up during the premiere of the show’s ninth season, and he ended up being the first
celebrity figure to be unmasked. When it came time for Dick to perform, judges Jenny McCarthy
and Ken Jeong had a very hard time guessing who the celebrity figure was behind the mask.
Dick Mildly Impressed the Judges on The Masked Singer
Before it was determined that the masked singer in question was Dick Van Dyke,
some of the guesses the judges blurted out included Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, and Tony
Bennett. When Dick heard his voice being compared to Dustin Hoffman and Robert DeNiro, he became
upset because those aren’t figure that are known for their great singing voices. However, being
compared to Tony Bennett helped boost the actor’s self-esteem. The actor predicted that none of the
judges would be able to accurately guess who he was behind the mask, and he ended up being right!
During his performance on The Masked Singer, Dick Van Dyke sang the Frank Sinatra classic
“When You’re Smiling”. According to the actor himself, the producers of the program had wanted
him to choose a song that was a bit more modern. However, a problem arose when it
was revealed that Dick didn’t even have a cursory familiarity with any of the modern
hits being suggested. It was then that wife Arlene stepped in and suggested the Frank Sinatra song.
Given the air of secrecy that is kept on the set of The Masked Singer,
Dick Van Dyke claimed that he didn’t even get a chance to meet any of the show’s judges. In
addition to the aforementioned Ken Jeong and Jenny McCarthy, these judges also include Robin
Thicke and Nicole Scherzinger. According to Dick, he was blindfolded before being
brought out of his car into the studio, and he remained either blindfolded or masked for
the duration of his participation. In order to keep him from falling, people guided him around.
When it was revealed that Dick Van Dyke had been eliminated, the 97-year-old performer took the
news with a positive attitude. He broke into a brief rendition of the Mary Poppins classic
"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, leaving fans with a spoonful of sugar in their mouths.
To this day, Dick considers his appearance in 1964’s Mary Poppins to be the height of his
career. Dick claims that getting to work with Walt Disney was a dream come true,
and he went on to do it a couple of more times before the legendary mogul’s death.
Dick Still Reminisces About Filming Mary Poppins Getting the chance to appear on the big screen
in Mary Poppins was a big deal for Dick Van Dyke, though that doesn’t mean that everything was going
well in the performer’s life around the time. The 1960s was the period wherein Dick’s aforementioned
alcoholism was at it’s worst. Dick claims that everyone in his life was drinking heavily at the
time, and he had nowhere to turn for a positive influence. During the filming of Mary Poppins,
Dick’s alcoholism allegedly became so bad that the actor considered suicide.
Dick Van Dyke’s alcoholism left him rather unceremoniously, with the actor claiming that he
simply woke up one day and no longer thought that alcohol tasted good. Since then, numerous
decades have passed without the performer having any kind of relapse. Leaving alcohol behind has
certainly helped Dick stay active and healthy into his twilight years. Other
notable things that the actor has done in recent years include paying a tribute to
a speech he gave at a civil rights rally in 1964, as well as some modest philanthropy.
In 1964, Dick Van Dyke delivered a speech at a civil rights rally that was keynoted
by none other than Martin Luther King Jr. On the late Martin Luther King Jr.’s most recent
birthday, Dick dug up an old copy of this speech and performed a rendition of it for YouTube. Dick
has always been passionate about humanitarian causes. In 2022, Dick was spotted handing out $5
bills to people hanging out in from of the Malibu Community Labor Exchange. In addition to this,
Dick has also done many other philanthropic things over the years. He volunteered at a
homeless shelter in Los Angeles for around two decades, and he’s also the spokesperson
for several altruistic medical foundations. As a result of Dick’s varied philanthropic efforts,
he was awarded the Prince Rainier III Humanitarian Award in 2014 by the Princess Grace Foundation.
The award included a prize of $25,000 that was donated to Dick’s charity of choice.
Dick Van Dyke may not be able to drive anymore, but he’s still alive and kicking! Now it’s
time to hear from you: did you know that Dick Van Dyke just got in a car
crash and that many are predicting he’ll die soon? Comment down below!