Mary Poppins star breaks record at age 98

Dick Van Dyke was rewarded Friday for his performance in the soap Days of our Lives.

60 years ago he jumped and danced on the rooftops of London in Mary Poppinsnext to Julie Andrews (who will be 89 this year). And in 2024, Dick Van Dyke still in good shape! The American actor made an event this weekend by making history, ahead of the oldest actor to win an Emmy Award, at the age of… 98 years old!

Dick Van Dyke was the star of the big Daytime Emmy 2024 ceremony on Friday evening, thanks to her guest star role in 4 episodes of the soap Days and lives.

“I am the oldest recipient in history. I can not believe it. I've been playing old men all my life. If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself!” commented Dick Van Dyke, who effectively played two roles in Mary Poppins : that of Bert the chimney sweep and that of old Mr Dawes Sr., owner of the bank where George Banks works.

“I’m 98 years old, can you believe it?“, insists Dick Van Dyke. “That’s 80 years in the movie business. I love you, God bless you.”

If it runs relatively little now, Dick Van Dyke is not retired yet. He made an appearance in Mary Poppins Returns (in 2018) and was a candidate of Masked Singer last year, in the US version of the show.