Dick Van Dyke says he’s not afraid of dying: ‘I could go any day now’
‘I could go any day now,’ the ‘Mary Poppins’ star says in the moving footage, ‘but I’m not afraid of it’
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Your support makes all the difference.Dick Van Dyke stars in a new music video from Coldplay, as he prepares to celebrate his 99th birthday.
The clip for “All My Love” was filmed at the Mary Poppins star’s beachside home in Malibu, and follows him as he reflects on life and aging.
“I’m acutely aware that I could go any day now,” Van Dyke says, “but I don’t know why it doesn’t concern me. I’m not afraid of it. I have the feeling that I’m gonna be alright.”
Set to the British rock band’s ballad from their 10th studio album, Moon Music, the “All My Love” video runs for seven minutes and offers a poignant close-up of the beloved actor, known for his performances in films such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Bye Bye Birdie.
It opens with Van Dyke – the winner of five Emmys, a Tony, a Grammy, a Bafta and an induction into the Television Hall of Fame – walking out to band frontman Chris Martin, who’s waiting at the piano.
“Chris,” the actor greets him. “Shall we?”
During the video, Van Dyke recreates his famous penguin dance from Mary Poppinsas well as The Twizzle, from his Sixties TV sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show.
It is interspersed with photos of Van Dyke through his decades-long career, revealing a life-size statue of his Mary Poppins character, Bert the chimney sweep.
“What is love?” Van Dyke is asked at one point by co-director Spike Jonze, who was joined for the project by Mary Wigmore.
“What is love?” Van Dyke answers. “Boy, they’ve been asking that question for centuries. I don’t know. It’s certainly the feeling of caring about the welfare and the life of the other person, as much as you care for yourself.”
Reflecting on his storied career, Van Dyke says he believes he’s one of those “lucky people” who “got to do for a living what I would have done anyway”.
“I got to do what I love… play and act silly,” he said.
Later, Van Dyke is joined by his family, including children and grandchildren, as well as his wife, Arlene Silver, with whom he dances barefoot.
"I’ve had dreams where I’m depressed or lonely or hurt, and she comes to comfort me,” Van Dyke says of his daughter Stacy, as he looks lovingly at a photo of her being read a bedtime story. “She actually comes to comfort me."
The clip ends with Martin improvising a song for Van Dyke, who laughs in astonishment: “Have we got that on film?” he asks, beaming. “Can you believe this man?”
A shorter version of the video will be released on Friday 13 December to mark the actor’s 99th birthday.
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