Days of our Lives is about to step in time with a legendary Hollywood performer. Dick Van Dyke, whose film and television roles are too numerous to mention in their entirety, will appear this fall on Days of our Lives.
The 97-year-old Van Dyke's journey to Salem came about via his real-life friendship with Drake Hogestyn (John Black).
"Drake and I went to the same gym together," Van Dyke told Access Hollywood. "I used to kid him, 'Don't you have any parts [on DAYS] for old people?' and he took me seriously. He got me a part."
Van Dyke will play a character with amnesia who gets help from John and Marlena.
"I have played old men before, but comedy old me," the iconic actor explained, before joking that this would be the "first time I ever just played my 97-year-old self."
2023 has been a year of firsts for the actor, who has seemingly done it all. Earlier this year, Van Dyke was revealed as the Gnome on the reality competition The Masked Singer.
In 1961, Van Dyke starred in the original production of Bye Bye Birdie, a role that earned him a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. He helmed the eponymous Dick Van Dyke Show from 1961 to 1966. He is known to generations for his work in the 1964 motion picture Mary Poppins. From 1993 to 2001, he headlined the CBS drama series Diagnosis Murder.
During his career, Van Dyke has won a Golden Globe, a Tony, a Grammy, a Daytime Emmy, and four Primetime Emmys. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012 and was a Kennedy Center Honors honoree in 2021.
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