As the world prepares to honor Dick Van Dyke’s 100th birthday on December 13, the legendary entertainer has offered a rare and deeply personal look into the emotional complexities of aging. In a reflective diary piece written for The Times, the 99-year-old icon—celebrated for decades as a source of boundless energy and joy—acknowledged the painful realities that accompany reaching such an extraordinary milestone.
“Diminished”
“It’s frustrating to feel diminished in the world, physically and socially,” he wrote, according to The Independent.
For more than 60 years, Van Dyke’s life unfolded on stage sets and studio lots, a world where his charisma and talent made him timeless. Now, the beloved star of Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang spends most days in the quiet of his California home. His once-hectic schedule is gone, replaced by stillness.
“Almost all of my visiting with folks has to happen at my house,” he admitted, noting that his energy is no longer what it once was. “Travel takes so much out of me that I have to say no.”
“Current events could turn anyone sour”
He went on to describe how modern turmoil has weighed heavily on him.
“Recent and unfolding current events could turn anyone sour and dark, young or old,” he wrote, recalling the two Southern California wildfires that came dangerously close to his home—one of them the worst in the state’s history.
Van Dyke, who has previously criticized former President Donald Trump, said that climate disasters and political unrest have left him emotionally drained. “Daily, I spiral into anguish over the mayhem and cruelty being inflicted on the entire world by those in power. So yes, I suppose at certain times of day I am the grumpy old man who yells at the TV.”
Loneliness
Yet the most profound ache, he shared, comes from outliving so many of the people he loved.
He spoke tenderly of losing his first wife, Margie Willett, the mother of his four children, who died in 2008—long after their 1984 divorce—and his longtime partner, Michelle Triola, who passed in 2009 after more than three decades together.
“Every single one of my dearest lifelong friends is gone, which feels just as lonely as it sounds,” he wrote, revealing the quiet grief that often shadows longevity.
Still, he emphasized that sadness is not what defines him.
The love that keeps him young
Van Dyke credits his wife, Arlene, 54, with keeping him grounded, youthful, and connected to joy.
“Without question, our ongoing romance is the most important reason I have not withered away into a hermetic grouch,” he wrote.
Their marriage, now more than a decade strong despite its significant age gap, has become a stabilizing source of comfort and purpose.
“Arlene is half my age, and she makes me feel somewhere between two thirds and three quarters my age, which is still saying a lot,” he added with characteristic humor.
A “giant playground”
Even as age and loss tighten their grip, the award-winning legend has not surrendered the optimism that endeared him to millions.
“No one is genetically miserable. No matter our current circumstances, we all have the capacity for a joyful life,” he wrote, as quoted by Men’s Journal.
He explained that he has reached 99 because he steadfastly refused to let life’s hardships define him—be it failure, grief, loneliness, or the physical challenges of aging.
“That stuff is real, but I have not let it define me,” he said. “Instead, for the vast majority of my years, I have been in what I can only describe as a full-on bear hug with the experience of living. Being alive has been doing life—not like a job but rather like a giant playground.”
As Dick Van Dyke enters his centennial year, he does so not with a final curtain but with a gentler, more introspective act—one marked by honesty, love, resilience, and a still-vibrant zest for life.
Feel free to share your birthday wishes for this extraordinary entertainer below—and spread this story so the world can celebrate a man who has given so much joy to so many.
