Dick Van Dyke Cancels Comedy Show Appearance Because of Illness

TV and movie star Dick Van Dyke, 99, withdrew from a comedy show appearance on Saturday because he was feeling under the weather, according to his wife, Arlene Silver.

Van Dyke and Silver normally co-host the Vandy Camp, a fan event, along with his musical quartet, the Vantastix. The show merges the longtime entertainer’s love for comedy, vaudeville and the circus into a one-day celebration at the Arlene and Dick Van Dyke Theater at California’s Malibu High School.

Appearing alone at the venue, Silver told the crowd that Van Dyke wouldn’t be in attendance. “When you’re 99 and a half years old, you have good days and bad days ... and unfortunately today is not a good day for him and he’s sick that he can’t be here,” she said, according to People.com.

However, Van Dyke did make a livestream appearance during the event.

Van Dyke has been a fixture in the entertainment world for more than seven decades. The star of the 1968 film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang rose to fame in the early 1960s as Rob Petrie in the classic CBS sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show. He has won five Emmys, a Tony for the 1960 Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie, a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award and a Grammy.

In celebration of his 99th birthday in December 2024, Van Dyke starred in a video for Coldplay’s “All My Love,” which the rock band dedicated to Van Dyke. In the video, he spoke about how he’s unfazed by mortality.

“I’m acutely aware that I’m, you know, could go any day now, but I don’t know why it doesn’t concern me,” he said. “I’m not afraid of it. I have that feeling, totally against anything intellectual, that I’m going to be all right.”

He has an autobiography coming out in November, titled 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist's Guide to a Happy Life.