Computer animator and Amiga fanatic Dick van Dyke turns 100

Here's a video from 2004 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1J9kfDCAmU

It's his 100th birthday today.

236 points | by ggm 23 hours ago

30 comments

  • tzs 17 hours ago
    Here’s a great quote by him:

    > In my 30’s, I exercised to look good. In my 50’s, to stay fit. In my 70’s, to stay ambulatory. In my 80’s, to avoid assisted living. Now in my 90’s, I’m just doing it out of pure defiance

    • SoftTalker 14 hours ago
      He was also an alcoholic for many years. Must be made of pretty good stuff to survive this long.
      • moron4hire 13 hours ago
        Of all of my grandparents and great grandparents, they all lived really hard lives eating high fat diets, drinking and smoking, and lived into their 80s. Genetics is really the biggest determining factor outside of going completely off the rails with binge eating and drug use.

        Now, that's not to say that healthy living is pointless. Their quality of life from late 60s on was not great: alcoholism, poverty, multiple heart attacks, emphasima, a stroke here and there, from which they eventually, sort of, not really recovered. They were deeply unhappy people who never really seemed to have time or care for their families. I definitely don't want to live like that. So treat yourself right, but not because you're trying to reach a certain age.

        • mrandish 13 hours ago
          > Genetics is really the biggest determining factor outside of going completely off the rails with binge eating and drug use.

          So true. I'm fortunate that both my parents have long-life family histories. Both families were old-fashioned Southern Baptists who didn't drink, smoke, dance or, apparently, believe in having fun of any kind :-). But that just kept them from messing up their good genetic luck. I'm an old-fashioned atheist but have chosen to never drink, smoke or do drugs just because I never saw a compelling reason to. Now I'm pushing 60 and have so far had zero serious health issues. Hoping to keep a good thing going.

          • Imustaskforhelp 11 hours ago
            > I'm an old-fashioned atheist but have chosen to never drink, smoke or do drugs just because I never saw a compelling reason to

            I am 17 and I am the same here (atheist) and similar and yeah I see no reason to do these things either and I actively see the negative harmful effects it can have so I am not gonna do these things at all ever in my life too.

            Have a nice day :)

            • moron4hire 7 hours ago
              There's not no reason to eat fatty foods (they're delicious) or do drugs (they're a lot of fun). Life is for living, too. But everything in moderation.
        • robotresearcher 12 hours ago
          Beware survivor bias.

          In a population of equally vulnerable genetics and stochastic outcomes, there will be families that all live long.

          We are wired to attribute that to something.

        • pengaru 10 hours ago
          > they all lived really hard lives eating high fat diets

          ICYMI the low fat diet craze was built on lies and corruption, fat isn't bad for you. Sugar is.

          • moron4hire 7 hours ago
            I don't think it's that simple.
  • austinjp 19 hours ago
    Seemingly a universally liked man. So much so, that dolphins rescued him when he fell asleep on his surfboard aged 84.

    https://archive.is/pZTz3

    • thefaux 15 hours ago
      The intelligence and benevolence of many marine mammals is vastly under appreciated.
      • spankibalt 14 hours ago
        Reportedly, dolphins are notorious rapists. So maybe there's more to this story...
        • yetihehe 13 hours ago
          Maybe intelligent species have a lot of variance? There are good and bad dolphins, like there are good and bad people.
          • avazhi 13 hours ago
            [flagged]
            • mrexroad 12 hours ago
              > It clearly wasn’t ’that bad’ for most human history given how prevalent it was. But in the modern world we are trauma merchants.

              What in the actual fuck kind of logic brought you here to that conclusion? I worry for you and whatever content you’ve consumed over the years that allowed you to build up this theory.

              • avazhi 12 hours ago
                Well I did a Psych minor for lols back in the day and there's no doubt that almost all of current social psychology is made up of trauma merchants peddling their wares. 'Step 1: gaslight you into thinking you're fucked up Step 2: Convince you I'm the one who can help you' kind of shit. Psychologists obviously get upset by the suggestion.

                But in terms of rape, as I said in my original comment it's just a suspicion. Happy to hear your counterarguments if you have any.

                • pfannkuchen 2 hours ago
                  Was rape that common? Like in hunter gatherer times (most of human history) most mating would have been within the band. I don’t think intra-band mating would have been rapey, mostly. Incestuous by modern standards, for sure, but I don’t see why it would have been rapey. Inter-tribe conquest mating definitely happened, but was it really that common compared to the normal mode? It takes way more effort, at least.

                  My similarly controversial take is that modern rape is traumatic because rapists are no longer hung in public. I think public hangings might have had an under appreciated healing effect on the psyche. Like if a guy who attacked you is still out there, he might attack you again. But if you saw him hang, you just might feel better.

                  • avazhi 1 hour ago
                    https://freedomandcitizenship.columbia.edu/gender-equality-h...

                    It's been extremely prevalent. In terms of prehistory, we have lots of evidence that young women were almost always spared if one group massacred another, and we have genetic evidence that invariably the winning male bloodline would become predominant in any conquered group.

                    If you look at the Columbia link and do other research it's pretty obvious that 'punishing' rapists has never really been about punishing them or giving women some kind of absolution. In the code of Hammurabi and with the Jews women who didn't scream so that others could hear were prosecuted for adultery or stoned lol. The idea of giving women the satisfaction of watching anything for their own benefit is a very modern notion and even now doesn't really exist anyway. That's just your personal fantasy. You can go back to the Assyrians to see that if, for example, you raped my virgin daughter then I could legally rape your wife. It's mostly been a property or bloodline issue. It's never been about the females and that's another reason I think it's massively overblown in modern times. It's been normal human behaviour for millions of years. To put it another way, if you were a young 19 year old female in a village that was being ransacked, say, 4000 years ago, you'd know what was going to happen to you if your males lost. I don't think it would have been that traumatising - the males in your village would have done it to the females in their village were the roles reversed. The 'trauma' is largely a modern phenomenon where everything has to be upsetting/triggering/trauma-inducing. Everybody has to be a victim these days.

            • wanderingjew 13 hours ago
              gettin some real shit hacker news commentors say energy with this one
        • PolygonSheep 8 hours ago
          They're certainly not backwards about coming forward with their tummy bananas...
    • agumonkey 16 hours ago
      When nature is on your side you now you have it good
  • dhosek 11 hours ago
    There are few (maybe no) moments of Dick Van Dyke that aren’t a joy to watch. I grew up on reruns of the Dick Van Dyke Show and discovered Andy Kaufman thanks to Van Dyke’s short-lived variety show, Van Dyke and Company. Watching his dance moves (it’s a little amazing to realize how many dance numbers the Dick Van Dyke Show featured) is like watching an animated character dance, he was able to move his body in ways that suggest he has no bones. As a kid, I wanted to be Dick Van Dyke when I grew up and as an adult, I want to be Dick Van Dyke when I’m old.
  • dobladov 11 hours ago
    The whole "The Dick Van Dyke Show" is available for free on YouTube, I highly recommend it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-HsXBPWH3Y&list=PLtbMv4lXX2...

    • dhosek 11 hours ago
      Good starting points would be the Christmas Special (Alan Brady Presents), “It May Look Like a Walnut” and “That’s My Boy” (just off the top of my head). There are two episodes where we got to see Van Dyke’s Stan Laurel impersonation which was absolutely amazing. Given how much he drank and smoked back in the 60s and 70s it’s a miracle he’s still on earth, but he is definitely a treasure.
    • NetMageSCW 11 hours ago
      Is it commercial free? Also available in Prime Video and Peacock Premium if you have those.
  • gbraad 18 hours ago
    THE Dick van Dyke, from Mary Poppins, Diagnosis: Murder, ans so many more?! I always thought it was just a coincidental same name as I never saw videos about this. Oh my! This guy is amazing
    • ChrisMarshallNY 17 hours ago
      Very much so. Really decent chap, too.

      Terrible cockney accent, though...

      • wingmanjd 15 hours ago
        No one mentioned it to him during production, so he didn't know.
  • stavros 21 hours ago
    I had no idea he's an animator, that's so cool! In that video he says "Lightwave is so deep, I won't live long enough to see everything that's in it". I'm glad he's proven wrong there!
    • kristopolous 18 hours ago
      I know his son Barry. He said his first memory he has was his Dad doing real time drawings for people telling stories. He was behind the story teller on stage on giant pads of paper as a comedy bit at night clubs.

      He also remembers having giant bags of toys dumped on the floor of the hotel rooms.

    • ChrisMarshallNY 17 hours ago
      Many A-listers are polymaths. For example, Phil Hartman, used to be Phil Hartmann (extra "n"), and designed some of the most iconic album covers of the 1970s, and Steve Martin is one of the best banjo players out there. It used to be part of his standup bit.

      Dick Van Dyke came from the tail end of Vaudeville, where performers had to have a whole variety of skills.

      Remember: Every one of these folks that hits the limelight, beat out thousands of others.

      We think our vocation is competitive? Showbiz says "Hold my beer."

      • ndstephens 15 hours ago
        Just looked it up and saw he did an album cover for Steely Dan. It reminded me that Chevy Chase was an early drummer for Steely Dan (well, before they became "Steely Dan")
      • trehalose 15 hours ago
        Hedy Lamarr was a prolific inventor. Among other things, she developed a frequency-hopping spread spectrum radio transmission technique for torpedo guidance and donated the patent to the US Navy during WW2.
        • ChrisMarshallNY 13 hours ago
          That's "Headley!" (Blazing Saddles reference).

          And of course, there's Sir Doctor Brian May.

          Many of the early electronic musicians were basically engineers (you had to be, to use some of those old synthesizers).

      • martinesq 15 hours ago
        > Steve Martin is one of the best banjo players out there

        And he’s great with a lasso!

        I love his albums with Edie Brickell, he’s good with Steep Canyon Rangers, and more recently have heard him shine with Alison Brown (banjo), Sierra Hull (mandolin), and others in his latest tour.

        If you’re looking for the top banjo players technically, you might check out Béla Fleck, Jens Kruger, Noam Pikelny, Tony Trischka, Bill Keith, Don Reno, and Earl Scruggs. I’ve personally heard superhuman performances by Jens Kruger in-person and I grew up on Scruggs.

        • kstrauser 14 hours ago
          I have a fond memory of my dad taking me to see Roy Clark when I was a little guy.
      • dboreham 15 hours ago
        For completeness: Billy Connolly was also a banjo player.
    • Keyframe 16 hours ago
      He even outlived Ligtwave!
  • linsomniac 15 hours ago
    A few months ago I found The Dick Van Dyke Show free to watch on Youtube. I had seen a number of the episodes in passing over the years, but never really watched it. It's really quite a good show. Highly recommended, even if YouTube's viewing experience for TV series is sub-par.
    • mrandish 13 hours ago
      Some of those older comedy shows had really good writing. The Bob Newhart shows were also excellent.
      • tronicjester 12 hours ago
        Bob Newhart was Mr. Rogers for adults. Good show!
  • ks2048 11 hours ago
    I just saw a tweet saying his birth was closer to the death of Thomas Jefferson (1826) than it is to today. Wow.
    • jihadjihad 11 hours ago
      It’s a fun fact that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on the same day, July 4 1826, 50 years to the day after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
      • lickmygiggle 11 hours ago
        Ironically enough, Adams’ last words were reportedly, “Jefferson lives”
        • ericvsmith 10 hours ago
          For those who don't know the story: it's ironic because Jefferson died first.
    • sethammons 11 hours ago
      The grandson of the 10th US president died this year. The US is barely three generations old. That guy could say his grandfather shook hands with Thomas Jefferson.
      • lifeisstillgood 10 hours ago
        I think it was Bertram Russell who said he was raised by his grandfather, who knew Napoleon.

        The modern world is a lot more crammed together than we think it is

        • exasperaited 10 hours ago
          If you have never played the backwards-lifetime game, you should.

          Take your current age and work backwards that same number of days, months and years before your birth. Every year something else remarkable is added.

          At my current backwards age, World War II is the best part of two decades away; the UK is still recovering from World War I. Rocket 88, the first rock and roll song, won't be written for nearly another three decades. Women still can't vote in the UK, the Wall Street Crash is several years away.

          When my father (who knew one of the most important men in medical history in his younger days and who was working in medicine not long after the NHS was founded) died, his backwards age reached back before the germ theory of modern medicine.

          Another interesting game is to use your "oocyte age" — about 32 weeks before your mother was born is roughly when the oocyte developed that led to your egg. In my case this too is before World War II started.

    • bonoboTP 11 hours ago
      Yeah, he's very old for a person and the US is very young for a country.
  • tclancy 19 hours ago
  • Bengalilol 10 hours ago
    Bonus: here are two videos where he spoke at SIGGRAPH 2004

    Part 1 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1J9kfDCAmU>

    Part 2 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0IGjoo5gRg>

    \m/ happy birthday Mr Van Dyke!

    source: <https://www.reddit.com/r/amiga/comments/obe3v6/95_year_old_d...>

  • gsf_emergency_6 21 hours ago
    • bestouff 20 hours ago
      > The beloved actor credits his remarkable longevity to his positive outlook and never getting angry.
      • Tade0 18 hours ago
        Makes sense. My grandpa is one year his junior and you would never see him react too strongly to anything, even though grandma (also still alive) always had an, ahem, fiery personality.

        Also he refuses to sit and moves around all the time, venturing outside every day from their apartment four floors above ground without a lift.

        Interestingly his own father didn't make it to his 60s, so there's certainly a lifestyle component to this.

  • wuhhh 21 hours ago
    Wow I had no idea, what a cool guy! Loved Mary Poppins as a kid, his British accent though… xD
  • k310 10 hours ago
    My clearest recollection (don't know the episode) is when he attends an event, probably in place of Alan Brady, that turns out to be a big fund-raiser. The Hostess addresses him as Mister Petrov. When asked for a donation, he is stupefied, and can only say "I have this blank check" ... no spoiler ...

    The comedy show within a comedy show is a cool dramatic and operatic trick.

    Magnificent delivery.

  • neilv 11 hours ago
  • Coeur 20 hours ago
    Here's the mentioned segment from "Diagnosis: Murder": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WeZKOPcaeA
  • satvikpendem 11 hours ago
    I've heard of him but have never seen any of his content, what should I watch?
    • riffraff 10 hours ago
      it's quite possible you may unknowingly have seen him in Mary Poppins, where he plays _two_ roles, and I was mind blown when I noticed the second after 30 years or so.
  • exasperaited 10 hours ago
    He sang probably the greatest song in musical film — Hushabye Mountain in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfdRr7MWax4

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeCBVerpYj8

    If you have never seen this film, I don't care how old you are, you should watch it. It is overshadowed by Mary Poppins but it is a work of art — a funny, charming, astonishing visual feast of a film and he is magnificent in it. His performance as the jack-in-a-box alone is worth an Oscar:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_l2ii_25tc

    • justin66 10 hours ago
      > If you have never seen this film, I don't care how old you are, you should watch it.

      I’m not sure about the all ages part. We watched it in first or second grade and I can still remember wondering how a movie with a flying car could be so boring.

  • Instantix 17 hours ago
    And then Commodore made the A3000 not high enough to take the Video Toaster. How to shoot yourself in the foot...
  • haritha-j 11 hours ago
    the dick van dyke show is an absolute masterpiece
  • sgt 23 hours ago
    Such a legend! I bet he still has his Amiga somewhere in his Hollywood hills mansion.
    • ggm 22 hours ago
      For Mary Poppins, Disney used the sodium vapour process to get monochromatic light into a narrow channel for matte from a light splitting prism.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_vapor_process

      It's charming. I'm sure digital post offers many advantages. Van Dyke might be one of a few who has done both.

    • timbit42 14 hours ago
      He sold his Amiga not too many years ago. It may have been on eBay.
  • qoez 15 hours ago
    Amazing that he was 80 in that clip
  • andrewstuart 19 hours ago
    Such a likeable person.
  • thrill 13 hours ago
    “How an elephant got in my pajamas I’ll never know.”
  • cafard 16 hours ago
    Props to ggm for finding a tech angle.
  • fortran77 17 hours ago
  • ZHUDAN509 15 hours ago
    Respectable people
  • wetpaws 11 hours ago
    [dead]
  • systemtest 10 hours ago
    I am getting a paywall so I will skip this article.