Dick Van Dyke, 97, Involved In California Car Crash

It has just been revealed that the legendary 97 year-old Hollywood star Dick Van Dyke was involved in a single-car crash near his home in Malibu, California last Wednesday morning.

Van Dyke Crashes Car

Police sources told TMZ that Van Dyke crashed his 2018 Lexus LS 500 into a gate, with officers finding him behind the wheel when they arrived on the scene. The former Mary Poppins star told the officers that his car slid and he lost control before the vehicle crashed into the gate.

Van Dyke was left with minor injuries that saw him bleeding from the nose and mouth, and he may have suffered a concussion. Paramedics were able to treat him at the scene, however, and he had no interest in going to the hospital. Instead, he had a friend come pick him up to take him home. 

While drugs and alcohol were not involved in the crash, officers have reportedly sent paperwork to the DMV requesting a driving retest for Van Dyke, with one of the main factors behind this being his advanced age.

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Related: Dick Van Dyke, 97, Revealed As The Gnome On ‘The Masked Singer’

Van Dyke’s Previous Car Crash

Fox News reported that this came one decade after Van Dyke survived a car fire when his Jaguar burst into flames on freeway in Los Angeles. Van Dyke was driving near the suburb of Calabasas on August 12, 2013 when his car caught on fire, according to the California Highway Patrol. Another driver saw the car catch fire and managed to intervene to pull Van Dyke to safety.

Van Dyke said afterwards that he did not realize his car was on fire until he was pulled from the vehicle. 

“It just started making a noise, and I thought I had a flat at first, then it started to smoke, then it burned to a crisp,” he told TMZ at the time. 

Van Dyke’s Longevity

Van Dyke recently credited his “beautiful” 51-year-old wife Arlene Silver for keeping him feeling young at 97. After saying that “genes” played a role in his longevity, Van Dyke joked, “Having a beautiful young wife half my age to take care of me — that works.” 

Van Dyke and Silver married in 2012 after meeting in 2006 and being friends for years before their relationship turned romantic. 

Full Story: Dick Van Dyke, 97, Reveals Secret To Longevity Is ‘Beautiful Young Wife Half My Age’

Aside from his wife, Van Dyke believes that exercise is fundamental in staying healthy in one’s later years.

“I wrote a book called ‘Keep Moving‘: I still go to the gym three days a week and work out,” he previously explained. “I advise everybody to do that, because that’s what ages people — it’s just a stiffening up and not exercising their muscles and their lungs. Exercise is the answer.”

Van Dyke has long been open about how important he feels that exercise is.

“I’ve always been an exerciser and still am … I get in the pool and exercise. At my age, they say to keep moving. Put me on solid ground and I’ll start tapping,” he told Closer Weekly back in 2019. 

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Van Dyke’s Romantic History

Silver is Van Dyke’s second wife, as he was previously married to Margie Willett from 1948 until they divorced in 1984. After his divorce, he was in a relationship with the actress Michelle Triola for over thirty years before she passed away in 2009. Van Dyke was 81 when he met Silver, who was 35 at the time.

“We share an attitude,” Van Dyke previously said of Silver. “She can go with the flow. She loves to sing and dance, which we do almost every day. She’s just delightful.”

Making it to the age of 97 is already impressive, but to still be independent enough to be driving at that age is a true rarity. While we’re glad that Van Dyke managed to walk away from this car crash relatively unscathed, perhaps it’s time for him to think twice about continuing to get behind the wheel.