The Hollywood legend Dick Van Dyke is less than a month away from celebrating his 100th birthday. Ahead of this milestone, Van Dyke is getting reflective about both his life and his career.
In a new interview that aired on Tuesday, Van Dyke shocked his fans by revealing that he was nearly cast in the iconic role of James Bond back in the 1960s. He ultimately turned down the opportunity to play the part in a move that he still regrets to this day.
Van Dyke Turned Down James Bond Role
“Is it true you could have almost become James Bond?” TODAY host Al Roker asked.
“I almost did,” Van Dyke replied. He went on to explain that he was approached after Sean Connery made his exit from playing Bond.
“[Producer] Albert Broccoli came to me and said, ‘Would you like to be Bond?’ And I said, ‘Have you heard my British accent?’ Click!” Van Dyke continued.
Van Dyke added that he was concerned that playing Bond would be too much of a departure from the family-friendly roles that he played in movies like Mary Poppins. Indeed, he feared that if he portrayed Bond, audiences would not have “accepted it from me.”
Van Dyke is currently promoting his new book 100 Rules for Living to 100, which hit stores on Tuesday. This comes one month before his 100th birthday, which is set to take place on December 13.
Despite his advanced age, Van Dyke has no plans to retire. When asked by Roker if he is going to stop working, Van Dyke replied, “I don’t want to. I mean, it’s my hobby. It’s my life. I love it.”
“I’m looking for work right now,” he concluded with a laugh.
Van Dyke Feels ‘Diminished’
While Van Dyke is still loving life, he admits that there are challenges that come with aging. The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star opened up about this in an essay that was published by The Times last week.
“It’s frustrating to feel diminished in the world, physically and socially,” Van Dyke wrote. “I get invites to events or offers for gigs in New York or Chicago, but that kind of travel takes so much out of me that I have to say no. Almost all of my visiting with folks has to happen at my house.”
Van Dyke then revealed that he makes a point to still “hit the gym three times a week.
“I don’t know why this is something I still want to do but it is,” Van Dyke wrote. “If I miss too many gym days, I really can feel it — a stiffness creeping in here and there. If I let that set in, well, God help me.“
Van Dyke’s Wife Keeps Him Young
Van Dyke has also credited his 54 year-old wife Arlene Silver, who he married in 2012, with keeping him young.
“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,” Van Dyke wrote of Silver in an excerpt obtained by Fox News. “Every day she finds a new way to keep me up and moving, bright and hopeful and needed.”
Van Dyke is a true living legend, and there will never be another like him. While it’s admittedly hard to imagine him playing James Bond, we’re sure Van Dyke would have done the role justice, just as he has with every other part that he’s played.
God bless you, Dick Van Dyke!