Dick Van Dyke's Most Controversial Moments Over The Years
Legendary comedic performer Dick Van Dyke has regaled us with his hilarious antics for over 65 years, and in September 2023, at age 97, he added soap operas to his list of credits when Van Dyke played Timothy Robicheaux on "Days of Our Lives," who turned out to be John Black's (Drake Hogestyn) long-lost father. His touching and heartfelt performance helped solve a giant mystery in John's life.
Van Dyke began acting in 1957, and would later achieve worldwide fame as Rob Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," which ran from 1961 to 1966. Loosely based on the life of series creator and iconic comedian Carl Reiner, the show was about the misadventures of a TV writer and his co-workers and family. Mary Tyler Moore played his long-suffering wife Laura Petrie and would also go on to great acclaim.
Pushing the boundaries of acceptable comedy in the 1960s, in the 10th episode of Season 5 titled "Go Tell the Birds and the Bees," Rob and Laura must uncomfortably tell their son Ritchie (Larry Matthews) where babies come from. Similarly, another episode was planned in which Ritchie walks in on his parents having sex. Van Dyke explained to MeTV in September 2021, "We didn't show it or anything. It was a story about behavior. The kid is acting very strange, and we finally figured out that's what must have happened." However, the network disagreed, and deeming the material inappropriate for audiences, the episode was scrapped.
'Mary Poppins' has stirred some controversy
In 1964, Dick Van Dyke starred as Bert the chimney sweep alongside his good friend and iconic actress Julie Andrews in the beloved film "Mary Poppins." Based on the popular series of novels written by Australian writer Pamela Lyndon Travers, the film has entertained generations with its imaginative portrayal of the magical Mary, an English nanny who must help two children and their neglectful father.
However, the highly entertaining and fun film came under some controversy in 2019 when Daniel Pollack-Pelzner blasted the film for perpetuating racial stereotypes in a story for The New York Times. He particularly pointed out one scene where Mary and Bert dance with chimney soot on their faces, which he said resembles "blackface" — a callback to 19th century minstrel shows in which white performers would imitate Black people.
He wrote about the racial undertones in the film, connecting it back to Travers' novel series in which blackface and racial slurs were used several times. The author claimed that Black children who read her book enjoyed the fact that some of the characters spoke in a stereotypical southern American dialect. However, when the San Francisco Public Library banned the book, citing the allegedly racially offensive material, Travers rewrote the questionable passages in 1981 so that her books wouldn't be hidden away from potential readers.
An affair and alcoholism were stumbling blocks for the actor
Dick Van Dyke married Margie Willett in 1948, however, he eventually realized he was having some trouble, and wrote in his memoir "My Lucky Life In And Out Of Show Business" about it — an excerpt of which was published by The Daily Mail in 2016. "I had a problem with alcohol. In August 1972 I knew that the time had come to deal with it," he stated, adding that, "Somewhere along the line I progressed from being just a party drinker to where I'd run a race with Margie each night to see if I could get drunk before she could get dinner on the table."
After rehabilitating in a hospital, Willet ended up checking in due to her addiction with Librium. Van Dyke tried maintaining his sobriety, and found himself opening up to Michelle Triola, the secretary of his agent. "She was easy to talk to, she understood me," he wrote. Van Dyke and Triola had an affair, and he and Willet eventually divorced. In 2008, Willet died from pancreatic cancer, and sadly, in 2009, Triola passed away from lung cancer.
Fortunately, Van Dyke met a makeup artist named Arlene Silver who supported him after the devastating deaths, and the two got married in 2012. Silver made a cameo as a police officer on his September 1, 2023 debut on "Days of Our Lives." The couple are still happily married, and Van Dyke continues to entertain audiences everywhere.