Richard (Dick) Wayne Van Dyke is 99 today.      
     
     
 

On December 13, 1925, Dick Van Dyke, the quintessential
“nice guy” actor who would become known for his work
in such movie classics as Mary Poppins (1964) and Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang (1968), as well as the popular 1960s CBS - 
TV sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961 – 1966), was born
in West Plains, Missouri.

Van Dyke, who was raised in Danville, Illinois, served in the
Army Air Force Special Services during World War II and in
the 1950s took various acting jobs and hosted a series of
TV game shows. In 1960, he starred on Broadway in Bye
Bye Birdie, a role which earned him a Tony Award.    
    
    
 Van Dyke was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in
1995 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1993, and has been
honored with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement
Award in 2013, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2020, and
was recognized as a Disney Legend in 1998. 

(1993 – 2001)