Dick Van Dyke: Days of our Lives star Dick Van Dyke turns 100 years old

Days of our Lives star Dick Van Dyke has accomplished many things in life, including winning a Daytime Emmy in the category of Guest Performer in a Drama Series for his role as Timothy Robicheaux! Now, the beloved legend has hit another milestone -- he's turning 100 years old today!

Happy Birthday, Days of our Lives, Dick Van Dyke

Dick Van Dyke, Susan Seaforth Hayes, and Bill Hayes on Days of our Lives | Image: JPI

Born Richard Wayne Van Dyke in West Plains, Missouri, on December 13, 1925, Van Dyke considered a career in the ministry before deciding to become an entertainer. He is best known to TV fans as Rob Petrie, a comedy writer, on The Dick Van Dyke Show, in which he starred in the 1960s alongside the late Mary Tyler Moore, who played Rob's wife, Laura.

On the big screen, Van Dyke starred alongside Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins; Andrews played the title role while Van Dyke was Bert, who went through a series of jobs, including that of chimney sweep. Van Dyke also starred in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as Caractacus Potts.

The comic actor returned to series television in The New Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran from 1971 to 1974 and was set in Arizona, where the actor resided. Van Dyke starred as Dick Preston, a talk show host at KXIV-TV in Phoenix. Actress Hope Lange (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir) played Jenny, Dick's wife.

In 1977, Van Dyke joined the cast of The Carol Burnett Show for the first half of the beloved variety show's final season. The versatile performer has won four Prime Time Emmys, three for his performances as Rob Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show.

He starred in the long-running medical/crime series Diagnosis: Murder, which co-starred Victoria Rowell (ex-Dru, The Young and the Restless). Van Dyke starred as crime-solving Dr. Mark Sloan from 1993 to 2001.

The Days of Dick Van Dyke's Lives

Drake Hogestyn, Deidre Hall, and Dick Van Dyke on Days of our Lives | Image: JPI

A few years ago, the late, great Drake Hogestyn (ex-John) ran into Van Dyke at their mutual gym in Malibu and struck up a conversation. That led to Van Dyke joining the show in the role of Timothy Robicheaux, whom John discovered was his father.

While John had many origin stories, his last and true story revealed that Timothy and his wife, Maude, had had a son, but Tim never met him after he went off to serve in the Korean War. Tim was presumed dead, which prompted Maude to give the son whom she and Tim shared up for adoption. Tim had amnesia when he came to Salem where he and John, his son, were finally united.

Van Dyke won the 2024 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series for his work on Days of our Lives. The actor made daytime history when he became the oldest individual to win a Daytime Emmy Award at the age of 98. "I don't believe this," Van Dyke joked from the winner's podium. "I feel like a spy from nighttime television."

The DAYS family, Van Dyke said, "took me and treated me so nicely. I had a wonderful time. Drake said, 'Why don't you come on the show and have some fun?' It snowballed into this! I love you. God Bless!'"