Mary Poppins legend Dick Van Dyke is still singing at 98 (2024)

Legendary Hollywood performer Dick Van Dyke delighted fans as he returned to the stage on Sunday evening.

The 98-year-old actor, singer and dancer proved he's still got it while singing alongside his wifeArlene Silver, 52, as they hosted A Magical Afternoon with Arlene & Dick Van Dyke and Friends in Malibu.

Van Dyke looked smart in a black suit and relied on a walking stick as he performed with a cappella quartet The Vantastix.

Meanwhile, Arlene put on a glamorous display in a figure-hugging black gown, with a plunging neckline and dazzling silver necklace.

It comes after Van Dyke made history at the 51st Daytime Emmy Awards at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.

On Friday, the actor became the oldest Daytime Emmy winner when he took home the trophy for Best Guest Performer In A Daytime Drama Series for his role as Timothy Robicheaux on Days Of Our Lives.

He beat out some tough competition that included Guy Pearce (as Mike Young on Neighbours), Linden Ashby (Cameron Kirsten on The Young And The Restless), Ashley Jones (as Dr. Bridget Forrester on The Bold And The Beautiful), and Alley Mills (as Heather Webber on General Hospital).

To make the evening even more special: the Mary Poppins icon got to share the spotlight with his wife of more than 12 years, Arlene Silver, 52.

'I don't believe this,' Van Dyke said as he and Silver accepted the award on stage. 'I feel like a spy from nighttime television. I brought this lady up because she, by trouble and strife, is the love of my life, but because she was in the show — she played the cop who arrested me.'

As usual, the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star used comedy as a means to help keep people entertained, which included poking fun at the fact that he has been 'playing an old man all my life.'

'If I had known I was going to live this long I would've taken better care of myself,' he joked. 'You guys are a real family and just took me in and treated me so nicely.'

By the end of his time on stage, Van Dyke made note of his '80 years in the business', and how it all started with him doing a show for fun with a friend that resulted in him having his career 'snowball into this.'

'I'm 98 years old, can you believe it?' he said while exiting the stage. 'This really tops off a lifetime of 80 years in the business.'

The West Plains, Missouri native came dressed to impress in a classic black tuxedo.

As he has in recent years, Van Dyke sported a full beard and mustache to go along with his hair styled short, over his ears, with a part on the left.

While he can still get around on his own, he does carry around a walking cane to help him keep his balance as a precaution.

As for is wife, Silver, 52, looked lovely in an ice blue dress with a plunging neckline and wrap-around design in the front with matching heels.

Rounding out her overall look, the New York native accessorized with a necklace, rings, and a clutch purse.

Just days before being honored at the Daytime Emmys, Van Dyke credited his friend with landing the role on Days Of Our Lives.

'This is a very different honor for me; I seldom get recognized for dramatic or straight acting - comedy and musicals are my specialty after all,' he told People. 'I'm so honored and it will be a fun night celebrating with the entire daytime television community.'

Van Dyke and Silver first met at the 13th annual SAG Awards in Los Angeles in January 2007, where the latter worked as a makeup artist.

And despite the fact that they have a 46-year age difference, they immediately hit it off as friends.

Their friendship didn't blossom into a romance until years later.

Upon their first meeting, the former esthetician confessed she wasn't too familiar with all of his acclaimed work as an actor and singer.

'I remember seeing Dick at the catering table with his bow tie and his big smile. Right when I sat down, he was sitting next to me. He said, 'Hi, I'm Dick.' The first thing I asked him was, 'Weren't you in Mary Poppins?' I wasn't sure,' she admitted to the Huffington Post in October 2013.

She added, 'I knew who he was but I wasn't sure why I knew who he was. I was not familiar with all his work. He has so much work I can't believe I missed it.'

Having struck up a friendship with Van Dyke after their initial meeting, Silver ended up being a vital person the legendary performer leaned on after his longtime partner Michelle Triola Marvin passed away from cancer in 2009.

They proceeded to become an item over the next couple of years and eventually tied-the-knot in private ceremony in Malibu in February 2012, when Van Dyke was 86 and Silver was 40.

Van Dyke began his career as an entertainer on radio and television, in nightclubs, and on the Broadway stage in the late 1940s.

Among his many highlights of his career was when he played the lead role of Albert Peterson in Broadway rendition of Bye Bye Birdie, which ran from April 1960, to October 1961.

Ultimately, he would star in a number of television series for CBS that includes starring alongside Mary Tyler Moore on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966), The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971-1974), The Van Dyke Show (1988), Diagnosis: Murder (1993-2001) and Murder 101 (2006-2008).

His most memorable films Mary Poppins (1964), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and Mary Poppins Returns (2018) have gone down in history as classic musicals.

In addition to his role on Days of Our Lives, he also recently appeared on The Masked Singer as Gnome and The Simpsons as himself.

Van Dyke credits his longevity to keeping his body moving with exercise over the years and decades.

'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,' he said last year. 'Exercise is the answer.'