Actor Dick Van Dyke has shared an Instagram video showing himself working out upside down on an inversion table at 100 years old. White-haired and bearded, the star defied gravity as he stretched and decompressed his spine with slippered feet raised high and his head hanging, adding the hashtag "keep moving" for positive reinforcement as the song Keep Stretching by Moonspatz played on the soundtrack.
The Mary Poppins legend maintains a consistent workout routine, hitting the gym up to three times a week to use weight machines, complete circuit training, and stretch out. He focuses particularly on stomach exercises to maintain overall strength and stay mobile in his centennial year.
Van Dyke, who leaned on a walker during a recent outing with his wife Arlene Silver, has been observed dancing between gym machines rather than simply walking. According to the Today show, both Cheers actor Ted Danson and singer Rick Springfield witnessed his dancing routine on separate occasions.
Centennial birthday and Malibu celebrations
In December, Van Dyke celebrated his milestone 100th birthday with a gathering of family and friends at his home in Malibu. To mark the special occasion, Silver led a flash mob in dancing to a medley of the actor's famous songs.
Silver, a 54-year-old former make-up artist, admitted she felt relieved, grateful, and happy with how the day turned out. "It went so perfect - just everything," Silver told People magazine at the time. "And he was so happy. His face, I love to make him have that face. This felt so perfect."
Quitting vices and Walt Disney memories
The song and dance man recently credited his long life to giving up cigarettes and alcohol when he reached his 50s. Speaking at the Vandy High Tea fundraising event held at his home to benefit The Van Dyke Endowment of the Arts and The Dick Van Dyke Museum, he reflected on his past habits and career.
Van Dyke told People he believes he is "probably the last person alive" who spent time with animation legend Walt Disney before Disney died of lung cancer in 1966. Van Dyke described Disney as a wonderful guy who "just smoked too much."
His son, 75-year-old Barry Van Dyke, noted that his father had "never smoked too much" himself, but the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star corrected him. Van Dyke admitted he smoked heavily until his 50s, when he realized he had an addictive personality. "So I got rid of booze and cigarettes and all that stuff, which is probably why I'm still here," he said.
Reflections on aging and social isolation
Despite his active routine, Van Dyke admitted feeling "lonely" and "frustrated" in his old age. He explained that he has outlived most of his best friends and rarely attends glitzy showbiz events due to declining health.
Writing in an article for The Times newspaper, Van Dyke noted that although he still performs guest spots on television, ads, and videos, he misses going to a studio daily for a regular series. He added that having every single one of his dearest lifelong friends gone "feels just as lonely as it sounds."
Van Dyke described feeling diminished physically and socially in the world. He explained that while he receives offers for gigs and event invitations in New York or Chicago, traveling takes too much out of him, forcing him to decline and host almost all visits at his Malibu home.
