What The Surviving Stars Of The Dick Van Dyke Show Are Doing Today
With the death of classic television icon Carl Reiner fresh in everyone's mind, longtime fans of the storied creator continue to reminisce about his expansive legacy. In particular, many remember what might have been Reiner's greatest achievement: The Dick Van Dyke Show. With comedic legends at work on-screen and behind the scenes from 1961 to '66, Reiner repeatedly acknowledged that the show was his "favorite thing [he's] ever done creatively" (via Entertainment Tonight). "There's no question about it, best years of my life," Reiner added. "I worked there five years and it was a labor of love."
"If you're writing about truth which is looking into yourself and saying, 'I'm a person and most people are people,' and if you write about yourself you're not unlike other people," Reiner continued. "You have the same desires to be married, to fall in love, to have children. So if you're writing about yourself and writing honestly about it, it's going to resonate among other people. I knew that. And when I started doing the show, and I started to see what it looked like, I said, 'My god this could be a classic.' I really said that!"
However, along with Reiner, the majority of the show's primary cast — Mary Tyler Moore, Jerry Paris, Ann Guilbert, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, and Richard Deacon — have all passed away, leaving only the program's eponymous star, Dick Van Dyke, and Larry Mathews, who played son Ritchie Petrie. But what are these two gentlemen up to today? Let's find out!
Larry Mathews adored TV mom Mary Tyler Moore
As the youngest member of The Dick Van Dyke Show cast, Larry Mathews became an actor by accident. He was discovered by his mailman! In fact, it was Mathews' inexperience that earned him the role of Ritchie Petrie, the son of Rob and Laura (played by Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore, respectively.)
After the show's five-year run, Mathews essentially left the industry. While he briefly worked for the editorial departments of other classic TV sitcoms, including Soap and It's A Living, this former child star attended UCLA and became an account executive. Despite an estimated net worth of $2 million (per Celebrity Net Worth), Mathews' priceless memories of on-screen mother are what he'll carry with him forever.
Moore "was like a mother in a lot of ways ... she was the figure there that I grew up with as a child," he told Parade after her death, at age 80, in January 2017. "I'm lucky enough to have two wonderful families and Mary being a huge part of that." While filming The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited, Matthews said Moore approached his real mom and praised his achievements. "He is an amazing man and he has done so many good things in his life, and I'm so proud of him. And you should be, too,'" Moore reportedly said. Mathews noted that this was a "wonderful piece of closure" for him.
There's nothing like a (TV) mother's love!
Dick Van Dyke plans to 'keep moving' until the very end
Known for his physical humor and musical prowess, actor Dick Van Dyke has hardly slowed down during his 70-plus years in show business. In fact, as the author of Keep Moving, the icon credits his active lifestyle for his youthful energy. Van Dyke told NPR that he's "one of those people who gets up on the right side of the bed in the morning" and heads to the gym after his first cup of coffee so he can't talk himself out of going. "A person who's 90 years old who's never exercised can start doing a few minutes a day and all of a sudden he'll find himself starting to wake up," Van Dyke told People. "It's amazing how fast you can return. You get your heart rate up and you'll feel a difference in no time."
Van Dyke added that Arlene Silver, his much-younger wife — she's 46 years his junior — also helps keep him on his toes (literally). "You can't sing and be depressed at the same time," he added. "My wife is a good singer and dancer so there's a lot of singing and dancing going on around here. I got up the other morning, she was in the kitchen doing the dishes and she had her tap shoes on, and she was tap dancing while she was doing the dishes!"
With a love like that, it's no wonder Van Dyke's still young at heart!