Dick Van Dyke is "praying" that he makes it to his next birthday
The 98-year-old actor was notably absent from the recent Emmy awards despite being lined up as a presenter and after recently pulling out of a fan convention as well, has admitted that he is just hoping that he gets to celebrate his 99th birthday this coming December
26 September 2024
He told PageSix: "Just praying that I make it. I'm pretty old."
The 'Mary Poppins' star was due to make an appearance at FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention on Saturday (21.09.24) but organisers informed fans via social media that he could not face travelling from California.
A post to X/Twitter read: "We are sorry to announce that Dick Van Dyke is not able to travel to FanX. He expresses his gratitude to all of those who support him but, at almost 99 years of age, traveling and interacting with thousands of people is more than he is able to do at this time."
The 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' actor waspresented with an award 2024 Creative Arts Emmy Awards for his 2023 birthday special 'Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic', and admitted at the time that he has just been "sticking with it" for all these decades.
He said: ""I hope for making people laugh for 75 years. I've been in the business 75 years. I can't believe that I'm still here and performing.
"I'm looking for work if anybody has."
You have to stick with it. You're gonna go through hard times and a lot of auditions... but you have to stay with it.
"Be patient if you've got the confidence in yourself, and it's very important to believe that you can do it."
© 2024 Bang Showbiz, NZCity
