Dick Van Dyke Quotes - Page 5

I think the biggest mistake - I was always a big fan of Cary Grant, and he asked me to do a movie with him, playing the second lead, and I didn't do it. And to this day, I can't remember why. But I could've said I worked with Cary Grant, but I turned him down. That was probably the biggest mistake I ever made.

Otherwise, everything got better and better, just one surprise after another. And that's why I wrote the book about a matter of being in the right place at the right time, and just luck.

Today, if you're not an alcoholic, you're nobody.

Longevity in my family's been pretty good. And my grandparents were pretty spry at their age, so I figured I'd probably stay skinny and fairly agile. I used to do old men all the time in sketches. And there used to be an organization called the Gray Panthers. And they would send me, oh, terrible letters about making fun of old people. And I would just always say, "I'm playing the old person I intend to become!"

I think there's kind of a wave of nostalgia going on right at the moment. You know, people recall an earlier time, which they see as a better time. And I think we just kind of evoke good thoughts when they look at us. That's the feeling I get.

I did a guest shot on a comedy series where they did 20 to 30 takes of everything. It's just gone by then. The joke is over. It's not funny anymore, and then of course, the editor's the one that has to figure out the timing. I think a lot depends on that.

I've met presidents, but I've never performed for one. I said it was the first time in 50 years I actually had butterflies. You know, the Obamas were sitting out there, the Supreme Court, Maya Angelou, and Desmond Tutu for God's sake, all in the front row.

We spent a lot of time together and had a great time with Mary Tyler Moore. And just working with her was like improv.

Carl Reiner particularly as a writer, a terrific writer. He's just turning out things.

I went public with the alcoholism, very early on... the early '70s. Mercedes McCambridge, the actress, I think was the first recognizable person that went before Congress and talked about it, and I thought that was a good idea, to take some of the stigma away from it and say "Normal, average people can fall prey to it." So it's been public for me. I did a movie about an alcoholic. And today, you're nobody unless you've been to rehab. It seems like everybody has some kind of an addiction.

I think both of those: the subject matter, pop culture... the talent, I don't think... there's no Jim Belushi in Saturday Night Live, for me. And probably, you know, possibly the material. They've done everything over the years.

But I wish they would make a musical of some kind. I miss musicals so much. You don't see them anymore.

My work is just a hobby. No, I wouldn't want to do it professionally. It's too hard. Deadlines are no fun. But I can sit and tweak all night and not worry about time.

All of us involved say 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' was the best five years of our lives. We were like otters at play.

I found doing that kind of comedy without an audience is just... for me, it's almost impossible. You need the audience to do their half of the work.

I'm not quite as much of a curmudgeon being old. I'm not cantankerous. But otherwise, I'm about the same.

Haters are going to hate.

[My mother] once cooked a ham and later found it in my father's shirt drawer. I am not kidding.

There's a lot of very funny people I'd love to work with that I've never met, of course. I love Steve Martin and Jim Carrey.

Everything's getting homogenized. It seems to me like music and behavior and everything else is getting homogenized.

So as my kids will tell you, they had a pretty normal life.

Rob Petrie is who I really am - in personality and general ineffectiveness.

The most important thing for old guys is never start going down the stairs sideways.

Oh, well, my first love is comedy or singing and dancing.

Everybody knows that I'm shorter, but it doesn't bother me at all.