Fears Mount Dick Van Dyke, 99, Might Not Make it to His 100th Birthday — After He's Forced to Axe Another Appearance and His Wife Admits He Has 'Good Days and Bad Days'
'Mary Poppins' legend Dick Van Dyke pulled out of his beloved fundraiser at the last minute, sparking fresh fears he may not reach his 100th birthday.
June 30 2025, Published 12:16 p.m. ET
Dick Van Dyke has sparked fears he may not make his 100th birthday after he pulled out of his beloved fundraising event at short notice.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the legendary actor, 99, was supposed to host his event, Vandy Camp, on Saturday, June 28, alongside his wife Arlene Silver but had to cancel his appearance last minute.
'Dick Is Not Coming Up To Celebrate'
Van Dyke's wife Arlene Silver revealed the last minute cancellation.
His wife, 53, announced the news to those in attendance at the Arlene & Dick Van Dyke Theater at Malibu High School and explained that the Tony-winning star was not having a "good day."
It did little to dampen concern the Mary Poppins star could tragically miss out on turning 100 in December.
A source told RadarOnline.com: "Dick is so close to making 100, so little blips like this add to the fears he might not make it.
"He's so frail, understandably, so his team has to take extra caution at all times."
During her speech at the event, Camp told the audience that she is "not the Van Dyke you're expecting."
She said: "I have to inform you that Dick is not up to coming to celebrate with us today. 'I'm sorry.'"
'Not A Good Day For Him'
Silver told how 'today is not a good day for him' when explaining her husband's absence from the event.
This comes just weeks after the silver screen icon revealed the "curse" of living to almost 100.
The make-up artist continued: "When you're 99-and-a-half years old, you have good days and bad days.
"And unfortunately, today is not a good day for him, and he's sick that he can't be here."
However, Van Dyke did still make an appearance on a livestream on the same day.
Silver said she was "pretty confident" that Van Dyke would be at the next Vandy Camp event "in person."
Silver says being around her legendary husband has made her a 'better perfect' – despite huge act gap.
During her speech, she also spoke about her husband's passion for his musical fundraising event and explained that Vandy Camp is more than "just Dick Van Dyke."
She explained: "It is a celebration of your childhood, all of our childhoods, the music that's in the fabric of all of us, (and) Dick Van Dyke is a big part of that."
Silver then gushed about her husband of 13 years, with whom she shares a 46-year age gap.
She also said "being around him just as a human being has made me a better person."
She also praised the star and their musical group, an a cappella quartet the Vantastix, for giving her "so much confidence to be able to stand up here right now."
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Van Dyke says the worst aspect of nearly reaching 100 is losing 'a lot of friends.'
She suggested she felt out of her "comfort zone" without him since she said Van Dyke was her "safety net."
"I would never be able to do this maybe, like, a year ago, but I've had so many experiences pushing myself out of my comfort zone, and right now I'm out of my comfort zone.'"
She added: "But I have to wear my big girl pants and hold the reins without Dick here as the safety net that he's always here with me."
Last month, the movie star opened up about the reality of living to be a nonagenarian.
Van Dyke revealed he and his late friend Ed Asner had planned to do a remake of The Odd Couple before his death at age 91 in August 2021.
"That would've been such fun, and we lost it. I've lost a lot of friends," the actor noted.
His wife added: "He's outlived everybody. That's the curse of living to almost 100."
