Dick Van Dyke earned the adoration of millions of fans and plenty of costars throughout his career, including the late Betty White.
“I mean he’s in a class by himself — Mr. Creative,” White said in a never-before-seen interview from Dick Van Dyke: 100th Celebration, obtained exclusively by Us Weekly. “But it was the excitement. The business never lost its excitement for him.”
White worked with Van Dyke in a 1994 episode of Diagnosis: Murder, playing Dora Sloan, the sister of his character, Dr. Mark Sloan. (The Golden Girls alum died on December 31, 2021, at age 99.)
In addition to unseen commentary from White, the feature-length film also includes an interview with Chita Rivera, who starred alongside Van Dyke in Broadway’s Bye Bye Birdie in 1960.
“I consider myself one of his first leading ladies,” she said in the clip. (Rivera died on January 30, 2024, at age 91.)
Another one of Van Dyke’s leading ladies, Mary Tyler Moore, added, “He’s a great human being and one of the most generous performers that I’ve ever worked with.”
Moore and Van Dyke played husband-and-wife duo Laura and Rob Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show from 1961 to 1966. (Moore died on January 25, 2017, at age 80.)
Dick Van Dyke: 100th Celebration from Emmy-winning filmmakers Steve Boettcher and Michael Trinklein honors the legendary performer with insights about his childhood in Danville, Illinois, as well as how he got his big break and some of his most memorable roles while juggling his life off screen as a family man.
“At the center of the documentary is an exclusive in-depth interview with Dick Van Dyke himself. With warmth and trademark humor, Van Dyke shares personal memories and never-before-heard behind-the-scenes stories, from how he got his unlikely big Hollywood break, to his close relationships with Mary Tyler Moore and Julie Andrews, to the truth behind the rumor that he once fired iconic TV news anchorman Walter Cronkite,” per the official synopsis.
The film from Fathom Entertainment also features additional unseen commentary from some of Van Dyke’s other collaborators of the past and present, including Carl Reiner, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam and Tim Conway.
“I mean simply put he’s an icon. He is somebody who innovated film and TV and theater,” Derek Hough, who performed with Van Dyke in 2016, said in a clip, while longtime friend Michelle Lee remarked, “He’s the most incredible human being in terms of his likability.”
Prior to the movie’s release, Van Dyke’s wife, Arlene Silver, revealed how her husband wants to celebrate his 100th birthday on Saturday, December 13.
“He doesn’t want to do anything,” Silver, 54, told People on Monday, December 8. “He wants to be in his room watching Jeopardy! reruns with me.”
Silver said she was excited for fans to see Dick Van Dyke: 100th Celebration.
“I’m so happy he’s here to see what I know is going to be a global celebration of him. I’m so glad he’s still with us,” she shared. “I’ve always been celebrating him now, like since 2011 when I got him on social media. It’s like a pinnacle of all that is … all these different people from different events we’ve done, [just] so cool.”
Dick Van Dyke: 100th Celebration is only in theaters on December 13 and December 14. For tickets and showtimes, click here.