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Dick Van Dyke makes history with Emmys win – and reveals how he got the part that won
Legendary actor Dick Van Dyke has been in the business for more than seven decades, and at 98 years old, he just made history – as the oldest actor to win an Emmy.
“Am I really the oldest?” Van Dyke said during an interview with Entertainment Tonight ahead of the Daytime Emmy Awards last week. He was shocked to find out he was the oldest person to earn a nomination from the long-running television awards show. “I’ll be darned. I think I’m the last of my generation. I’m 98. I have – almost – all my marbles. I can’t remember what I had for breakfast,” he joked.
Van Dyke earned the nomination for his appearance on Peacock’s “Days of Our Lives.” His soap opera role was a departure from his usual comedic and musical roles in movies like “Mary Poppins” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
He said doing serious scenes in the soap opera was different for him – and at one point he started giggling. “I said, ‘What are you doing?'” he said.
Van Dyke also shared how he got the guest role on “Days of Our Lives,” revealing he still goes to the gym three days a week and one of the show’s stars, Drake Hogestyn, goes to the same gym as him. The soap actor told Van Dyke he should come on the show.
“I said I’d love to,” he said. “But look, it snowballed into this [nomination].”
He has previously won four Emmys and received one honorary award, entering into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. His own sitcom, “The Dick Van Dyke Show” ran from 1961 to 1966 and earned 25 Emmy nominations.
With his sixth Emmy win, Van Dyke is just behind Ed Asner, who has seven. “I’m after him,” he joked.
Van Dyke said retirement isn’t even on his mind. “It isn’t work, it’s play,” he said. “Actors are so lucky. I’ve had such a good time.”
In fact, Van Dyke still has some projects in the works, including a one-man show, during which he will answer audience questions.
He’s also close to being an EGOT winner, with an Emmy, Grammy and Tony to his name. He said he wants a shot at the Oscar, “now that I’m a dramatic actor.”
“I hope it’s not posthumous,” he laughed.
He calls his time in the gym his “secret weapon” and the reason for his longevity.
U.S. and European law enforcement agencies are working together to investigate whether incendiary devices detonated in July at DHL logistics hubs in Germany and the U.K. were part of a larger operation directed by Russian Intelligence services (in particular, the GRU — Russian military intelligence), the highest level of the Russian government or by outside individuals acting in the interests of Russia, a source familiar with the matter said.
Officials are working to determine whether the larger operation was to place similar devices on aircraft servicing the U.S. and U.S. allies. The Wall Street Journal first reported the alleged plot targeting U.S. aircraft.
The 2025 Homeland Threat Assessment published at the end of October said the U.S. continues to be concerned about threats to the aviation and air cargo systems, including the “potential use of the air cargo supply chain to ship concealed dangerous and potentially deadly items.”
DHL said in a statement that it was aware “of two recent incidents involving shipments in our network. We are fully cooperating with the relevant authorities to protect our people, our network and our customers’ shipments.”
“We continually adjust our security posture as appropriate and promptly share any and all relevant information with our industry partners, to include requirements and recommendations that help them reduce risk,” the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement.
“Over the past several months, as part of a multi-layered security approach, TSA worked with industry partners to put additional security measures for U.S. aircraft operators and foreign air carriers regarding certain cargo shipments bound for the United States, in line with the 2021 TSA Air Cargo Security Roadmap,” the TSA’s statement continued.
The FBI declined to comment.
contributed to this report.
Boeing’s 33,000 unionized machinists on Wednesday voted to approve the plane manufacturer’s latest contract offer, ending a seven-week strike that had halted production of most of the company’s passenger planes.
The union said 59% voted to accept the contract. Members have the option of returning to work as soon as Wednesday, but must be back at work by Tuesday, November 12, the union said in a statement.
Union leaders had strongly urged members to ratify the latest proposal, which would boost wages by 38% over the four-year life of the contract, up from a proposed increase of 35% that members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) had rejected last month.
The revised deal also provides a $12,000 cash bonus to hourly workers and increased contributions to retirement savings plans. The enhanced offer doesn’t address a key sticking point in the contentious talks — restoration of pensions — but Boeing would raise its contributions to employee 401K plans.
Average annual pay for machinists, now $75,608, would climb to $119,309 in four years under the current offer, Boeing said.
The vote came after IAM members in September and October rejected lesser offers by the Seattle-based aerospace giant.
“In every negotiation and strike, there is a point where we have extracted everything we can in bargaining and by withholding our labor,” the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers stated last week in backing Boeing’s revised offer. “We are at that point now and risk a regressive or lesser offer in the future.”
Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su has played an active role in the negotiations, after recently helping to end a days-long walkout that briefly closed East and Gulf Coast ports.
The Boeing strike that began on Sept. 13 marked the latest setback for the manufacturing giant, which has been the focus of multiple federal probes after a door plug blew off a 737 Max plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. The incident revived concerns about the safety of the aircraft after two crashed within five months in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.
Boeing in July agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud for deceiving regulators who approved the 737 Max.
During the strike, Boeing was unable to produce any new 737 aircraft, which are made at the company’s assembly plants in the Seattle area. One major Boeing jet, the 787 Dreamliner, is manufactured at a nonunion factory in South Carolina.
The company last month reported a third-quarter loss of $6.1 billion.
contributed to this report.
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