It’s hard to imagine Mary Poppins without Dick Van Dyke’s charm and cheeky grin — but according to one of his young co-stars, the legendary actor was even more mischievous behind the scenes.
As Van Dyke gears up to celebrate his 100th birthday, Karen Dotrice — who played little Jane Banks in the 1964 Disney classic — is dishing out some unforgettable memories from their time together.
Dotrice told The New York Post her very first meeting with Van Dyke was, well, unforgettable. “I walked into Burbank Studios and there he was — bent over a table getting a plaster cast of his rear end,” she laughed. “You can only imagine him peeking around the corner, having a giggle.”
From that moment on, she says, Van Dyke was pure chaos in the best way. “He was just a badly behaved little boy,” she said. “He’d make you laugh so much — and when the camera light went on, it was impossible to keep a straight face.”
His antics sometimes pushed things a little too far. During the film’s iconic tea-party-in-the-air scene, Dotrice admits she genuinely feared for their safety. “He was doing flips and turns, and everybody down below was going nuts,” she said. “My chaperone kept saying, ‘Stop it, Karen, stop!’”
But six decades later, Dotrice says Van Dyke hasn’t changed a bit. The two still bump into each other around Malibu — usually near the frozen-peas aisle — and he’s just as energetic as ever.
“He’s not going anywhere,” she said. “He’s got his wife, his workouts, and that unstoppable joie de vivre. The man is beyond alive and kicking — and yes, he still does those famous sideways kicks.”
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