[HN Gopher] Computer animator and Amiga fanatic Dick van Dyke tu...
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Computer animator and Amiga fanatic Dick van Dyke turns 100
Here's a video from 2004
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1J9kfDCAmU It's his 100th
birthday today.
Author : ggm
Score : 225 points
Date : 2025-12-13 08:15 UTC (14 hours ago)
| sgt wrote:
| Such a legend! I bet he still has his Amiga somewhere in his
| Hollywood hills mansion.
| ggm wrote:
| For Mary Poppins, Disney used the sodium vapour process to get
| monochromatic light into a narrow channel for matte from a
| light splitting prism.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_vapor_process
|
| It's charming. I'm sure digital post offers many advantages.
| Van Dyke might be one of a few who has done both.
| simon_void wrote:
| a Corridor Crew YouTube video describing/recreating that
| sodium vapour process:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQuIVsNzqDk
| reactordev wrote:
| Kind of a tangent comment
| metadope wrote:
| Tangents are a sine of the times.
| reactordev wrote:
| cos of this economy?
| yvdriess wrote:
| He was an animator and it's the interesting kind of
| factoids we read these comment sections for. We'll allow
| it.
| reactordev wrote:
| You missed the pun
| timbit42 wrote:
| He sold his Amiga not too many years ago. It may have been on
| eBay.
| wuhhh wrote:
| Wow I had no idea, what a cool guy! Loved Mary Poppins as a kid,
| his British accent though... xD
| gsf_emergency_6 wrote:
| https://www.sciencealert.com/dick-van-dyke-credits-his-longe...
| bestouff wrote:
| > The beloved actor credits his remarkable longevity to his
| positive outlook and never getting angry.
| Tade0 wrote:
| Makes sense. My grandpa is one year his junior and you would
| never see him react too strongly to anything, even though
| grandma (also still alive) always had an, ahem, fiery
| personality.
|
| Also he refuses to sit and moves around all the time,
| venturing outside every day from their apartment four floors
| above ground without a lift.
|
| Interestingly his own father didn't make it to his 60s, so
| there's certainly a lifestyle component to this.
| stavros wrote:
| I had no idea he's an animator, that's so cool! In that video he
| says "Lightwave is so deep, I won't _live_ long enough to see
| everything that 's in it". I'm glad he's proven wrong there!
| kristopolous wrote:
| I know his son Barry. He said his first memory he has was his
| Dad doing real time drawings for people telling stories. He was
| behind the story teller on stage on giant pads of paper as a
| comedy bit at night clubs.
|
| He also remembers having giant bags of toys dumped on the floor
| of the hotel rooms.
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| Many A-listers are polymaths. For example, Phil Hartman, used
| to be Phil Hartmann (extra "n"), and designed some of the most
| iconic album covers of the 1970s, and Steve Martin is one of
| the best banjo players out there. It used to be part of his
| standup bit.
|
| Dick Van Dyke came from the tail end of Vaudeville, where
| performers had to have a whole variety of skills.
|
| Remember: Every one of these folks that hits the limelight,
| beat out _thousands_ of others.
|
| We think _our_ vocation is competitive? Showbiz says "Hold my
| beer."
| martinesq wrote:
| > Steve Martin is one of the best banjo players out there
|
| And he's great with a lasso!
|
| I love his albums with Edie Brickell, he's good with Steep
| Canyon Rangers, and more recently have heard him shine with
| Alison Brown (banjo), Sierra Hull (mandolin), and others in
| his latest tour.
|
| If you're looking for the top banjo players technically, you
| might check out Bela Fleck, Jens Kruger, Noam Pikelny, Tony
| Trischka, Bill Keith, Don Reno, and Earl Scruggs. I've
| personally heard superhuman performances by Jens Kruger in-
| person and I grew up on Scruggs.
| kstrauser wrote:
| I have a fond memory of my dad taking me to see Roy Clark
| when I was a little guy.
| dboreham wrote:
| For completeness: Billy Connolly was also a banjo player.
| ndstephens wrote:
| Just looked it up and saw he did an album cover for Steely
| Dan. It reminded me that Chevy Chase was an early drummer for
| Steely Dan (well, before they became "Steely Dan")
| pstuart wrote:
| The album: Aja -- a masterpiece.
| _whiteCaps_ wrote:
| Not according to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
| /Aja_(album)#Title_and_packagin...
|
| but he did do a bunch for America:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Hartman#Discography
| trehalose wrote:
| Hedy Lamarr was a prolific inventor. Among other things, she
| developed a frequency-hopping spread spectrum radio
| transmission technique for torpedo guidance and donated the
| patent to the US Navy during WW2.
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| That's "Headley!" ( _Blazing Saddles_ reference).
|
| And of course, there's Sir _Doctor_ Brian May.
|
| Many of the early electronic musicians were basically
| engineers (you had to be, to use some of those old
| synthesizers).
| Keyframe wrote:
| He even outlived Ligtwave!
| Coeur wrote:
| Here's the mentioned segment from "Diagnosis: Murder":
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WeZKOPcaeA
| andrewstuart wrote:
| Such a likeable person.
| tclancy wrote:
| A nice tribute at
| https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/dec/13/dick-van-dyke-c...
| austinjp wrote:
| Seemingly a universally liked man. So much so, that dolphins
| rescued him when he fell asleep on his surfboard aged 84.
|
| https://archive.is/pZTz3
| agumonkey wrote:
| When nature is on your side you now you have it good
| thefaux wrote:
| The intelligence and benevolence of many marine mammals is
| vastly under appreciated.
| spankibalt wrote:
| Reportedly, dolphins are notorious rapists. So maybe there's
| more to this story...
| yetihehe wrote:
| Maybe intelligent species have a lot of variance? There are
| good and bad dolphins, like there are good and bad people.
| PolygonSheep wrote:
| They're certainly not backwards about coming forward with
| their tummy bananas...
| gbraad wrote:
| THE Dick van Dyke, from Mary Poppins, Diagnosis: Murder, ans so
| many more?! I always thought it was just a coincidental same name
| as I never saw videos about this. Oh my! This guy is amazing
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| Very much so. Really decent chap, too.
|
| Terrible cockney accent, though...
| wingmanjd wrote:
| No one mentioned it to him during production, so he didn't
| know.
| tzs wrote:
| Here's a great quote by him:
|
| > In my 30's, I exercised to look good. In my 50's, to stay fit.
| In my 70's, to stay ambulatory. In my 80's, to avoid assisted
| living. Now in my 90's, I'm just doing it out of pure defiance
| SoftTalker wrote:
| He was also an alcoholic for many years. Must be made of pretty
| good stuff to survive this long.
| moron4hire wrote:
| Of all of my grandparents and great grandparents, they all
| lived really hard lives eating high fat diets, drinking and
| smoking, and lived into their 80s. Genetics is really the
| biggest determining factor outside of going completely off
| the rails with binge eating and drug use.
|
| Now, that's not to say that healthy living is pointless.
| Their quality of life from late 60s on was not great:
| alcoholism, poverty, multiple heart attacks, emphasima, a
| stroke here and there, from which they eventually, sort of,
| not really recovered. They were deeply unhappy people who
| never really seemed to have time or care for their families.
| I definitely don't want to live like that. So treat yourself
| right, but not because you're trying to reach a certain age.
| mrandish wrote:
| > Genetics is really the biggest determining factor outside
| of going completely off the rails with binge eating and
| drug use.
|
| So true. I'm fortunate that both my parents have long-life
| family histories. Both families were old-fashioned Southern
| Baptists who didn't drink, smoke, dance or, apparently,
| believe in having fun of any kind :-). But that just kept
| them from messing up their good genetic luck. I'm an old-
| fashioned atheist but have chosen to never drink, smoke or
| do drugs just because I never saw a compelling reason to.
| Now I'm pushing 60 and have so far had zero serious health
| issues. Hoping to keep a good thing going.
| Imustaskforhelp wrote:
| > I'm an old-fashioned atheist but have chosen to never
| drink, smoke or do drugs just because I never saw a
| compelling reason to
|
| I am 17 and I am the same here (atheist) and similar and
| yeah I see no reason to do these things either and I
| actively see the negative harmful effects it can have so
| I am not gonna do these things at all ever in my life
| too.
|
| Have a nice day :)
| robotresearcher wrote:
| Beware survivor bias.
|
| In a population of equally vulnerable genetics and
| stochastic outcomes, there will be families that all live
| long.
|
| We are wired to attribute that to something.
| pengaru wrote:
| > they all lived really hard lives eating high fat diets
|
| ICYMI the low fat diet craze was built on lies and
| corruption, fat isn't bad for you. Sugar is.
| Instantix wrote:
| And then Commodore made the A3000 not high enough to take the
| Video Toaster. How to shoot yourself in the foot...
| fortran77 wrote:
| Family Guy: https://youtu.be/k_AMQOTPqL8?si=j0fjQfmS-GcEP8Hj
|
| And https://youtu.be/OsSJnV7Ik9o?si=7aXnOKN8Jc28h-Mo
| cafard wrote:
| Props to ggm for finding a tech angle.
| ZHUDAN509 wrote:
| Respectable people
| qoez wrote:
| Amazing that he was 80 in that clip
| linsomniac wrote:
| A few months ago I found The Dick Van Dyke Show free to watch on
| Youtube. I had seen a number of the episodes in passing over the
| years, but never really watched it. It's really quite a good
| show. Highly recommended, even if YouTube's viewing experience
| for TV series is sub-par.
| mrandish wrote:
| Some of those older comedy shows had _really_ good writing. The
| Bob Newhart shows were also excellent.
| tronicjester wrote:
| Bob Newhart was Mr. Rogers for adults. Good show!
| thrill wrote:
| "How an elephant got in my pajamas I'll never know."
| neilv wrote:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSeaHfkd3M8
| dobladov wrote:
| The whole "The Dick Van Dyke Show" is available for free on
| YouTube, I highly recommend it.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-HsXBPWH3Y&list=PLtbMv4lXX2...
| dhosek wrote:
| Good starting points would be the Christmas Special (Alan Brady
| Presents), "It May Look Like a Walnut" and "That's My Boy"
| (just off the top of my head). There are two episodes where we
| got to see Van Dyke's Stan Laurel impersonation which was
| absolutely amazing. Given how much he drank and smoked back in
| the 60s and 70s it's a miracle he's still on earth, but he is
| definitely a treasure.
| NetMageSCW wrote:
| Is it commercial free? Also available in Prime Video and
| Peacock Premium if you have those.
| haritha-j wrote:
| the dick van dyke show is an absolute masterpiece
| dhosek wrote:
| There are few (maybe no) moments of Dick Van Dyke that aren't a
| joy to watch. I grew up on reruns of the Dick Van Dyke Show and
| discovered Andy Kaufman thanks to Van Dyke's short-lived variety
| show, Van Dyke and Company. Watching his dance moves (it's a
| little amazing to realize how many dance numbers the Dick Van
| Dyke Show featured) is like watching an animated character dance,
| he was able to move his body in ways that suggest he has no
| bones. As a kid, I wanted to be Dick Van Dyke when I grew up and
| as an adult, I want to be Dick Van Dyke when I'm old.
| heresie-dabord wrote:
| > a joy to watch
|
| The man is a brilliant comedian. He knew some of the greats; he
| is one of them.
|
| The Comic (1969):
|
| https://youtu.be/c8NGqKaPCog
| Forgeties79 wrote:
| He's also digital animator. The dude is unbelievable. What a
| creative mind
| ks2048 wrote:
| I just saw a tweet saying his birth was closer to the death of
| Thomas Jefferson (1826) than it is to today. Wow.
| jihadjihad wrote:
| It's a fun fact that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died
| on the same day, July 4 1826, 50 years to the day after the
| adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
| lickmygiggle wrote:
| Ironically enough, Adams' last words were reportedly,
| "Jefferson lives"
| ericvsmith wrote:
| For those who don't know the story: it's ironic because
| Jefferson died first.
| bonoboTP wrote:
| Yeah, he's very old for a person and the US is very young for a
| country.
| sethammons wrote:
| The grandson of the 10th US president died this year. The US is
| barely three generations old. That guy could say his
| grandfather shook hands with Thomas Jefferson.
| lifeisstillgood wrote:
| I think it was Bertram Russell who said he was raised by his
| grandfather, who knew Napoleon.
|
| The modern world is a lot more crammed together than we think
| it is
| exasperaited wrote:
| If you have never played the backwards-lifetime game, you
| should.
|
| Take your current age and work backwards that same number
| of days, months and years before your birth. Every year
| something else remarkable is added.
|
| At my current backwards age, World War II is the best part
| of two decades away; the UK is still recovering from World
| War I. _Rocket 88_ , the first rock and roll song, won't be
| written for nearly another three decades. Women still can't
| vote in the UK, the Wall Street Crash is several years
| away.
|
| When my father (who knew one of the most important men in
| medical history in his younger days and who was working in
| medicine not long after the NHS was founded) died, his
| backwards age reached back before the germ theory of modern
| medicine.
|
| Another interesting game is to use your "oocyte age" --
| about 32 weeks before your mother was born is roughly when
| the oocyte developed that led to _your_ egg. In my case
| this too is before World War II started.
| satvikpendem wrote:
| I've heard of him but have never seen any of his content, what
| should I watch?
| riffraff wrote:
| it's quite possible you may unknowingly have seen him in Mary
| Poppins, where he plays _two_ roles, and I was mind blown when
| I noticed the second after 30 years or so.
| exasperaited wrote:
| He sang probably the greatest song in musical film -- _Hushabye
| Mountain_ in _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang_ :
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfdRr7MWax4
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeCBVerpYj8
|
| If you have never seen this film, I don't care how old you are,
| you should watch it. It is overshadowed by _Mary Poppins_ but it
| is a work of art -- a funny, charming, astonishing visual feast
| of a film and he is _magnificent_ in it. His performance as the
| jack-in-a-box alone is worth an Oscar:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_l2ii_25tc
| justin66 wrote:
| > If you have never seen this film, I don't care how old you
| are, you should watch it.
|
| I'm not sure about the _all ages_ part. We watched it in first
| or second grade and I can still remember wondering how a movie
| with a flying car could be so boring.
| systemtest wrote:
| I am getting a paywall so I will skip this article.
| Bengalilol wrote:
| Bonus: here are two videos where he spoke at SIGGRAPH 2004
|
| Part 1 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1J9kfDCAmU>
|
| Part 2 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0IGjoo5gRg>
|
| \m/ happy birthday Mr Van Dyke!
|
| source:
| <https://www.reddit.com/r/amiga/comments/obe3v6/95_year_old_d...>
| k310 wrote:
| My clearest recollection (don't know the episode) is when he
| attends an event, probably in place of Alan Brady, that turns out
| to be a big fund-raiser. The Hostess addresses him as Mister
| Petrov. When asked for a donation, he is stupefied, and can only
| say "I have this blank check" ... no spoiler ...
|
| The comedy show within a comedy show is a cool dramatic and
| operatic trick.
|
| Magnificent delivery.
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