{"id":139369,"date":"2025-11-17T11:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T11:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/139369\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T11:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T11:05:10","slug":"dick-van-dyke-admits-hes-diminished-increasingly-housebound-ahead-of-100th-birthday-as-he-reveals-secret-to-old-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/139369\/","title":{"rendered":"Dick Van Dyke admits he’s ‘diminished’ & increasingly housebound ahead of 100th birthday as he reveals secret to old age"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An<\/p>\n

BELOVED actor Dick Van Dyke has issued a concerning health update as he shares his secrets to a long and happy life ahead of his 100th birthday.<\/p>\n

The award-winning star revealed on Sunday that he feels \u201cdiminished\u201d and is becoming increasingly housebound as a result of his frailty.<\/p>\n

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Dick Van Dyke has issued an update on his health as he prepared to turn 100 in a few weeksCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

The iconic actor and entertainer has shared some of his rules to live by for a long and joyful lifeCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

The father-of-four is set to celebrate his 100th birthday on December 13.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the celebrations, he penned an essay for The Times<\/a>, issuing an update on his health and opening up about the secrets to a long and happy life.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on some of his most iconic roles as aged men, the TV icon accepted, \u201cI\u2019m not playing a super-old any more. I am a super-old\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am now a stooper, a shuffler and a teeterer. I have feet problems and I go supine as often as is politely possible,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI have trouble following group conversations and complain frequently about my hearing aids.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt mealtime I spill stuff, and when my wife, Arlene, asks me to put on an unstained shirt before we go out, I get impatient.\u201d<\/p>\n

The TV icon revealed that he is becoming increasingly housebound as a result of \u201cphysical decay\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s frustrating to feel diminished in the world, physically and socially,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get invites to events or offers for gigs in New York<\/a> or Chicago<\/a>, but that kind of travel takes so much out of me that I have to say no. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost all of my visiting with folks has to happen at my house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his physical ailments, the Mary Poppins star is relentlessly positive about life, praising his wife for keeping him young as well as seeing the world and his experiences of it like a \u201cgiant playground\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoiled down, the things that have kept my life joyful and fulfilling are pretty simple: romance, doing what I love and a whole lot of laughing,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

As well as still going to the gym three times a week, being part of a singing group, and always dancing, Dick has a number of rules to staying young at heart while making it to 100.<\/p>\n

Trying not to let negativity take over is one of the key tenants of his life. <\/p>\n

He has praised his wife Arlene for keeping him young and movingCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

While he admitted that he can \u201cspiral into anguish over the mayhem and cruelty\u201d of the world, and turn into a stereotypical grumpy old man, \u201cthat\u2019s not the essence of me,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Instead, he recommends embracing all life throws at you \u2013 the good, the bad, and the ugly \u2013 without giving into it. <\/p>\n

Dance, sing, and be able to laugh at yourself, he said, if you can\u2019t do the latter, \u201cyou\u2019ve got big problems\u201d. <\/p>\n

Two other rules he lives by are to always be playful and to refuse to live in the past.<\/p>\n

Even on rare outings, the actor makes sure his playful side is on full display.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Last year he even joked that he \u201chopes he makes it to 99th birthday\u201d<\/a> as he was seen running errands in Malibu.<\/p>\n

Now, as he prepares to reach a century, he is showing no signs of slowing down with his new book \u2018100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist\u2019s Guide to a Happy Life\u2019 being released on November 18.<\/p>\n

Dick says he always tries to stay playful, refuses to let negativity get him down, and that music and dance are key to longevityCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

The actor will turn 100 on December 13Credit: Getty\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BELOVED actor Dick Van Dyke has issued a concerning health update as he shares his secrets to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,4223,2047,111,139,69,21243],"class_list":["post-139369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-hollywood","tag-los-angeles","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-section-entertainmentcelebrity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}