Starring Dick Van Dyke explores how the prolific performer became a star on stage, television and film for nearly eight decades.
NEW YORK – Over the course of his life, Dick Van Dyke has dazzled audiences in many iconic works, from his Broadway debut in Bye Bye Birdie to his sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show and his silver screen performances in such beloved films as Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Along the way, he has influenced many of today’s entertainers and his performances have stood the test of time. Discover the career of the Emmy, Tony and Grammy-winning star and hear how he continues to inspire the biggest acts in show business in American Masters – Starring Dick Van Dyke, premiering nationwide Friday, December 12 at 9 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/americanmasters and the PBS App.
The film premieres ahead of Van Dyke’s 100th birthday on December 13.
Check out the trailer here:
Starring Dick Van Dyke chronicles the star’s career over eight decades, beginning with his stint as a radio DJ and slapstick nightclub act and through his breakthrough television gigs and movie roles. In addition to his memorable work, the documentary features rare and never-before-seen footage and performance clips, as well as new, exclusive interviews with Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Jim Carrey, Ted Danson, Steve Martin, Conan O’Brien, Martin Short and more. Also featured are archival interviews with Van Dyke’s former costars and colleagues, including Walter Cronkite, Sheldon Leonard, Rose Marie, Mary Tyler Moore and Carl Reiner.
“[Dick] Van Dyke is a national treasure,” said filmmaker John Scheinfeld. “Like so many others, I grew up loving his iconic TV series and his classic movies and it was an absolute joy to come to work every day with my team to produce the definitive exploration of an extraordinary career.”
Van Dyke was born in 1925 in West Plains, Missouri and grew up in Danville, Illinois, where he participated in choir and drama club as a high school student. While he was a local radio DJ in Danville, Van Dyke formed a comedy duo with Phil Erickson called The Merry Mutes. They toured the nightclub circuit across America until Van Dyke launched his television career with various gigs around the country, including The CBS Morning Show, which he co-anchored with revered journalist Walter Cronkite.
During those early days, Van Dyke experienced both high and low points, but finally hit the big time with a successful run as Albert Peterson in the Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie. However, believing that he wouldn’t be able to support his growing family with a career on the stage, Van Dyke kept searching for the ideal television vehicle to utilize his talents. In 1961, he landed his own sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show, which also starred comedy legend Mary Tyler Moore.
He continued his Hollywood success in beloved classics such as the film adaptation of Bye Bye Birdie, Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Since then, Van Dyke has continued to reinvent himself in countless film and television roles, in both comedy and drama, including the lead role in the mystery series Diagnosis: Murder. He has won 6 Emmys (the most recent in 2024), one Grammy and one Tony Award. Ahead of his 100th birthday, Starring Dick Van Dyke honors Van Dyke’s extraordinary career and how he became a star in nearly every form of mass entertainment.
For all you Dick Van Dyke fans out there, you are going to fall in love all over again with Dick Van Dyke. This is one of the greatest Documentary being presented on American Masters and it will go down in history as one of John Scheinfeld greatest pieces of film. To hear friends of Dick Van Dyke talk so highly of him and what it was like to work with him on all his many films, especially Julie Andrews talking about working with him on Mary Poppins. It is so cool to hear and watch Jim Carrey what had to say as well. You just might learn something new about the famous Dick Van Dyke you didn’t already know. To be able to see behind the scene footage of his many characters he has played, will bring happy tears and a warm feeling in your chest. John Scheinfeld must have done some amazing research, because the footage he shows, the information to go along with it as well as getting all the past interviews…brilliantly done! Make sure you get your whole family to watch this outstanding documentary about a man who has brought so much laughter and happiness to those that have seen him on TV or the movie screen. I guarantee you will be searching for all his work he has starred in as I had to watch Mary Poppins right after seeing this documentary.
I love how they show his work in “Days of Our Lives” that won him another Emmy and set a record for being the eldest person to win one. His work on Diagnosis: Murder was when I fell in love with his work on TV as I was quite young when my mother would watch The Dick Van Dyke Show. Share his with work with your kids as they will fall in love with his shows and his movies. If you haven’t already shared them, check out Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins. I had the pleasure to meet him at the LA Mission Awards banquet and at Disneyland a couple of times now and he is a wonderful man. Judy Shields, The Hollywood Times
The filmmaker behind Starring Dick Van Dyke is John Scheinfeld, whose previous work includes writing, producing and directing the American Masters film This Is…Bob Hope, as well as theatrical documentaries The U.S. vs. John Lennon, Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary, The Happy Days of Garry Marshall and What The Hell Happened To Blood, Sweat & Tears?.
Now in its 39th season on PBS, American Masters illuminates the lives and creative journeys of our nation’s most enduring artistic giants — those who have left an indelible impression on our cultural landscape — through compelling, unvarnished stories. Setting the standard for documentary film profiles, the series has earned widespread critical acclaim: 28 Emmy Awards — including 10 for Outstanding Nonfiction Series and five for Outstanding Nonfiction Special— two News & Documentary Emmys, 14 Peabodys, three Grammys, two Producers Guild Awards, an Oscar, and many other honors. To further explore the lives and works of more than 290 masters past and present, the American Masters website offers full episodes, film outtakes, filmmaker interviews, the podcast “American Masters: Creative Spark,” educational resources, digital original series and more. The series is a production of The WNET Group.
Starring Dick Van Dyke is a production of Crew Neck Productions and Copper Beeches in association with American Masters Pictures and The Television Academy Foundation. Written, Produced and Directed by John Scheinfeld. The Producer is Ned Nalle and the film is produced by Dave Harding. Peter S. Lynch II is Editor and Co-Producer. Executive Producers are James Sears Bryant and Michael Kantor.
Actor Dick Van Dyke photographed in Malibu, California on May 06, 2021. He is one of this years Kennedy Center Honorees.
(Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Original production funding for Starring Dick Van Dyke is provided by Walter E. Disney Miller and the Diane and Ron Miller Charitable Fund.
Original American Masters series production funding is provided by AARP, The Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, Lillian Goldman Programming Endowment, Thea Petschek Iervolino Foundation, Koo and Patricia Yuen, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, The Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, The Marc Haas Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus, Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable Trust, Seton J. Melvin, Burton P. and Judith B. Resnick Foundation, Candace King Weir, The Charina Endowment Fund and public television viewers.
Starring Dick Van Dyke will be available for streaming concurrent with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS app, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. PBS station members can view many series, documentaries and specials via PBS Passport. For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website.
American Masters’ commitment to accessible programming is a continuation of PBS’s mission to provide more resources and availability of audio-described content streaming on PBS.org. In addition to audio description (AD), American Masters programming with extended audio descriptions (EAD), large open captions, on-screen ASL interpretation (ASL), combined descriptive transcription and more can be found here.
