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Biography & Autobiography. Performing Arts. Nonfiction. HTML:A heartfelt memoir from one of Hollywood's greatest icons Dick Van Dyke, indisputably one of the greats of the golden age of television, is admired and beloved by audiences the world over for his beaming smile, his physical dexterity, his impeccable comic timing, his ridiculous stunts, and his unforgettable screen roles. His trailblazing television program, The Dick Van Dyke Show (produced by Carl Reiner, who has written the foreword to this memoir), was one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1960s and introduced another major television star, Mary Tyler Moore. But Dick Van Dyke was also an enormously engaging movie star whose films, including Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, have been discovered by a new generation of fans and are as beloved today as they were when they first appeared. A colorful, loving, richly detailed look at the decades of a multilayered life, My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business, will enthrall every generation of reader, from baby-boomers who recall when Rob Petrie became a household name, to all those still enchanted by Bert�s �Chim Chim Cher-ee.� This is a lively, heartwarming memoir of a performer who still thinks of himself as a �simple song-and-dance man,� but who is, in every sense of the word, a classic entertainer.… (more)
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My first film going
This engaging memoir, brings all these fond memories back, as Mr. Van Dyke, takes us from his childhood in Danville IL, to his military time, to his modest showbiz years, leading to Broadway and then to a long varied television and film career. To be honest, I have not watched any of his TV work in decades. “Diagnosis Murder” was not my cuppa but he still holds a special place in my cultural past. Plus, I’ll always think of MTM in those Capris. Yeah, baby. Highly recommended.
Review written in May 2012
I breezed
A couple of excerpts that really struck a chord for me:
I was all about living a kind, righteous, moral, forgiving, and loving life seven-days a week, not just the one day when you went to church. ... And if there's not a higher power, no one's going to be worse for the wear for his or her effort. Was there one way? No, not as far as I could tell -- other than to feel loved, to love back, ... as simple as making sure you spend time helping make life a little better for other people. (from the Family Values chapter)
A few years ago, I told Esquire magazine that the Buddhists boiled it down to the essentials. They said you need three things in life: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. The message does not get any clearer. I heard walt Disney, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Carl Reiner all say the same thing in their own way. Hope is life's essential nutrient, and love is what gives life meaning. I think you need somebody to love and take care of, and someone who loves you back. In that sense, I think the New Testament got it right. So did the Beatles. Without love, nothing has any meaning. (from the Curtain Calls chapter)
When I finished the book, I wanted to give him a big hug, but of course, I'm too far away to do that. So I'll send him a little love for all the laughs and love he's shared unconditionally with me, with all of us really, for some many decades. As long as I've been alive, there's always been a Dick Van Dyke to make me smile.
Dick manages to tell his story without really telling tales for the most part. The things he does tell seem to be common
He starts from his earliest memories. I like a memoir that does that. It gives one the sense for how a life has changed over time. He grew up in the same general area where my dad grew up. His story carries on through the date of publishing, which was 2011.
There is only one facet of his life that made me sad. He had an affair while still married to his first wife. He never exactly states that it was absolutely a wrong thing to do, either. I think he realizes that it was. I think he also must realize that he'd never have had his second (happier) marriage though, if things hadn't happened the way they did. Perhaps that is why he never comes out and says he regrets his actions exactly.
Following the end of his book, I am aware that he has since married a makeup artist. She is many years his junior but they seem to be very happily married. I wish them many happy years together.
This book is a colorful, loving, richly detailed look at
Mr. Van Dyke shares his years as a boy and then young man growing up in the Midwest. He reveals joining the armed forces so that he could fly and how that didn’t quite pan out. His early years starting out in radio and the years of living hand to mouth, sometimes getting evicted because the rent didn’t get paid and how (and why) he persevered. Yet this is not a self-serving “look what I went through” telling of his story. He writes with honesty, as well as his trademark sense of humor, even when the reader senses that the subject matter is painful. Mr. Van Dyke never strayed from his determination to never make a television series or film that he could not enjoy with his children. I think that was the key to his success … everyone could enjoy his talent. Despite his 50 years of success in show business he still considers himself a simple “song and dance man”.
I listened to the audio book, narrated by Mr. Van Dyke himself, and although the book doesn’t need any help in the “interesting” department, it did make it a little more special.
I didn't learn too many new things, other than the author seems as genuinely pleasant as the characters he's played.
There were a few turns of phrase that just made me hear his voice perfectly, and I'd wished I'd been listening to an
Worth the time if you want a light bio on an exemplary performer and person.
Van Dyke had many film and TV successes: Mary Poppins, Bye Bye Birdie, TV variety shows, a hugely successful primetime show “Diagnosis Murder,” among others. The centerpiece of his career was, of course, the Dick Van Dyke show in the early 1960s. This is also where Mary Tyler Moore got her start in show business. The most colorful character on that show might’ve been Morey Amsterdam. He was an all-around entertainer who came up through vaudeville and reportedly memorized at least 100,000 jokes for any occasion. Anecdotes of Morey provide an extra dose of fun in the life story.
Dick Van Dyke appreciated earlier actors and comedians from whom he had learned. He especially admired the ones who worked the hardest and made it look the easiest. For example, he said of Stan Laurel (of the Laurel and Hardy comedy duo), about the artistic effort in his work: “Stan took care to hide it, to conceal the hours of hard creative work that went into his movies. He didn’t want you to see that—he just wanted you to laugh, and you did!” The same can truly be said of Dick Van Dyke.
He had his share of heartbreaks, but the overall experience reading the book is positive, full of bright optimism and joy in life