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musical, anything. And I'd gotten a few callbacks on a couple of things. But I got up for Gower Champion and sang Once in Love with Amy. You remember the old rib? KH: Yep. DVD: And I did a little bit of a soſt shoe. And he came up on the stage and said, "You've got the part." It was like in the movies! [Ken laughs] his is the way it happens! And I said, "Mr. Champion, I don't dance." He said, "We'll teach you how," which he did. Later, I think somebody wanted to replace me because I was still trying to learn to dance and sing, something I hadn't done, so I was under pressure to learn a lot really quick. KH: Well, you did apparently learn how to sing and dance soon enough to win the Tony for it [in 1961]. DVD: Finally, I won a Tony. [laughs] It's funny, the first few weeks I was just scared stiff, you know, stage fright, butterflies, everything. But once I got used to it, I began to have fun and enjoy it, then I was able to perform. I found I'm never any good unless I'm enjoying it. KH: And very natural all the time … I think, if I may, a great part of your artistry is that you make it look so easy, and so natural. It's great to watch. DVD: I think it was an advantage for me to not to have trained as a dancer because I probably would have fallen into a pattern of whoever taught me. But I had to kind of ad lib and make up my own moves, and I think that was an advantage to me rather than a disadvantage. KH: Speaking of, can we talk a little bit about Mary Poppins, which is such a great film, such a great piece of entertainment, such a winning performance by Julie Andrews, by you. I love that film. DVD: [Julie] had some mischief in her, but she's just the lady you'd think. What my problem is: If anybody from the U.K. just sees me, I hear about my cockney accent. hey won't let me off the hook about it. I [tell them] I was too busy learning to dance, sing and all that other stuff but they won't let me off the hook about that accent. I'll never hear the end of that. KH: I think it's perfect because it's you, being that character and everybody knows it, and it's a great American classic. DVD: Well, I think he Dick Van Dyke Show and Mary Poppins are the two peaks of my whole career because they were so much fun to do, but hard, hard work. I always thought Walt Disney wanted me because of my singing and dancing. It turns out he had heard me in an interview, talking about the dearth of family entertainment. hat's why he called me. He had never seen me sing or dance. Isn't that amazing? KH: Incredible. Tell us a little bit about the fruition of your wonderful relationship with Mary Tyler Moore [on he Dick Van Dyke Show]. DVD: I tell you, that woman could do anything. When I first met her, the first thing I said to [executive producer] Carl Reiner was, "Isn't she a little young?" — and she's considerably younger than me. But it wasn't three shows, and she just grabbed it. Mary and I could read each other's minds. It was such a joy working with her. he extreme compliment: Most people thought we were really married. So, I think we did something right. KH: It was wonderful to watch. Now, in terms of that show being a great hit, I know it ended right at the peak. I mean it's kind of remarkable. DVD: Yeah, Carl didn't want to do more than five seasons. None of us would have ever leſt. KH: I know that during this time we're talking about, you also were able to meet and spend some time with one of your great heroes, Stan Laurel [of As host of The Morning Show on CBS in 1955 (1), Van Dyke attained his initial goal of becoming a television announcer and, by 1957, he was making guest appearances on TV series like The Phil Silvers Show (2). In 1960, Van Dyke was cast as the lead in Broadway's Bye Bye Birdie opposite Chita Rivera (3), which garnered him a Tony Award. He returned to television a year later for an Emmy-winning five-year run on The Dick Van Dyke Show with Mary Tyler Moore (4) and joined Janet Leigh for the big screen version of Bye Bye Birdie in 1963 (5). That same year, he recorded a solo album, Songs I Like, of popular standards (cover art, right) and was cast by Walt Disney in 1964's Mary Poppins opposite Julie Andrews (6), here with young stars Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber. Disney cast Van Dyke again in 1966 as Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. (7) with Nancy Kwan, and in 1968, he took flight in Ian Fleming's flying car, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, alongside Adrian Hall and Heather Ripley (8). 5 6 7 8 SAGAFTRA.org | Winter 2013 | SAG-AFTRA 43 (1, 2, 4) CBS Photo Archive; (3) Playbill; (5) Columbia Pictures Corp.; (6, 7) Walt Disney Productions; (8) MGM; (right) Grand Award Record Co.