Dick Van Dyke nearly left show business to speak to youth full time
There are workhorses, and then there's Dick Van Dyke.
It seems like, for as long as there's been TVs, Van Dyke has been all over them. Maybe you first saw him on the acclaimed Dick Van Dyke Show, where he starred as Rob Petrie and won three Emmys. Or perhaps you first caught him on Van Dyke and Company, or even Diagnosis: Murder. Then there are those of us who remember him best for his cinematic efforts, like Mary Poppins or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
The point is, Van Dyke has been entertaining us, almost nonstop, for what feels like forever.
However, if we dial the clocks back to the mid-sixties, we'll learn this wasn't always the plan. Van Dyke's career has been significant for each of the past eight decades, but he almost called it a day way back in the '60s.
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In a 1966 interview with the TV Star, Dick Van Dyke discussed his faith and his service within his Presbyterian Church community. In the conversation, Van Dyke also revealed his intentions to focus his efforts less on Hollywood, and more on giving back to the people around him.
"I don't know specifically what I want to do in five or six years when I leave show business. But generally, it's working with spiritually-based youth groups, but secular not denominational," he said.
"I speak to a lot of young people's groups and I find a lot of talking is being done to those who don't need it, which may be one of the things wrong with our church organizations today. With secular groups, you have a chance of reaching different people."
It seems that Van Dyke was concerned with literally not preaching to the choir.
"I don't have any set speech. They are all different. But I talk generally about Christianity, my personal point of view, and my commitment. I never speak as an expert, only about what has done it for me."
While he spent a good deal of time speaking about and investigating his faith, he didn't attribute his acclaim and recognizability to his beliefs. He also distanced himself from the idea that he might be providing a blueprint of success through Christianity.
"It's not that, but rather that it's given me perspective, it's given me a sense of values."
Van Dyke was on the path toward reinvention. He was committed to doing what was right, even though he stayed in show business for the foreseeable future. He was guided by what he felt inside, and although we didn't necessarily get a new Dick Van Dyke, we did get The New Dick Van Dyke Show.
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