The Dick Van Dyke Show 1961/Northridge Alumni Bear Facts/flickr/CC by-ND 2.0

“…[alcoholism] can happen to normal average middle aged guy”- Dick Van Dyke

Richard Wayne Van Dyke (television actor, comedian, producer) a.k.a Dick Van Dyke

Known for

• CBS sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show sitcom – actor
• CBS The Carol Burnett Show variety television show – actor
• Mary Poppin’s film as Bert – actor
• Faith, Hope and Hilarity: The Child’s Eye View of Religion – author

Dick Van Dyke was and alcoholic for 25 years.  Initially, he drank because it

KZ3A3773 V/fortherock/flickr/CC by-ND 2.0

helped him with his shyness.  Soon, he progressed to party drinking and later escalated from being a “happy drunk to being aggressive and hostile.”

He went into rehab on two different occasions.  One being in 1972 after which he was sober for the first time in 15 years.  He would later relapse.

Alcoholism wasn’t his only addiction, he also battled a 50 year addiction to smoking cigarettes and told Elena De Bertolano from The Telegraph, in 2013, that he has been using Nicorette, a nicotine replacement, for ten years.

In 2000, he shared on CNN‘s Larry King Live that he was 20 years sober.  When asked by Larry King about his recovery, he told him he sought the help of Alcoholics Anonymous during the hardest moments in his alcoholism when he was depressed and suicidal.

He last fell off the bandwagon when he took a sip of alcohol and immediately felt ill. Now, he says “Today, I wouldn’t want to drink for anything”.

“I found if I had a drink, it would loosen me up.  The barriers went down, and I became very social.  That’s what got me started.” – Dick Van Dyke

My Lucky Life In And Out Of Show Business by Dick Van Dyke Read more

featured image: Dick Van Dyke’s Star on Hollywood Boulevard/Loren Javier/flicker/CC by-ND 2.0