Dick Van Dyke is a “pretty lazy” person.
The 98-year-old actor – who is best known for his roles in classic musical films like ‘Mary Poppins’ and ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ – explained that despite his successful movie career, he found himself unemployed a lot of the time because he was always just waiting around for an opportunity to come his way rather than going after it.
Speaking on ‘CBS Sunday Mornings’, he said: “As a businessman, I’m not much good. I would do a movie or something and come home and just sit down and wait for the phone to ring. I wasn’t aggressive, so I was out of work a lot because I didn’t go out and look for it. I didn’t mind it. I’m pretty lazy, really. When I’m having fun, all right, but I’m a lazy person. I don’t have a lot of drive. I’ve been very lucky.”
However, the ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ star did go on to admit that his career has been a “blessing” in life and that he has sympathy for those who have enjoyed up in a job they dislike.
He added: “My whole career has depended on that. If I’m not enjoying myself, I’m really bad. I am. It’s such a blessing to find a way of making a living that you love, that’d you do for nothing. I feel so sorry for people who hate their jobs. I look forward to going to work every morning.”
The Disney Legend also then reflected that there are not many of his industry peers still alive today as he quipped that if he thought he was still going to be alive so close to his 100th birthday, he would have taken “better care” of himself.
He added: “Everybody I knew and worked with, there’s no one left. As I’ve said, if I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.”
