It sounds like Dick Van Dyke's milestone 100th birthday bash was just an intimate family affair.
Actress Michele Lee, who co-starred with the actor in the 1969 film The Comic, shared some insight into how the Disney legend celebrated his big day back in December 2025.
© Getty ImagesSpeaking with Tom & Mickey for the September 3 episode of their podcast, the Knots Landing star explained how the pair had been "this close for so many years" after appearing on screen together.
Inside Dick Van Dyke's 100th birthday party
"A very close friend of his was a close friend of mine," she shared, noting that after doing The Comic, which was directed by Carl Reiner, they remained friends, and she ended up at his big birthday last year.
"And the only people there, his 100th, which was at his house [in Malibu], were the guys he sings with all the time, the barbershop guys, relatives, and his grandchildren," Michele continued, referring to his longtime acapella group Dick Van Dyke and The Vantastix, which was formed back in 2000.
She went on to especially offer praise to Arlene Silver, Dick's wife, although did add of their marriage: "I was worried to start with because she's so many years younger than him," (Arlene is 46 years the actor's junior), but then said: "But she's a miracle, she's kept this man so happy. And so much in music, the arts, and she loves it!"
Michele shared that The Vantastix spent the entire night singing "everything you could ever think of that Dick sang," to the delight of the birthday boy and his wife, who also sang "song, after song, after song."
© Getty ImagesShe particularly gushed about two of Dick's younger granddaughters who "were telling everybody they knew the songs," which was "so incredible."
What Dick was like off-camera
The How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying star also shared some of her own thoughts on the actor himself, confirming that indeed, behind the scenes, he was just as jubilant and vibrant as everyone believed him to be.
"What you think he is…he is," she noted, although did say that it wasn't always the case. "I wasn't sure about it in the beginning. When I first met him, he was different."
© Getty Images"I wouldn't say anything bad, but he was reclusive," Michele continued. "He didn't talk much. He would come down when it was time to shoot, period. But when it was over, he would disappear again."
"And you couldn't really get to know him, maybe you can't really now either. But he exudes such love for people. And a heart and a soul that is…I don't know how to say it, it is so beautiful."
© Getty ImagesMickey Rooney and Cornel Wilde also starred in The Comic, which charted the rise and fall of a star from the silent film era, inspired in particular by the life of Buster Keaton. The film didn't do well at the box office upon release, but has since garnered retrospective praise for its tribute to the silent era of filmmaking.
