Dick Van Dyke looked back on his long career during the Vandy High Tea charity event at his Malibu home — and revealed the major film roles he turned down along the way.
Speaking to guests gathered to support The Van Dyke Endowment of the Arts and the upcoming Dick Van Dyke Museum, the 99-year-old star shared that he once passed on the lead in the 1976 horror classic The Omen.
“I could have done The Omen that Gregory Peck did,” Van Dyke said. “I didn’t want to do that kind of movie. It just didn’t fit my taste somehow.”
He also admitted there was one opportunity he still wishes he had taken: a chance to work with Cary Grant. “One thing I regret: [declining a movie with] Cary Grant … He was the best looking guy in the world… We got to be good friends. He asked me to do a movie with him, and I can’t remember why I said no — and doggone it!”
Another lost opportunity still frustrates him — a film with Sophia Loren. Van Dyke recalled that his agent rejected the project without telling him.
“I’m still mad about that! … He said, ‘Well, you would’ve had to take second billing.’ I said, ‘I don’t care if they mention my name! I would’ve paid them!’ … I never forgave him for that. He turned down a movie with Sophia Loren. Can you believe that? I didn’t even get to meet her.”
Later, Van Dyke reflected warmly on performing with Chita Rivera in the original Bye Bye Birdie. Calling her “the best thing that ever stepped foot on a stage,” he credited her with changing his life.
Rivera insisted he be given the number “Put On a Happy Face,” which he said “started my career… She saved my life.”
