How old was Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins? Dick Van Dyke recalls working with “sweet” British legend

Dick Van Dyke is recalling the good old days of working with Julie Andrews on the set of Mary Poppins.

The pair have yet to return to the screen 60 years since they shot the film, but his memories of their time together are still fresh. Van Dyke, 99, told People Magazine Magazine on Sunday, April 20, at Aviator Nation Dreamland in Malibu.

"She was as sweet as she could be."

Reflecting on Andrews' vocal prowess, he added,

"I'm not a real singer, so I tend to be under, fighting to get up there and sing on top of the note. It just took me forever in the recording. She was just patient as could be and kept helping me, 'Think high. Think up there.' And it turned out great. She was wonderful. We had a wonderful time together. It was her first movie and she won an Oscar! She was just a natural."

Mary Poppins came out back in 1964 and marked Julie Andrews' debut. Now 89, the actress was 29 years old when she starred alongside Dick Van Dyke and had given birth to her daughter, Emma, just six weeks earlier.

A closer look at Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews' decades-long friendship

During his interview with the magazine, he reflected on the time he tried to recruit her for one of his next projects, but she turned him down,

"I would've liked Julie to be in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. But she didn't want to do any more children's stuff, which I love to do."

He had envisioned her as Truly Scrumptious, a role that fellow Brit Sally Ann Howes eventually played. While the two have not been in touch lately, Dick Van Dyke's wife, Arlene, 53, said that the two are still close friends.

"They trade honors. When one's getting honored, they do a video, and vice versa. But she lives in Switzerland, the last we talked to her, so we haven't really spoken to her because we're never in the same space."

During CBS’s two-hour Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic special, which aired back in December 2023, Julie Andrews recalled working opposite Dick Van Dyke,

"As I arrived on that very first day, Dick was already working with the choreographers and the dancers. I’d never made a movie before, and I’d given birth to my lovely daughter Emma nearly six weeks earlier, and I quickly realised that I had better pull my socks up and get in shape. I found it pretty daunting."

Andrews characterized Dick Van Dyke as young, physically fit, and extremely attractive. She also said that he was very helpful, polite, and amiable and that they clicked right away.

She also added how the movie was a delightful experience,

"It was so delightful to watch him imitating the animated penguins or attempting to ride the pony from the carousel. Becoming a magical chimney sweep. Actually, it was a very happy film for, I think, the entire company."

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Julie Andrews went on to earn an Oscar nomination for her work as the lead actress in 1965’s The Sound of Music, and in 1982, she was nominated once again for the comedy musical Victor/Victoria.

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