Dick Van Dyke is 100 years old today. And the midwestern actor seems to be doing well. He might well outlive Kirk Douglas, who died at 103. Or even Norman Lloyd, who died at 106.

People don’t associate him with psychotronic film. After all, he’s the friendly man who played Rob Petrie on that show that is ridiculously titled The Dick Van Dyke Show. (And yes, I think the same of The Mary Tyler Moore Show — even though Mary Richards at least shares a first name!)

But Van Dyke played a much broader set of roles than most people think. I remember this upset me as a child. I didn’t like seeing him play a murderer on Columbo (even though he was somewhat sympathetic).

Let us not forget: films like Mary Poppins are psychotronic. You see boys and girls, there was a time when films like that were thought to be made for children. It wasn’t the kind of stuff adults went to see alone. Admittedly, the big budget did make the critics swoon. But people did look down on adult viewers who took it seriously.

Van Dyke did perform in some edgier films. In The Comic (1969), he plays a narcissistic silent film comedian whose life slowly falls apart. In The Runner Stumbles (1979), he plays a Catholic priest who has an affair with a nun, who ends up murdered with him looking guilty.

He was also in a number of generally strange films. These include The Art of Love (1965), Lt Robin Crusoe, USN (1966), and Cold Turkey (1971).

But today, we celebrate Dick Van Dyke’s 100th birthday by watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. As a child, both The Last Man on Earth and Jaws gave me nightmares for years. But neither were as disturbing while watching as this supposed kids’ film. I hope it doesn’t disturb you too much!

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Dick Van Dyke via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.