Dick Van Dyke

Dick Van Dyke to Revive Magnificently Bad Cockney Accent in ‘Mary Poppins’ Sequel
Dick Van Dyke to Revive Magnificently Bad Cockney Accent in ‘Mary Poppins’ Sequel
Dick Van Dyke to Revive Magnificently Bad Cockney Accent in ‘Mary Poppins’ Sequel
Dick Van Dyke remains a beloved and esteemed entertainer at age 91, fondly remembered for his charismatic performances as a hapless songwriter in Bye Bye Birdie and a sooty-faced chimneysweep in Disney’s 1964 musical Mary Poppins. What he’s remembered decidedly less fondly for is the other role he played in the period-piece musical, elderly bank chairman Mr. Dawes, Senior. Clad in old-age makeup and credited as “Nackvid Keyd” (an anagram of Dick Van Dyke), the notorious D.V.D. busted out a frightfully bad Cockney accent in his scenes as the tight-fisted money man. Widely mocked at the time and voted the second-worst accent ever in a poll from Empire, it was not the high point of Van Dyke’s impressive career.