I love Dick Van Dyke and he certainly doesn’t deserve this, but I am starting a ridiculous rumor that just might make even him laugh.
Many famous entertainers are willing to confess that their success hinged on more than talent. Maybe for Dick Van Dyke, his big break started in bed at a flea-bag hotel in Chicago. For goodness sake check out how the man dresses. He looks like the type who would shamelessly oversleep his way to the top.
Recently I had the pleasure of listening to this comedy legend reminisce about his career on WGN Radio’s Dave Plier Show. Turns out back in the 1940’s, Dick was employed as a DJ in Danville Illinois and found himself with a golden opportunity to audition for a job at Chicago’s WGN. The main reason they didn’t hire him? He overslept and failed to show up for the interview.
He arrived in Chicago late one night by train needing to be up bright and early the following morning. Travelling on a young and broke budget, he checked into a fleabag hotel and left his wake-up call in the hands of the desk clerk. Call it fate or a simple matter of the hotel clerk sleeping on the job, Dick Van Dyke’s wake-up call never arrived.
Forced to travel on a different path he would eventually find himself on Broadway auditioning for a small time part. While singing a few bars and
done simply to settle his nerves, his feet began performing an unscheduled and unrequested soft-shoe. Those few nervous dance steps caught the eye of the director who rejected him for the bit part and instead offered him the lead role in Bye Bye Birdie. Dick tried unsuccessfully to talk him out of it because he sincerely didn’t know how to dance!
While accepting a Tony Award for his performance it probably never occurred to Dick that he should thank his old buddy the desk clerk in Chicago. If he had worked for WGN would he have ever been discovered on Broadway? I have no doubt he would have been a hit with the listeners. Household names like Wally Phillips and Roy Leonard felt content to spend decades broadcasting, and Orion Samuelson recently celebrated his 55th year with the station.
The Dick Van Dyke Show has now aired on television for 55 years. Along the way, he has accumulated five Emmys, one Tony, a Grammy and a Hollywood Star on the Walk of Fame. Not bad for a guy who got lucky oversleeping in a hotel in Chicago and landed on top. I’m willing to bet the man can’t even spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
Chicago Kenny
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