About time, guv! 53 years on, Dick Van Dyke says sorry for ’orrible Cockney accent
HIS role as Bert the chimney sweep has delighted children for decades.
But for any adults watching Mary Poppins, Dick Van Dyke’s performance stands out for another, more excruciating, reason – his terrible ‘mockney’ tones.
Now, 53 years after the hit musical was released, the 91-year- old star has apologised for the ‘most atrocious Cockney accent in history’.
Van Dyke, who will appear in next year’s sequel Mary Poppins Returns, made his comments after he was chosen by Bafta to receive the Britannia Award For Excellence In Television.
Referring to his role as Bert in the 1964 film, he said: ‘I appreciate this opportunity to apologise to members of Bafta for inflicting on them the most atrocious Cockney accent in the history of cinema.’
The American actor has long been ridiculed for his less-than-convincing East End accent, and three years ago he admitted that he would ‘never live it down’.
However this is the first time he has publicly apologised for his efforts.
‘People in the UK love to rib me about my accent, I will never live it down,’ he said in 2014. ‘They ask what part of England I was meant to be from and I say it was a little shire in the north where most of the people were from Ohio.’
In the film, Van Dyke’s attempted Cockney drawl saw him utter phrases such as ‘Now this im-posin’ edifice what first meets the eye is the ‘ome of Admiral Boom’. Other remarks, which saw him liberally dropping his vowels, included ‘ The constable – responstable! Now ‘ow does that sound?’
Van Dyke has claimed that during filming he had no idea there was anything wrong with his accent, adding: ‘I was working with an entire English cast and nobody said a word.’ In the Mary Poppins sequel, which sees Emily Blunt take on the role of the famous nanny, Van Dyke will play Mr Dawes Jr. In the original film he donned a grey wig and beard to play banker Mr Dawes Sr.
Speaking in December, the five-time Emmy winner said: ‘I get to do a little song and dance number. I gotta be a part of it.’ His award, which will be presented at a Los Angeles ceremony in October, recognises those whose talents and appeal have elevated television. The Tony-winner, whose Diagnosis: Murder series ran from 1993 to 2001, solidified his star status with his The Dick Van Dyke Show in the Sixties.