My Lucky Life In and Out of Show BusinessA Memoir

Dick Van Dyke

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Summary

My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business

By: Dick Van Dyke

Narrarated by: Dick Van Dyke

Dick Van Dyke, indisputably one of the greats of the golden age of television, is admired and beloved by audiences the world over for his beaming smile, his physical dexterity, his impeccable comic timing, his ridiculous stunts, and his unforgettable screen roles.

His trailblazing television program, The Dick Van Dyke Show (produced by Carl Reiner, who has written the foreword to this memoir), was one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1960s and introduced another major television star, Mary Tyler Moore. But Dick Van Dyke was also an enormously engaging movie star whose films, including Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, have been discovered by a new generation of fans and are as beloved today as they were when they first appeared. Who doesn’t know the word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?

A colorful, loving, richly detailed look at the decades of a multilayered life, My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business, will enthrall every generation of reader, from baby-boomers who recall when Rob Petrie became a household name, to all those still enchanted by Bert’s “Chim Chim Cher-ee.” This is a lively, heartwarming memoir of a performer who still thinks of himself as a “simple song-and-dance man,” but who is, in every sense of the word, a classic entertainer.

Sample Audiobook
Audiobook Information
EDITOR'S PICK // New York Times Best Seller
  • Edition: Unabridged
  • Author: Dick Van Dyke (See All Books)
  • Date Released: May 10, 2011
  • Publisher: Random House Audio
  • Genre: Biography & Memoir, Music & Entertainment Biography, Personal Memoir

Total File Size: 211 MB (6 files) Total Length: 7 Hours, 41 Minutes

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Claire Zulkey

eMusic Contributor

09.29.11
Dick Van Dyke, My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business
2011 | Label: Random House Audio

A dirt-free memoir that’s still fascinating
After this year’s bombshell celebrity memoirs by Keith Richards and Steven Tyler, is there room in the autobiographical landscape for a cordial, dirt-free memoir by the guy who famously sang “Chim Chim Cher-Ee” in Mary Poppins? Most definitely. Dick Van Dyke, who narrates, proves that you don’t need sensationalism or terribly troubling demons in order to tell the tale of a fascinating, and, yes, lucky life. Van Dyke talks about how he strove to pursue the career that was right for him and thought hard about what he really wanted from each stage in life; aside from a marriage that apparently died a natural death and some struggles with alcohol and smoking, Van Dyke has had a blessed life and career, for which he seems satisfyingly grateful. While Van Dyke warns that there’s no “dirt” in his book, there are enough anecdotes about people like Frank Sinatra and Mary Tyler Moore to keep it satisfyingly starry. Van Dyke has witnessed several sea changes in the world of entertainment, starting with the seminal Bye Bye Birdie and Dick Van Dyke Show, and his book should be of interest to any fan of pop culture. Even the most jaded TV fan will feel inspired to look up old clips of Van Dyke’s show to witness the comic performer at work and see how Carl Reiner created a show that still seems fresh more than 50 years later.

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