The 98-year-old actor and comedian made his debut as Timothy Robicheaux, an elderly man with amnesia, on Days of Our Lives in September 2023. He acted alongside his real-life friend Drake Hogestyn, who starred on Days on and off since the late 1980s.
“I said, ‘Don’t you have any parts for old people? Come on give me one.’ And he took me seriously and got me a part!” Van Dyke told Access Hollywood.
Van Dyke was excited to play the role on the soap opera, saying, “I have played old men before, but ‘comedy old men,’” he said last year. “This is the first time I ever just played my 97-year-old self.”
While Van Dyke is the oldest Daytime Emmy nominee, Norman Lear was the oldest Primetime Emmy nominee at 100 in 2022.
