Dick Van Dyke has been looking back on his escape from the wildfires in Malibu, California, paying tribute to neighbours for helping get him to safety.
The acting legend, who turns 99 today (December 13) discussed the ordeal with a local news outlet just a couple of days after he reassured fans on Facebook that he’d escaped the fire.
In an interview that aired on the Today show yesterday (December 12), Van Dyke said: “It was coming from the hill, you could see it, and oh my God, and we got out of here. I was trying to crawl to the car, I had exhausted myself, I couldn’t get up.”
“Three neighbours came and carried me out and came back and put out a little fire in the guest house and saved me.”
He was captured evacuating his home alongside his wife, Arlene Silver, and their pets on footage from his own Ring doorbell, and on Tuesday (December 10) he shared on Facebook that he’d been able to escape. He revealed that one of their pets, cat Bobo, had escaped during the commotion, but an update yesterday announced that Bobo had been found unharmed.
Van Dyke is among tens of thousands of people who’ve had to leave their homes in the Malibu area after the Franklin Fire began on Monday (December 9). Cher is another famous face to have to evacuate, as is actress Mira Sorvino.
Arlene and I have safely evacuated with our animals except for Bobo escaped as we were leaving. We’re praying he’ll be ok and that our community in Serra Retreat will survive these terrible fires
Posted by Dick Van Dyke on Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Van Dyke, meanwhile, recently starred in the music video for Coldplay’s ‘All My Love’. The video, which arrived as a special, extended Director’s Cut on December 6, celebrates the life of the iconic entertainer and was shot at his home.
In his only written interview for the album ‘Moon Music’, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin revealed that the single would be the final one from the album. He said: “That’s the last ‘single’ single. We have the musical thing, then an album just called ‘Coldplay’, which is the final one. I think that will be a year late – I know it will be.”
He added: “Right now, and since about 2008, if something lands in me as a song or as a good idea and it feels authentic, we’ll do it. It doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks.”
The post Dick Van Dyke had to “crawl” to his car to escape Malibu wildfires: “I had exhausted myself, I couldn’t get up” appeared first on NME.
