Dick Van Dyke shares a morbid admission ahead of his 100th birthday
Rhiannon Ingle
Featured Image Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Dick Van Dyke has made quite the morbid admission ahead of his 100th birthday.
The 99-year-old Hollywood A-lister, who is set to reach the milestone age early next month (13 December) has offered fans several insights into how he's faring, telling PEOPLE: "I feel really good for 100.
Van Dyke added: "Sometimes I have more energy than others — but I never wake up in a bad mood."
Talking about his centennial birthday, he joked: "I hope I make it," before admitting to being slightly hard of hearing and a little wobbly on his feet.
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"I feel like I’m about 13," he quipped.
Van Dyke's actually imparted a load of nuggets of wisdom in his newly published book titled 100 Rules for Living to 100, telling the outlet: "Each rule springs from a story in my own life, which I believe has stuck itself in my memory for a good reason — because it had some broader emotional significance for me."
The actor, who has starred in a number of box-office smash-hits throughout his decade-spanning career, including Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Night at the Museum, clearly remains an eternal optimist.
"People say ‘What did you do right?’" he shared. "I don’t know. I’m rather lazy. I’ve always thought that anger is one thing that eats up a person’s insides — and hate. And I never really was able to work up a feeling of hate. I think that is one of the chief things that kept me going."
Van Dyke continued, referencing his father who died in 1972: "There were things I didn’t like, people I don't like and disapprove of. But I never really was able to do a white heat kind of hate.
"My father (Loren Van Dyke) was constantly upset by the state of things in his life and it did take him at 73 years old."
In the book, the cinema icon also candidly discussed what the future now holds for him: "The end of my life is so much closer."
"When you expire, you expire," he told PEOPLE. "I don’t have any fear of death for some reason. I can’t explain that, but I don’t. I’ve had such a wonderfully full and exciting life. That I can’t complain."
And the secret to staying young after nearly a century?
Well, simply put, a happy and fulfilling relationship.
Van Dyke took the opportunity to credit his wife, Arlene, 54, whom he tied the knot with back in 2012, for keeping him young at heart.
"She's responsible for keeping me in the moment," he gushed. "She kept me happy every day of my life, every day. She's a joy. She can get me singing or dancing and she carries so much responsibility ... I'm just lucky."
And as for his legacy?
Well, Van Dyke resolved: "What I left in the way of children's entertainment and children's music — that’s my legacy.
"I don’t think remembering me is that important. But it’s the music, the music we leave behind. For as long as children are proudly belting out their new word, "'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,' or singing and skipping along to 'Chim Chim Cher-ee,' the most important part of me will always be alive."
He joyously concluded: "I think I’ve decided that people are born with an outlook. I just think I was born with a brighter outlook. I look at the horizon. I think some people are born just to have to fight against a downward spiral.
"And after 100 years, I think I’m right."
And, when asked if there was anything he wanted to add during the PEOPLE interview, Van Dyke simply responded: "I want to thank the public for giving me such a wonderful life."