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Pop Culture

98-year-old Dick Van Dyke just won an Emmy and celebrted with an epic red carpet dance for the ages

"This is his world and we're just living in it."

Photo credit: Public Domain (left), Gage Skidmore (right)

Dick Van Dyke's career has been going strong for 80 years.

Most people today will never even reach age 98, much less see themselves win an award for work they did at that age. But Dick Van Dyke has done both, making history as the oldest Daytime Emmy winner for his role on an episode of "Days of Our Lives" at 18 months shy of 100. He took home the 2024 award for Outstanding Guest Performance in a Drama Series for playing Timothy Robicheaux, an amnesiac "mystery man" on the long-running soap opera.

As impressive as that achievement is, it's Van Dyke's jaunt down the red carpet at the awards show that has people cheering.

He didn't just walk the carpet. He practically danced down it.

His hair and beard may be snowy white and he may use a cane to help him get around, but there's no mistaking the signature pep in his step. As the "Put the Telly On" X account shared, "Dick Van Dyke, 98, is going to live until he's 180. This is his world and we're just living in it."

Watch:

Van Dyke is no stranger to awards for his television work, having won four Primetime Emmys for "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and the "Van Dyke and Company" variety show. This is his second Daytime Emmy win—he won his last one 40 years ago.

“I don’t believe this. I feel like a spy from nighttime television,” he said. “I’m 98 years old. Can you believe it? This really tops off a lifetime of 80 years in the business. If I had known I would have lived this long I would’ve taken better care of myself.”

Most people would agree that he seems to have taken quite good care of himself considering how vital he still is at age 98. He has credited his wife, Arlene, his positive attitude and his habits of movement for his aging so well.

And he's still not done. He told Entertainment Tonight that he's still on a mission to win an Oscar so he can claim the coveted EGOT status, winning an Emmy, a Grammy, and Oscar and Tony award. But even if he doesn't get there, three out of the four most prestigious awards is an incredible feat for one career.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saSat5_1-BY#:~:text=At%20the%20age%20of%2098,can%20officially%20have%20EGOT%20status. expand=1 site_id=19596302] Dick Van Dyke chats with ET's Deidre Behar after winning Outstanding Guest on a Daytime Drama Series for 'Days of Our Lives' at the 51st Daytime Emmy Awards....


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Why stars are wearing blue ribbons on the Oscars red carpet.

Oscar nominees and presenters brought some blue flair to the red carpet for the 2017 Academy Awards.

Stars pinned bright blue ribbons to their formal attire as part of the American Civil Liberties Union's Stand With ACLU initiative.

[rebelmouse-image 19528738 dam="1" original_size="735x1104" caption="Ruth Negga, Oscar nominee and star of "Loving." Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images." expand=1]Ruth Negga, Oscar nominee and star of "Loving." Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.

The campaign, which launched last week, encourages celebrities and industry professionals to wear the ribbon as a bold symbol of solidarity with the national nonprofit.

[rebelmouse-image 19528739 dam="1" original_size="735x1073" caption="Oscar nominee Lin-Manuel Miranda poses with a "Hamilton" cookie on the red carpet. Photo by Tommaso Boddi/AFP/Getty Images." expand=1]Oscar nominee Lin-Manuel Miranda poses with a "Hamilton" cookie on the red carpet. Photo by Tommaso Boddi/AFP/Getty Images.

The simple adornment is similar to the red ribbon made popular in the early 1990s many stars wore to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS.

Model Karlie Kloss rocks her ribbon on the red carpet. Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.

Since 1920, the ACLU has offered tireless, nonpartisan commitment to protecting individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and U.S. law.

This includes standing against President Donald Trump's overreaching executive order, which banned refugees from seven Muslim-majority nations; fighting tirelessly for LGBTQ equality including transgender students seeking equal access and protection; and preserving the right to vote in the face of gerrymandering and felony disenfranchisement.

Protesters demonstrate in Philadelphia.Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images.

Their unrelenting support of free speech and the right to assemble even extends to groups like the Ku Klux Klan, the Westboro Baptist Church, and the Washington R*dskins, whose rights and liberties they've defended and supported in court — because the rights of extreme or controversial groups are often attacked first, and if those attacks are allowed to stand, it threatens the freedom of us all.

"Once the government has the power to violate one person’s rights, it can use that power against everyone," the ACLU site reads. "We work to stop the erosion of civil liberties before it’s too late."

Protesters shout at a Ku Klux Klan member at a Klan demonstration in 2015 in South Carolina. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

Even if you're not walking the red carpet, you can still show your support.

Since the 2016 election, the ACLU has raised more than $79 million online from more than 1 million generous donors, including a $24 million surge over two days following the refugee ban.

With that budget boost, the ACLU will boost operations at the state and local level, hire additional lawyers in Washington, D.C., and New York, and invest $13 million in citizen engagement, including protests.

Thousands of people gather at City Hall in San Francisco to protest President Trump and to show support for women's rights. Photo by Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images.

You can support the ACLU by connecting with your local chapter to volunteer or making a contribution. Do your part and give what you can. You don't need a red carpet to take a stand.

Photo by Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for Vanity Fair.

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Emma Watson’s Met Gala gown sent a bold message to the fashion industry.

Sustainability, FTW.

Emma Watson knows how to rock a red carpet, and the Met Gala on May 2, 2016, in New York City was no different.

Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images.

The event's theme was "Fashion in an Age of Technology," and Watson totally nailed it.

Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images.

Not only was her gown stunning in and of itself, it was also created using sustainable products.

Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images.

As Watson explained, the gown combined "creativity, technology, and fashion" to send a bold message about curbing waste.

"I am proud to say it is truly sustainable and represents a connection between myself and all the people in the supply chain who played a role in creating it," she wrote on Facebook.

Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images.

According to Watson, the fabrics of the dress were woven from recycled plastic bottles — "one of the biggest pollutants on the planet," she noted. The cotton used in the design was organic — not the conventional kind that uses chemicals to grow and thus damages the earth and puts workers' health at stake. Even the zippers were crafted from recycled materials.

Watson has no plans to keep the gown locked away in a closet forever either.

"It is my intention to repurpose elements of the gown for future use," she wrote. "The trousers can be worn on their own, as can the bustier, the train can be used for a future red carpet look … I’m looking forward to experimenting with this. Truly beautiful things should be worn again and again and again."

Watson wasn't the only star committed to going green on the red carpet. Lupita Nyong’o wore a jade sequin dress that showed style and sustainability can totally go hand-in-hand.

Can we take a moment to appreciate that amazing hair style? Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images.

"The dress is a celebration of craftsmanship and truly reflects the theme" of the gala, according to Eco-Age, the brand consultancy group that partnered with the celebs.

Margot Robbie also joined the duo in celebrating Eco-Age's #GreenCarpetChallenge.

All three wore designs by Calvin Klein.

Watson, Robbie, and N'yongo. Photo by Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images.

Sustainability, FTW.

The global fashion industry isn't exactly known for its ethical treatment of people or the planet. But there's been a push for change in recent years.

"When we think of pollution, we envision coal power plants, strip-mined mountaintops, and raw sewage piped into our waterways," as Glynis Sweeny wrote for AlterNet last August. "We don’t often think of the shirts on our backs. But the overall impact the apparel industry has on our planet is quite grim."

From our reliance on cotton (a thirsty crop that needs more than its fair share of water to grow) to an over-dependence on shipping materials cheaply from around the world, thus increasing carbon footprints, Big Fashion really hasn't prioritized environmentalism (like, at all).

That's just part of what makes the #GreenCarpetChallenge designs Watson, Nyong'o, and Robbie, wore on the Met Gala red carpet such an important statement.


Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Livia Firth, who co-founded the Green Carpet Challenge, is looking at the future of the fashion industry with hope.

"'Fast fashion' will slowly die as we will start realizing they have taken us for a ride for too many years, addicting us to buying too fast and too cheaply," Firth told Conscious Living TV of an industry that sacrifices the Earth and workers' well-being to produce cheap clothing.

"2016 is going to be the year where we will take fashion back for what it is: beautiful clothes made with love and quality," Firth predicted.


Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images.

Watson, Nyong’o, and Robbie can't revolutionize the fashion industry by themselves, but their red carpet looks can inspire us all to be a little bit more critical of our own closets.

And that's the best way to be fashion forward.

Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images.

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Red-carpet questions can be sexist. These 9 celebrity tweets fought back.

There are so many things #WorthSaying on the red carpet.

Red carpets aren't known for being on the front lines in the fight for gender equality ... to put it lightly.

The pre-show sexism that's persisted for decades can be subtle, but oh, is it there.

Famous women are relentlessly asked about the outfits they're wearing and the designers behind their looks — usually not in addition to, but instead of the accomplishments that got them there. Because who cares how many Oscars they've won or millions of box office dollars they've brought in when there's a dress to discuss, right?

Men, on the other hand, don't have to deal with the media's obsessive questioning over their award show appearances in the same way. Cate Blanchett pointed this out brilliantly at the 2014 Screen Actors Guild Awards when the camera began panning up her dress during an interview with E! News.


GIF via E! News /YouTube.

So on the 2016 Golden Globes' red carpet on Jan. 10, several stars decided to fight back.

Using the hashtag #WorthSaying — a campaign launched by L'Oreal — celebrities tweeted out what types of topics, messages, and questions (that don't have to do with what you look like) should be discussed during the event's red carpet.

Here's what 10 of them had to say.

1. Julianne Moore thinks we need more women in Washington.


2. Jennifer Lopez pointed out that no one should be silenced due to their gender.


3. Zoe Saldana encouraged girls to throw rulebooks out the window.


4. Génesis Rodríguez wanted you to know: Your success is in your hands.


5. Liya Kebede used the opportunity to support moms in the developing world.

6. Zendaya told us she's going to be a force for good.


7. Andie MacDowell gave a shout-out to the power of kindness and compassion.


8. Susan Sarandon thinks badass women in business deserve a round of applause.


9. Eva Longoria reminded us that our passions are best used when we share them.


The #WorthSaying hashtag isn't the first successful effort to confront casual sexism on the red carpet.

In recent years, more and more campaigns have challenged the award show status quo. Amy Poehler's Smart Girls, for instance, launched the #SmartGirlsAsk hashtag during the 2015 Emmys with a similar mission in mind.


And during last year's Academy Awards in February, Hollywood heavyweights like Reese Witherspoon, Shonda Rhimes, and Lena Dunham threw their support behind the #AskHerMore initiative, which came to be through The Representation Project.

"This is a movement to say we’re more than just our dresses," Witherspoon said of #AskHerMore, according to Variety. “There are 44 nominees this year that are women, and we are so happy to be here and talk about the work that we’ve done. It’s hard being a woman in Hollywood, or any industry.”

We're making strides on gender equality in Hollywood. It's time the red carpet starts reflecting that.

Women are killing it at the box office. Leading ladies are speaking out about getting paid the same as their male counterparts. And when it comes to award shows? Look no further than the 2016 Golden Globes: Women are finally getting recognized like they deserve. But it's time they get treated fairly before the shows start, too.

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