Dick Van Dyke jokes about Cockney accent in Mary Poppins
Dick Van Dyke said he believed he was “off the hook” because of his Cockney accent in Mary Poppins when he was honored by Bafta Los Angeles at the Britannia Awards.
The 91-year-old star was celebrated Friday with The Crown’s Claire Foy, who was named Artist of the Year at the ceremony to honor British talent and Hollywood stars with a “strong connection” to the UK.
Van Dyke apologized for his infamous accent when Bert, the chimney sweep in the 1964 film, became known that he was going to receive the Award for Outstanding Television Achievement.
Dick Van Dyke apologized for his infamous accent as Bert the Chimney Sweep (left) in 1964 Mary Poppins when it was announced that he would be honored at the Bafta Los Angeles Britannia Awards
Van Dyke said he had “a million excuses” and accused the British of not telling him to improve his accent, adding, “I blame Julie Andrews as much as anyone else.” Van Dyke and Andrews are pictured at the top of press photos for the 1964 film Mary Poppins
Van Dyke accepted the award from Kevin Spacey and said, “I appreciate this on several levels.
“For one thing, I assume that after 60 years of bad jokes I’m off the hook because I’ve pissed off the Cockney dialect.”
Said he had “a million excuses” and accused the British cast of not telling him to improve his accent, he added, “I blame Julie Andrews as much as anyone else.”
He also said he only had an hour of accent coaching from an Irishman named Pat Mahoney.
But Van Dyke said a dialect coach “figuratively tied to me” prompted him to upgrade his role in the upcoming sequel to Mary Poppins.
Foy, who is replaced as Queen by Olivia Colman on the Netflix show’s third series, was honored by John Lithgow, who played Winston Churchill on the series.
Van Dyke said he only had an hour of accent coaching from an Irishman named Pat Mahoney. But he said that a dialect trainer “figuratively tied to me” caused him to upgrade for his role in the upcoming Mary Poppins sequel
Van Dyke accepted the award from Kevin Spacey (right) in Beverly Hills, California on Friday
Van Dyke was celebrated on Friday along with Claire Foy from The Crown (pictured above with John Lithgow), who praised the 91-year-old’s accent
She said the award was a “great honor” and praised Van Dyke’s accent and told him to ignore the jokes made by the moderator of the ceremony.
“Dick Van Dyke, as a British and Queen of England, all I can say is that your accent is perfect, so don’t listen to Jack Whitehall,” she said.
Matt Damon received the Award for Outstanding Film Quality but was unable to appear in person after returning to Boston at the last minute to deal with a “family emergency.”
Master Of None star and creator Aziz Ansari joked that Bafta disrupted his trip to London by letting him return to the US to receive a British award.
“I met these lovely women there. We had a great time in London drinking white wines, eating shepherd cakes, riding the tube and who comes in and ruins my amazing British experience? The damned Baftas, ”he said with a laugh.
Sir Kenneth Branagh received the award for his worldwide contribution to entertainment at the ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and Ava DuVernay received the award for outstanding directing.
