Dick Van Dyke says he would have taken better care of his health if he knew he was going to live to 98

• Dick Van Dyke, 98, says he would have tried to be healthier if he knew he'd live to be this old.
• The actor opened up about his life and career in a recent CBS News interview.
• "If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself," Van Dyke said.

Dick Van Dyke, who turned 98 last week, says he would have tried to be healthier if he knew he'd get this old.

"If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself. You know, I went through that whole period of alcoholism," Van Dyke told CBS News correspondent Tracy Smith in a new interview.

Thankfully, his wife Arlene Silver "makes sure" he goes to the gym three days a week to do a full workout, Van Dyke added.

Indeed, the "Mary Poppins" star has lived a full and exciting life thus far, with a career spanning over seven decades.

Looking back, the actor says his career has always "depended on" having fun.

"If I'm not enjoying myself, I'm really bad," Van Dyke said. "It's such a blessing to find a way of making a living that you love, that you'd do for nothing."

He added that he felt sorry for people who hate their jobs because he looked forward to going to work every morning.

His passion for acting hasn't changed a bit — Van Dyke admits he still gets letters from little kids these days, and it makes him happy.

"And that is what I love," he said. "They watch the movies over and over. I'm getting so much more mail today than I did during the heyday of my career."

But of course, there are also sad moments that come with living a long life.

"Everybody I knew and worked with, there's no one left," the actor said, when Smith brought up his friends Norman Lear, who passed away earlier this month at 101, and Carl Reiner, who died in 2020 at 98.

"Both gone," Van Dyke continued, adding that he tries to manage his grief by keeping busy and getting involved in different activities.

In a separate interview with People, published yesterday, the actor also said that he tries to make new friends even at his age.

"I'm happy to say people come to me," Van Dyke told People. "I don't have to go out looking."