Julie Andrews certainly didn’t need a spoonful of sugar when she was working with Dick Van Dyke during their “daunting” rehearsals for “Mary Poppins.”
The iconic actress, 88, applauded the “Bye, Bye, Birdie” star, 98, in Thursday’s “Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic CBS” special.
The “Princess Diaries” actress happily recalled meeting Van Dyke during the shooting of the 1964 Disney musical.
She divulged during the two-hour show how it was a hot, September day that she encountered the actor at practice sessions.
The crew had built a stage outside the studio where they were filming.
“As I arrived on that very first day, Dick was already working with the choreographers and the dancers,” Andrews explained.
She reminisced at how “young, fit as can be and really gorgeous to look at” Van Dyke was at the time.
“I’d never made a movie before, and I’d given birth to my lovely daughter Emma nearly six weeks earlier, and I quickly realized that I had better pull my socks up and get in shape,” she said.
“I found it pretty daunting, I can tell you. Dick could not have been kinder, more genuinely sweet and helpful. I like to think that we did bond instantly,” the “Victor, Victoria” alum added.
She then joked: “How lucky I was to have him by my side for my first venture in Hollywood.”
Andrews also remembered hysterically laughing while she was learning the choreography to the song “Jolly Holiday.”
She revealed that it was the Grammy winner who made her “collapse with the giggles … countless times.”
Andrews continued: “It was so delightful to watch him imitating the animated penguins or attempting to ride the pony from the carousel. Becoming a magical chimney sweep. Actually, it was a very happy film for, I think, the entire company.”
For “Mary Poppins,” she scored the Oscar for Best Actress for playing the titular character.
Van Dyke portrayed two roles in the famous flick — Bert, the chimney sweep, and Mr. Dawes Sr.
The CBS special celebrated the “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” star’s long and fruitful career, and featured music and dance performances and special guests that paid tribute to Van Dyke.
Other Tinseltown stars who appeared during the event included Zachary Levi performing “Jolly Holliday,” Rita Ora singing the tune “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and Jason Alexander crooning “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
Carol Burnett, Jim Carrey, Stephen Colbert, Darren Criss, Ted Danson, Mark Hamill, Tony Hawk, Rob Reiner, Jane Seymour, William Shatner, Martin Short and Stanley Tucci also stopped by to salute Van Dyke and his achievements.
