Dick Van Dyke hopes to be Poppins along to Buckingham Palace after landing a prestigious award in the US.
The Hollywood icon – famed for his chimney sweep role alongside Julie Andrews – has been made a Kennedy Center honouree for his lifetime of contributions to American culture.
And asked what comes next, the 95-year-old Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins star with the dodgy Cockney accent declared: “I think the next thing is a knighthood.”
Dick said of his performing arts award: “Recognition from your peers is always icing on the cake. How did I get to a Kennedy award? I never trained or did anything. I just enjoyed myself.”
The veteran star is also well-known on both sides of the Atlantic for his long-running self-titled comedy show.
And he has never lost his sense of humour. “I just turned 95, so I’m happy to be anywhere,” he joked.
“Had I known I’d live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.”
Last month, the actor refused to turn a blind eye as he helped out job seekers with a cash hand-out.
He was running errands in sunny Malibu when he came across a queue at a nearby jobseekers centre.
Dick chatted to those left unemployed amid the harsh realities of the pandemic before popping to a cash machine and lending them a helping hand.
He handed out bills from a bag out of his car window, he and the jobseekers wearing protective face masks.
And onlookers said Dick appeared in good spirits as he performed the profound act of generosity.
He's been a legend since he kickstarted his silver screen career in the 1950s.
But his real breakthrough came with 1964's Mary Poppins, in which he plays one-man band, kite-seller and chimney sweep with a huge crush on Julie Andrews' titular character.
This was followed up four years later by Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
He also landed his own show, the aptly named Dick Van Dyke Show, and made appearances on The Carol Burnett Show.
