All these years watching Mary Poppins ...

[KellyWasHere]

And I never realized that Dick Van **** played the old banker boss.

 

[MomofKatie]

And the story is that he had to convince Walt Disney that he could be believable as the old man. He showed up in his office all made up, and Walt thought some random old guy was there. Once DVD revealed who he was, Disney told him he could do both parts.

 

[KellyWasHere]

Cool story! His old man was much more convincing then his British accent.

 

[MomofKatie]

Yeah, the Cockney accent was pretty painful to hear. But he made up for it with his singing and dancing.

 

[KellyWasHere]

He sure did. I think my oldest DD has a crush on him.

 

[MomofKatie]

All these years later, he still looks good!

 

[Micca]

He is credited with the role at the end of the movie. At first his name appears scrambled, but the letters switch around on the screen to reveal his true identity. The accent issue notwithstanding, he was perfect as Bert (and the old man).

 

[kolohe_lady]

I didn't figure that out for years, either! But it also took me til I was 12 to figure out Han Solo and Indiana Jones were the same actor (and we watched those movies A LOT) so I may just be obtuse

 

[funky monkey]

And I never realized that Dick Van **** played the old banker boss.

I did not know that. And I love the way that this board does not allow his name to be shown But yeah, I had no idea he was in that movie. Although I must say that Mary poppins was never one of my favorites. Nothing against it, but I never fell in love with it.

 

[superme80]

It took me years to figure it out too. I think I finally got it when I was 16 or so.

 

[wittyheroine]

It took me a while to figure that out too. I love that he plays both.

 

[Experiment_626]

According to the extras on the DVD, Walt made him pay to play the role of Mr. Dawes, Sr. in addition to Bert. Or, to be more precise, he let him do the role in exchange for (IRRC) a donation of $1000 to CalArts.

Scott

 

[dicelees]

According to the extras on the DVD, Walt made him pay to play the role of Mr. Dawes, Sr. in addition to Bert. Or, to be more precise, he let him do the role in exchange for (IRRC) a donation of $1000 to CalArts.

Scott

That is fascinating, I had no idea there was so much behind DVD's part in Mary Poppins.

I need to watch this movie again soon!

 

[CaptainAlex]

I never realized he played Dawes Sr until I bought the dvd for my oldest when she was a toddler a few years ago. When you look closely you can see the distinctive facial features of DVD.

Mary Poppins is my all time favorite Disney movie. Like Mary it's absolutely perfect in every way.

 

[DisneyMarvelStarWars]

And all these years I though Dick WAS British...

 

[peyjenk]

And all these years I though Dick WAS British...

Haha, I know what you mean! I watched it regularly as a kid. It wasn't til I was an adult and I would read or hear people complain about his British accent that I realized that it really isn't that convincing after all.

I don't remember: did he even try a British accent in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?