Dick Van Dyke admits he ‘neglected’ his children while building his career

Van Dyke, who shared four children — Christian, 75, Barry, 74, Stacy, 70, and Carrie, 64 — with his late ex-wife Margie Willett, admitted in a recent interview that his early years in entertainment left little room for a family life.

“In the beginning, I grew up in a family with no money, so it was about getting some money together and getting a house,” he said. Reflecting on the toll it took on his household, he added: ‘They were probably neglected at some pointbecause I worked very hard to get out of poverty, so to speak, but I haven’t had any complaints from anyone.”

The entertainer, who recently released his book 100 rules for living to 100said his intense work schedule included game shows, nightclubs and even an early morning radio DJ shift. “I played nightclubs. I did almost everything. At one point I did a disc jockey show at five in the morning, and at night I worked with a partner in nightclubs,” he recalls.

With only “three or four hours of sleep in between,” Van Dyke said the early aughts were all about getting a “foothold” in show business. “After that I enjoyed every minute.”