One of Dick Van Dyke’s most memorable movies is Mary Poppins, where he played jack-of-all-trades Bert. Other than his song-and-dance numbers, another memorable trait Van Dyke brought out in one of the best classic family movies was his Cockney accent that’s gotten a lot of controversy over the years. However, the American actor mentioned a particular group of people who don’t make fun of his Bert accent, even thoughwik he feels like they should.
Dick Van Dyke’s Cockney accent he used as Bert received a lot of flack over the years and is considered one of the worst in film history. In fact, Empire’s 2003 poll put Van Dyke’s poor accent at #2 for the worst film accents. While speaking to Entertainment Weekly for the CBS special Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic, the veteran actor revealed, to his surprise, which group of people aren’t bothered by his Mary Poppins accent:
I still get kidded about it. But it didn’t seem to harm anybody’s enjoyment of the movie. But I do get kidded about it. The people who don’t kid me are the British. They never mentioned it — and they’re the ones who should be making fun of me and don’t.
That’s definitely a compliment if British kids didn’t seem to find fault in Dick Van Dyke’s Mary Poppins accent. Maybe that speaks more about the American demographic being able to detect actors with a bad accent in a role. I personally wasn’t too bothered by the Golden Globe recipient’s accent considering Bert is supposed to be a goofball and not to be taken seriously. He was still amusing to watch whether he was dancing on chimneys and interacting with animated characters.
The 98-year-old actor/comedian clearly wasn’t oblivious to fans’ thoughts on his Mary Poppins accent. In fact, Dick Van Dyke humorously apologized for his Cockney dialect when he received BAFTA’s Britannia Award for Excellence in Television. He joked around during his speech that he felt his accent was “the most atrocious Cockney accent in the history of cinema.” To be fair, it doesn’t seem like anyone mentioned to Van Dyke during the filming of the 1964 flick how imperfect his accent was. That can make anyone continue with it.
While Dick Van Dyke’s accent may not have been a good standout moment in Mary Poppins, there are still many reasons why the family-friendly movie is one of the best early Disney movies. “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” is still an uplifting Disney song to sing to. The Bye Bye Birdie actor told EW that that particular Sherman Brothers song still brings meaning to him and was the most fun dance number he performed in. Plus, it’s a movie that teaches audiences young and old the meaning of family and love.
People may still remember Dick Van Dyke’s mediocre accent after all of these years, but according to the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang actor, British kids don’t seem to have a problem with it. Maybe if kids from the UK aren’t bothered by Van Dyke’s British dialect, neither should we. Bert is, after all, still an admirable character played by a talented actor.
If you want to hear the Cockney accent everyone’s talking about, Mary Poppins is available to watch with your Disney+ subscription.