AWC has observed an unwritten rule so far: Don’t post birthdays for living people. The theory is that it’s harder to say exactly what a life meant, or place it in historical context, if the person is still around to blow out the candles on their birthday cake. But rules are made to be broken, and this series is noting 89 birthdays for Dick Van Dyke today, born in Missouri on December 13, 1925 and still active in a career that has spanned over half a century.

His film and TV career highlights are well known. His best known comedic roles are as comedy writer Rob Petrie on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” from 1961-1966, and Bert the chimney sweep in 1964’s “Mary Poppins.” He also took a successful dramatic turn decades later in “Diagnosis: Murder,” which ran from 1993-2001. But these just scratch the surface in a career that has seen him pop up in dozens of guest starring roles in TV shows ranging from “The Carol Burnett Show” to “Matlock” to “The Golden Girls” to “Scrubs.” His big screen resume is shorter, but includes at least 22 film credits since 1963’s “Bye Bye Birdie.”

Combine that with his stage career, which saw him appear in two Broadway productions before he hit it big on TV and appear in a 1980 revival of “The Music Man,” and Dick Van Dyke has been just about everywhere people gather to be entertained since the middle of the last century -- as attested by his Tony, Grammy, and five Emmy awards. (The famed “four statue” sweep of the major entertainment industry awards has eluded him, with no Oscar nominations during his career.)

As he approaches 90 years old, Dick Van Dyke hasn’t slowed down. This year alone, he (or his voice) has popped up on the Hallmark Channel’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and Disney’s “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” on TV, while movie audiences saw him play himself in “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” He’ll show up again in the next “Night at the Museum” movie, which opens next week.

With an output like that, AWC doesn’t need to wait to render a verdict: Dick Van Dyke has lived a life worth celebrating, and hopefully has a number of birthdays left to do so himself.

Photo montage assembled by AWC