Dick Van Dyke grew up in Danville, Illinois, with his brother Jerry, and their parents, Loren and Hazel, a salesman and a stenographer, respectively (via The Guardian). Perhaps the actor's wit came by way of his parents, as he cites both his mother and father having a chatty sense of humor. The star gave a bit of insight on his upbringing in his memoir, "My Lucky Life in and Out of Show Business," describing Danville as "quiet and neighborly" — a slice of Americana without any "bad side" of town.
And while Dick had a good relationship with his parents ("there's no need for any psychoanalysis," he writes), the actor recalled a bizarre moment when he was turning 18: his mother told him he was "already 18." As he revealed, Hazel explained to her son that he was "born a little premature," and had "complications." While a bewildered Dick pressed for more information, his mom reassured him that everything was alright but that they pushed the date of his birth "forward to what would have been full term."
Curious to find out if this was the truth, Dick spoke to his grandmother, who told him that he wasn't premature, but that his parents conceived him before they were married — a scandalous occurrence in the 1920s. His mother confirmed the story, and as the actor mused in his book, "Though it was never stated, I was probably the reason they got married."
