On Saturday, Dick Van Dyke will reach 100 when he will join one of the most exclusive clubs in human history: people over 6 feet tall who have lived to see their hundredth birthday. This isn’t just rare—it’s historically extraordinary.

Based on extensive longevity research, there have been only a rare few verified cases of men over 6 feet reaching 100. Robert Alexander Early, who stood around 6 feet tall, and died in 1960. Alexander Imich, around 6 ‘1”, also reached 100 before passing away in 2014. That’s essentially it for the documented cases of men Van Dyke’s height or taller becoming centenarians.

To put this in perspective: European countries in the taller half average just 48 centenarians per million people, while shorter countries average 77 per million—a 60% difference. In Japan, those who reach 100 are on average 4 inches shorter than those who live to 75. Research on Okinawan centenarians—who have among the highest longevity rates in the world—shows male centenarians average just 4’10” tall.

The Cold, Hard Truth About Height and Longevity

The science is unambiguous: taller people die younger. Multiple studies have found this inverse relationship between height and lifespan:

– A 1992 study found men shorter than 5’9” lived to an average age of 71, while men taller than 6’4” died around age 64

– Most centenarians worldwide are shorter than 5’5”

– Finnish athletes showed cross-country skiers (6 inches shorter) lived nearly seven years longer than basketball players

– Among Sardinian soldiers who reached 70, those below 5’4” lived two years longer than their taller brothers

The biological reasons are compelling: taller people have more cells, which increases cancer risk. Their hearts work harder to pump blood through larger bodies. They experience more DNA damage over their lifetimes. As one researcher put it, short people are like Honda Civics—compact and efficient. Tall people are Cadillac Escalades. With all that extra machinery, something’s bound to go wrong.

What Made Dick Van Dyke Different

So how is Dick Van Dyke still singing, dancing, and appearing in Coldplay music videos at 99? The answer isn’t what you might expect.

“I’ve always thought that anger is one thing that eats up a person’s insides—and hate,” Van Dyke recently told People magazine. “I never really was able to work up a feeling of hate. There are things I don’t like, people I don’t like and disapprove of, but I never really was able to do a white heat kind of hate.”

This isn’t just feel-good philosophy. Van Dyke observed his own father, who “was constantly upset by the state of things in his life,” die at 74. Modern research backs this up: anger heightens inflammation in the body, raising illness markers like IL-6 and accelerating the aging process. Studies on aging adults show that patterns of hostility function like a physiological tax, straining the systems that keep the body resilient.

But Van Dyke’s mental approach is only part of the equation. He remained extraordinarily active throughout his 80s and 90s. Singer Rick Springfield posted in October 2024 that he ran into the then-98-year-old at the gym “working out on every machine.” Van Dyke got up from the chest press and “did a little dance step” before leaving.

Activity. Purpose. Positivity. These aren’t just nice ideas—they’re his survival mechanism.

My Reality (And Probably Yours)

I’m 6’6”. I recognize that I have virtually no chance of living to 100. That is my reality, and if you’re over 6 feet tall, it’s most likely yours too.

This realization could be terrifying. It could be depressing. It could keep you up at night. Or—and this is what I’ve chosen—it can be liberating.

By embracing my mortality, I live my life with purpose and appreciation for every moment of every day. This is how I slow time down. This is how Dick Van Dyke has managed to do what virtually no other human his size has accomplished.

We avoid thinking about death. We convince ourselves that mortality happens to other people, not us. We operate under the delusion that we have infinite time. But coming to terms with your own mortality—really accepting it—actually sets your mind free to focus on what matters most. It creates urgency without anxiety. It transforms ordinary moments into precious ones.

Start Today

Begin with the fundamentals:

• Exercise regularly. Van Dyke is in the gym at 99. What’s your excuse?
• Practice good mental health. Let go of anger, hate, and resentment. They’re literally eating you from the inside.
• Get proper sleep. Release the mental barriers that keep you up at night.
• Find purpose. Van Dyke stayed active in his career and personal life through his 80s and 90s because he had reasons to get up every morning.
• Cultivate joy. “I never wake up in a bad mood,” Van Dyke says. Make that your practice.

Dick Van Dyke may become one of the tallest centenarians in recorded history when he turns 100 in 2025. Whether he makes it or not, he’s already proven something profound: that mindset, activity, and purpose matter more than genetics or luck.

His achievement isn’t just about the number of years—it’s about what he did with them. He “stubbornly refused to give in to the bad stuff in life: failures and defeats, personal losses, loneliness and bitterness, the physical and emotional pains of aging.”

That refusal—that stubborn, joyful, purposeful approach to living—is available to all of us, regardless of our height or our statistical life expectancy.

The question is: will you embrace your mortality and truly live? Or will you pretend you have forever and waste the time you have?

Dick Van Dyke made his choice.

Now make yours.