Actor Dick Van Dyke, famous for his roles in Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, has claimed he was once rescued from death by porpoises.
The veteran actor, who made his screen debut on the Phil Silvers Show in 1957 before going on to achieve fame with his own sitcom and a number of popular movies, revealed his strange tale while appearing on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in the United States.
In an extended interview that aired last night to promote a new DVD reissue of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Van Dyke revealed he used to surf and came face-to-face with the porpoises while on a surf board.
"I went out once and fell asleep on that board. I did. And I woke up out of sight of land, and I looked around and I started paddling with the swells and I start seeing fins swimming around me, and I thought, 'I'm dead.' They turned out to be porpoises. They pushed me all the way to shore. I'm not kidding."
Van Dyke (84) said he had given up surfing since the incident.
Van Dyke, who sang on the Academy Award-winning song Chim Chim Cher-ee from the film Mary Poppins, is still a jobbing actor and starred in the long-running series Diagnosis: Murder in the 1990s.
His singing career is also still on the go, and earlier this year he appeared on the children's album Rhythm Train with members of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, where he rapped on one of the tracks.
