Dick Van Dyke credits wife for his success as he becomes oldest recipient of Daytime Emmy Awards at 98

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Dick Van Dyke has once again made history by winning a Daytime Emmy Award at age 98.

He has now become the oldest actor to achieve such a feat after bagging the prize for best guest performer in a daytime drama series on ‘Days of Our Lives.’

Dick Van Dyke thanks his wife Arlene Silver after winning Emmy at 98

"I don't believe this. I feel like a spy from nighttime television. I brought this lady up because she, by trouble and strife, is the love of my life, but because she was in the show — she played the cop who arrested me," Van Dyke said as he walked to receive the award with his wife Arlene Silver.

"She looks better than she did as that cop and I'm the oldest nominee in history," he joked.

"If I had known I was going to live this long I would've taken better care of myself. You guys are a real family and just took me in and treated me so nicely," Van Dyke continued.

"I'm 98 years old, can you believe it? This really tops off a lifetime of 80 years in the business," he didn’t mind poking fun at his age again.

Other nominees for best guest performer in a daytime drama series 

The co-nominees in the category were 'The Young and the Restless’ Linden Ashby, 'The Bold and the Beautiful’s Ashley Jones, 'General Hospital’s Alley Mills, and 'Neighbours’ Guy Pearce.

Just before the ceremony, Van Dyke talked with People about his Emmy Awards nominations.

"This nomination is very exciting; after all, it took me 75 years and my pal Drake Hogestyn to get on a soap opera!" he explained, referencing how he campaigned for the DOOL actor for a part in the show.

"He is really the reason this happened and deserves the credit and thanks," he said.

The ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ star continued, "This is a very different honor for me; I seldom get recognized for dramatic or straight acting - comedy and musicals are my specialty after all.I'm so honored and it will be a fun night celebrating with the entire daytime television community."

“I always loved what I was doing. If it had felt like work, I probably would have stopped it a long time ago,” Van Dyke told Deadline.

“I call it my play,” he referenced to his body of work which notably includes 'Bye Bye Birdie' on Broadway, 'Mary Poppins', 'The Masked Singer', 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', and 'Night at the Museum' among many others.

In his illustrious career, Van Dyke has won five Primetime Emmy awards for 'Van Dyke and Company’ and ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show.’