Mary Poppins star Dick Van Dyke jokes that there is one photo that will haunt him for the rest of his life: A sexy S&M-themed picture from 1995, which features him and former TV co-star, Mary Tyler Moore.
The photo shows the two wearing leather, with the actress wielding a riding crop and bending over the actor, who is on his knees. He even has a tattoo on his arm that depicts a heart pierced by a sword and the word "Mary." It was shot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair's December 1995 issue, which celebrated cast reunions. Van Dyke, who turned 89 on Dec. 13, and Moore, who is 77, played husband and wife on the '60s comedy series The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Naturally, when he appeared on Conan on Wednesday, host Conan O'Brien asked him about the photo and he responded in the most amazing and most Dick Van Dyke-like way.
"We did one as a couple of hobos, which I loved, like clowns," he began. "And they said, 'Put on this outfit.' And I said, 'What is this?' Like, we were going to do like a motorcycle thing. So I put on the outfit."
"A motorcycle thing?" O'Brien asked, laughing.
"Yeah, so I thought we're going to be on a bike or something," Van Dyke said. "And what was the lady's name, that famous photographer?"
"I think that's Annie Leibovitz. One of the greatest photographers of all-time took this photograph," O'Brien replied.
"I'll get you for this Annie," Van Dyke said. "They said, 'Just get on your knees a minute.'"
"You're so naive," O'Brien joked. "At what point does it dawn on you it's not a motorcycle thing? 'Oh, I guess I'm the motorcycle!'"
"I didn't get it till Mary jumped on my back with that whip," the actor said.
O'Brien and sidekick Andy Richter said that it seemed like his co-star knew what was going on.
"Your face just looks like...'They're taking a long time to bring that motorcycle around,'" O'Brien added.
"It's gonna haunt me till the end of my days," Van Dyke said.
The actor, who played Bert alongside Julie Andrews in the classic 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins, continued to act after The Dick Van Dyke Show ended its run. He appeared in another beloved musical children's movie, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was released in 1968, and appeared mostly on television during the next few decades, starring in another self-titled show in the '70s and in Diagnosis Murder, starting in the '90s.
He also starred in the Murder 101 TV movies and played Cecil in the 2006 comedy film Night at the Museum. He reprises his role in the sequel, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, which is set for release on Dec. 19.
During his interview on Conan, Van Dyke shared some insights as to how he maintained his health over the years.
"Well, I've always exercised," he said. "The whole secret is you gotta keep moving. The publisher asked me to write a book about being old and I said, 'It's very short: Keep moving.'"
He's not kidding: Here's a video wife Arlene posted on Instagram showing the two belly dancing.
"My motivation changed over the years," he added. "In my 30s, I worked out to look good. In my 50s, to stay fit. In my 70's, I did it to stay ambulatory. Now I do it to avoid assisted living."
He also keeps busy the same way many people do...with social media. He and his wife also run a Tumblr blog together.
@speakyteeth trying to drag me into the 21st century. I'm a long form kinda guy, so we started a blerg? a blob? http://t.co/QC0ke0r97L
? Dick Van Dyke (@iammrvandy) October 15, 2014"She shows me all these new ways to communicate and express yourself," he wrote in the first entry in October. "Some of it seems useful and the rest seems like a waste of time. I'm a Luddite, through and through. I only have a cell phone, a flip one. To call my wife and for her to call me, when I'm out shopping for groceries."