- - Where Is the “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” Cast Now? Here's What Happened to the Stars Over 50 Years After Its Release

Julie TremaineJanuary 3, 2026 at 6:30 AM

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Sally Ann Howes, Dick Van Dyke Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Just four years after Mary Poppins debuted in 1964, Hollywood legend Dick Van Dyke starred in another timeless children’s classic, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The 1968 film, based on Ian Fleming’s book of the same name, stars the actor as Caractacus Potts, a quirky widowed inventor caring for his two children, Jeremy and Jemima. The kids persuade Potts to rescue an old racing car from the scrap yard, and he turns it into a vehicle that can transform into a boat and an airship, which they name “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” for the noises it makes.

In an attempt to steal the magical car, Baron Bomburst (Gert Fröbe) kidnaps Grandpa Potts (Lionel Jeffries) — so Potts, the kids and Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes), heir to the Scrumptious Candy Company fortune, embark on an adventure with Chitty to rescue him.

Van Dyke had a number of hilarious stunts in the movie, including one in which he strapped rockets to his back on a runway.

“I went to the dressing room, it had burned my socks off my feet. I didn't feel anything,” he revealed during a Q&A at The Vandy High Tea in October 2025. “I took my shoes off, and my socks were gone, and I never felt a thing.”

He added that despite all the "crazy" tricks he performed, he “never really had a bad accident.”

Here’s everything to know about where the cast of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is now.

01 of 08

Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts

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Dick Van Dyke in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ; Dick Van Dyke at the 51st annual Daytime Emmys Awards at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Los Angeles on June 07, 2024

Having already starred in Mary Poppins, Bye Bye Birdie and The Dick Van Dyke Show, Van Dyke was a bonafide star when he filmed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The actor and singer is still performing at 100 years old, most recently appearing in Coldplay’s “All My Love” video, which he produced with wife Arlene Silver in 2024. After Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Van Dyke went on to appear in movies like Dick Tracy and Night at the Museum, and in a murder mystery series, Diagnosis: Murder, with son Barry Van Dyke from 1993 to 2001.

At 97 years old, the performer became the oldest contestant on The Masked Singer and at 98, he took home a Daytime Emmy for a guest spot on Days of Our Lives.

Van Dyke has also been named a Disney Legend and a Kennedy Center honoree. "It was just a matter of enjoying myself," Van Dyke told Deadline in May 2024 of his long career. “I always loved what I was doing. If it had felt like work, I probably would have stopped it a long time ago.”

In his personal life, Van Dyke has been married to his wife, Silver, since 2012.

02 of 08

Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious

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Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ; Sally Ann Howes attends the Star Quality: The World of Noel Coward VIP reception on March 11, 2012 in New York City.

Howes appeared in the film as Truly Scrumptious, heir to the Scrumptious Candy Company, where Potts attempts to sell a whistling candy (another of his zany inventions) at the beginning of the movie. Eventually, she becomes Potts’ love interest and joins the family on their adventure.

Howes appeared on Broadway — replacing Julie Andrews in My Fair Lady, among other productions — and in over 100 films, starting at age 12 in Thursday’s Child. She also performed at the White House for Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

When auditioning for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Howes told the casting director she was a dancer, but she wasn’t trained as one. When it came time to perform her big song and dance number in front of 150 extras, she was nervous.

“It was the most difficult thing in the world — it was mathematical to the nth degree,” she said, according to The Times. “Everything’s on a count. They put me up on this little box and off I went. I got it in one take, and I got a round of applause from all the extras.”

After divorcing her first husband, Howes married composer and lyricist Richard Adler, and adopted his sons Christopher and Andrew. They later divorced, and she remarried twice after. Her fourth marriage was to literary agent Douglas Rae, and they were together from 1973 until his death in 2021. She died months later in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., at 91 years old.

03 of 08

Heather Ripley as Jemima Potts

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Heather Ripley in 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' (1968) ; Heather Ripley during Opening Night for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on Broadway in New York.

Heather Ripley was just 7 years old when she was cast in her acting debut as Jemima Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

"They thought I was perfect for the part, apart from the accent," she told The Guardian in 2002 of her Scottish accent. "But they said that wasn't a problem as they'd get rid of it. I thought that sounded a bit ominous. What did they mean? Brain surgery?"

After the movie, Ripley eventually left the film industry, settling back into a quieter life in Scotland. As an adult, she joined her family's optician business and became an activist, as well as a mother of two.

04 of 08

Adrian Hall as Jeremy Potts

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Adrian Hall in 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' (1968) ; Adrian Hall during Opening Night for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on Broadway in New York.

Adrian Hall was the same age as Ripley when he played her brother, Jeremy Potts. He went on to have a few more film roles throughout the '70s and '80s before retiring from acting.

Per Ripley's interview with The Guardian, Hall was a drama teacher as of 2002 and eventually became principal of the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts until 2020.

05 of 08

Lionel Jeffries as Grandpa Potts

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Lionel Jeffries in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Jeffries came up in West End theater productions and films in both England and Hollywood. In 1967, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for The Spy with a Cold Nose.

In Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, he played Grandpa Potts, the family patriarch who is kidnapped by the dastardly Baron Bomburst after being mistaken for his son Caractacus. In addition to acting, Jeffries was also a screenwriter and director of films like The Railway Children.

He was married to Eileen Walsh, and they had three children together. Jeffries died in 2010 at 83 years old.

06 of 08

Gert Fröbe as Baron Bomburst

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Gert Frobe in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ; Gert Froebe at an evening event, Germany, circa 1985

Fröbe appeared in nearly 100 films, including 1964's Goldfinger, in which he played the titular villainous role.

Four years later, he starred as the kidnapping villain in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Both projects were based on work by Fleming, who also wrote the James Bond novels.

Fröbe was married five times and had two sons. He died in Germany in 1988 at 75 years old.

07 of 08

Anna Quayle as Baroness Bomburst

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Anna Quayle in 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' ; Anna Quayle arriving at the Tricycle Theatre in London

British actress Anna Quayle had already won a Tony for her performance in Stop the World — I Want to Get Off and appeared in the Beatles’ film A Hard Day’s Night when she was cast as the wife of Baron Bomburst.

The two had a duet, “Chu-Chi Face,” a slapstick number where he keeps trying to comedically kill her while they’re singing about their love for one another.

Quayle died in 2019 at 86 years old.

08 of 08

Benny Hill as Toymaker

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Benny Hill in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ; Benny Hill attends the 17th annual International Emmy Awards in New York, November 20, 1989

British comedy legend Benny Hill hadn’t yet risen to fame on his eponymous The Benny Hill Show when he landed the small role of Toymaker in the film.

But just after its 1968 release, Hill’s show caught on in America, becoming one of the most popular shows of its time. Hill’s 1992 obituary in The Telegraph described him as “the world's most popular comedian - the star of television shows which were screened in more than 100 countries and achieved audiences that even Charlie Chaplin never matched.”

Hill died in 1992 at 67 years old.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”