Dick Van Dyke Met His Future Wife When He Was 86 & She Was Just 40

Apr 04, 2022 by apost team

Dick Van Dyke is a well-known man in the entertainment industry as he has a litany of wondrous talents that he's been sharing with the world since the late 1940s. In 1961, he starred in the original production of "Bye Bye Birdie," and the role earned him a Tony Award for best actor in a musical. That was also the year his series, "The Dick Van Dyke Show," first aired, and it would continue until 1966. This was the show that made the actor a household name.

As an actor, comedian, writer, singer, and dancer, this award-winning entertainer has been unstoppable in paving the way for not only himself but up-and-coming rising stars. With memorable films like "Bye Bye Birdie," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," and "Mary Poppins" under his belt, Van Dyke has become an icon in his field of work and has left many fans and critics happy and smiling with all of his great work.
With a career spanning seven decades, it's no surprise that Van Dyke has won a handful of awards and has made a positive impact on others in the industry, his fans at home and even his own family.

Van Dyke has four children and seven grandchildren and has incorporated his family into his television endeavors. He was recently seen dancing alongside a much younger woman in a Valentine's Day 2022 video – a woman that has been Van Dyke's wife for almost a decade.

Read on to find out more about Van Dyke's life, career and marriage to Arlene Silver.

Van Dyke was born on December 13, 1925, in West Plains, Missouri. He grew up in Danville, Illinois, and is the son of Hazel Victoria and Loren Wayne "Cookie" Van Dyke. His mother was a stenographer, while his father was a salesman.

Since he was a child, the actor has always loved to sing and dance. Despite this, Van Dyke first considered a career in ministry when he was young. However, as he describes in his book "My lucky life in and out of show business: a memoir," he took a drama class in high school that made him fall in love with acting, and he decided to become a professional entertainer instead. He never lost his connection to the Presbyterian Church, though, and continued teaching in Sunday School throughout his acting career while also taking the position of elder within the Church.

His time as a Sunday School teacher finally had him write a book detailing humorous anecdotes he experienced, titled "Faith, Hope and Hilarity: A Child's Eye View of Religion."

Van Dyke is known for his physical comedic acting abilities, and CBS This Morning described him as elastic-limbed with impeccable timing. Van Dyke told the program, "I had always been an admirer of Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy. So as a kid I practiced falling. And I had worked it all out."

The actor's initial claim to fame was performing in "Bye Bye Birdie" on Broadway and then in the "Dick Van Dyke Show," but he is most well-known with younger audiences for appearing in "Mary Poppins." 

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Van Dyke said that working for Walt Disney was wonderful, and the producer was very attentive. "Walt was there every day watching over it. Yeah, there was a spirit about it. Everybody was having such fun doing it," Van Dyke told CBS. 

Van Dyke has been very honest about his life, specifically his struggle with alcoholism. He spoke about the addiction on "The Dick Cavett Show" in 1974. "By the time I realized I was in trouble I was too deluded, like most alcoholics are, to understand what was wrong with me. I had friends who said, 'You're crazy.' But it seemed to — it seemed to help a lot of people. I got a lot of mail from people who said, 'You know, if you can do it, I can do it,'" Van Dyke told Cavett.

Van Dyke is also well-known for his role in the children's fantasy musical films "Mary Poppins" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." He was a memorable guest star on "The Carol Burnett Show" and "Columbo." Then from 1993 to 2001, Van Dyke starred in the television series "Diagnosis: Murder" where he played Dr. Mark Sloan, a medical doctor who solves crimes with his son. 

The incredible actor has also been the recipient of many accolades throughout his long career in Hollywood. He has received five Primetime Emmy Awards, one Tony, and a Grammy Award. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995 and has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2013, Van Dyke was the recipient of the Screen Actor Guild's highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award. He was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in 2021. 

Van Dyke has been married to his current wife, Arlene Silver, since February 29, 2012. The pair met six years prior at the SAG Awards. Van Dyke was 86 at the time, while Silver – a make-up artist – was 40.

When questioned about their age gap, Van Dyke said:

"I sometimes forget that we're doing a great experiment here — 46 years difference...It takes some adjusting and fitting in, but that's part of the fun of it."

Van Dyke's marriage to Silvers is not his first time around the marriage rodeo, of course. The star was married twice previously, and both marriages lasted decades.

In February 1948, 22-year-young Van Dyke married his first wife, Margerie Willett. The couple stayed married for 36 years and had four children together. Sadly, they separated several years before they officially divorced in 1984. While already separated from his still-wife, Van Dyke started dating actress Michelle Triola Marvin in 1976. Although the two kept dating and lived together for several decades, they never married. Marvin sadly developed lung cancer in her later years and even underwent surgery in 2008 to combat it. Unfortunately, she finally succumbed to the illness in 2009 at the age of 76.  

Van Dyke was left in mourning and admitted to Closer Weekly that he thought he would not find another love during his life. However, following his longtime girlfriend's death, Van Dyke slowly grew closer to Silvers.

Speaking to Closer Weekly, Silvers remembered their first meeting:

"He said, 'Hi, I'm Dick.' The first thing I asked him was, 'Weren't you in 'Mary Poppins?'" recalls Silvers. "We got along immediately as friends, so it didn't feel like he was so much older than me."

She added:

"He is the most perfect human being."

What do you think about how Dick Van Dyke and Arlene Silvers met? Do you have a similar love story? Let us know your thoughts, and be sure to pass this on to other Dick Van Dyke fans you know!