Dick Van Dyke on 46-year age gap with wife Arlene Silver: 'Eerie how well it works'
Dick Van Dyke on 46-year age gap with wife Arlene Silver: 'Eerie how well it works'
After 13 years of marriage, Dick Van Dyke and wife Arlene Silver, find that they still "get along so well."
The 99-year-old "Dick Van Dyke Show" actor, who turns 100 in December, and 53-year-old singer Silver gushed about their love and why their age gap works in an interview with People magazine.
"Everybody said it wouldn't work," the "Mary Poppins" actor told the outlet on April 20 at their second Vandy Camp event in Malibu, which raised money for wildfire relief efforts.
"Yeah, I mean, it's like eerie how well it works. People the same age don't last," Silver told People. "We just care about each other so much."
Van Dyke and Silver reportedly met at the 2006 Screen Actors Guild Awards, where she was working as a makeup artist, and the two started a romantic relationship in 2009 after his partner of more than 30 years, Michelle Triola, died following a battle with lung cancer.
"I never said hello to a strange girl in my life. I was too scared," Van Dyke said of their first meeting. "But I was at a show backstage and she walked by, and for some reason, I just jumped up and said, 'Hi, I'm Dick.'"
"He's made me feel like I can do anything," Silver said. Van Dyke responded, "And you can."
Silver previously revealed in a 2013 interview with People that she didn't immediately know who her future husband was when they met.
"I knew him; I just didn't know how I knew him," she said. "I like that I knew him as a man before I knew him as a performer."
Van Dyke recalled that after Triola's death, "Arlene would come by after work and bring me food." He added, "She was such a support, I fell in love."
Dick Van Dyke gets brutally honest: He 'fortunately' won't be around for Trump's second presidency
In a 2023 interview, Van Dyke revealed some of his secrets to longevity in an interview with Yahoo! and joked that Silver's youth was an important factor.
"Genes, I guess, for one thing. Having a beautiful young wife half my age to take care of me — that works! My positive attitude, I get that from my wife," he said. "I still go to the gym three days a week and work out. And I advise everybody to do that, because that's what ages people — it's just a stiffening up and not exercising their muscles and their lungs. Exercise is the answer."
Contributing: Charles Trepany, USA TODAY
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