Dick Van Dyke and wife were warned relationship 'wouldn't work'
Dick Van Dyke and his wife were warned their relationship "wouldn't work" because of their 46-year age gap.
Dick Van Dyke and his wife were warned their relationship "wouldn't work".
The 99-year-old actor met Arlene Silver, 53, in 2006 and they tied the knot in 2012, but the couple admitted other people felt their 46-year age gap was too big for them to stay together long-term.
Dick told People magazine: “We get along so well. Everybody said it wouldn't work."
Arlene added: “We just care about each other so much... I mean it's like eerie how well it works. People the same age don't last.”
The 'Mary Poppins' actor admitted approaching Arlene was the first time he hadn't been "too scared" to talk to a "strange girl" and he's glad his instincts were right.
He said: “I never said hello to a strange girl in my life. I was too scared. 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.’ There's something about her and got me, and I was right.”
Arlene added: “He's made me feel like I can do anything... Very supportive of each other."
When it comes to date nights, the couple prefer to keep things low-key.
Make-up artist Arlene said: “We just love being home. We love Malibu, and it's our favourite place, our house especially.
"We're so grateful. Our house did get hit by the Franklin fire, but in the scheme of things, we got very lucky."
'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' star Dick - who was previously married to Margie Willett from 1948 until 1984 - recently admitted Arlene had never seen any of his films before they met.
Appearing on 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name', Dick told podcast host Ted Danson: “She didn't know who I was."
Arlene disagreed: “No, that's not true. Of course I know who he is. He's Dick Van Dyke!”
But she admitted one of the first things she told Dick was she “had never seen anything he was in.”
The actor added of his 1963 classic musical: “She'd never seen 'Mary Poppins'."
But the lack of knowledge of his career didn't upset the 'Night at the Museum' actor.
He said: “In a way, it was kind of good for me, because she wasn't over impressed or anything. I was just a guy, you know?”
Ted's wife, Mary Steenburgen, joked: “Doesn't sound like she was very impressed at all."
Dick quipped: “I was a hard sell."
