Dick Van Dyke is approaching his 100th birthday, and fans are in constant awe of how he has managed to stay so youthful and energetic despite his age. Steve Boettcher, the director of the upcoming film Dick Van Dyke: 100th Celebration, revealed what the secret to Dick’s longevity really is: his wife. The Mary Poppins star is married to Arlene Silver, 54, who is the “key force” behind the star, and brings life and energy to his days.
“Honestly, I think she’s been a key force in keeping him so vibrant and alive today. I really feel that that love affair is amazing. I think they just want to play,” he told People, before sharing that they were like “big kids” together. The couple previously spoke to the publication about their 46-year age gap, sharing that it doesn’t even register for them.
“We get along so well,” Dick said, as Arlene added that they “just care about each other so much”. He explained that “everybody said it wouldn’t work”, with Arlene chiming in that it’s “eerie how well it works…[Dick] made me feel like I can do anything”. The duo first met backstage at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2006, where she was working as a makeup artist.
“I’ve never seen a more beautiful woman in my life than this one. She walked by and, without even thinking, I jumped up and said, ‘Hi, I’m Dick,'” he recalled in a video captured in September. “And I found out she was a makeup lady, hired her, and now we’ve been married 13 years, and I couldn’t be happier.”
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Arlene shared her own version of events with the Huffington Post in 2013. “I remember seeing Dick at the catering table with his bow tie and his big smile. Right when I sat down, he was sitting next to me. He said, ‘Hi, I’m Dick.’ The first thing I asked him was, ‘Weren’t you in Mary Poppins?’ I wasn’t sure.”
“I knew who he was, but I wasn’t sure why I knew who he was. I was not familiar with all his work. He has so much work I can’t believe I missed it.” They married in 2012, when the performer was 86 and she was 40. Dick was previously married to Margie Willet from 1948 to 1984, and shares his kids, Christian, Barry, Stacy and Carrie with her.
© Getty ImagesHe was also in a relationship with Michelle Triola for 35 years after meeting her through his agent, although the couple never married. She passed away in 2009 from lung cancer, just two years after Margie died from pancreatic cancer. Arlene and Dick grew close when she began bringing him food and providing emotional support in the wake of Michelle’s death, and their relationship eventually turned romantic.
© Getty ImagesAside from his wife, Dick also credits frequent exercise for his clean bill of health. “Somebody said, ‘To what do you attribute your age and physical condition?'” he said on the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast. “I said, ‘I’ve always exercised three days a week.’ We go to the gym, still, three days a week, and I think that’s it.”
© Getty Images“I’m doing a lot of stretching and yoga-type things. Sit-ups. And they have machines, something for almost every exercise,” he added, before the podcast host, Ted Danson, marveled about the time he saw Dick dance from exercise machine to exercise machine in the gym.
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