Dick Van Dyke has shared why he and his wife, Arlene Silver, never had an issue with their 46-year age gap.
The actor, who’s turning 100 in December, spoke about his marriage to Silver, 54, during a recent interview with People to discuss his new book, 100 Rules for Living to 100. According to Van Dyke, he and Silver are the perfect pair, despite the age difference.
“We thought it might be [a problem] in some regard, to some extent, but it hasn’t really,” he explained. “I’m infantile to start with.”
“I think I’m about 13, so that’s been a problem and she’s quite mature for her age, so I don’t think we haven’t had any problem with age at all.”
The Mary Poppins star also credits his wife, whom he married in 2012, for helping him feel young.
“She’s responsible for keeping me in the moment,” he added. “She’s kept me happy every day of my life, every day. She’s a joy. She can get me singing or dancing and she carries so much responsibility.”
Van Dyke previously addressed the questions surrounding his and Silver’s relationship. In April, he also told People that their age gap was the reason they got “along so well.”
“We just care about each other so much,” Silver chimed in.
“Everybody said it wouldn’t work,” Van Dyke said while his wife added, “Yeah. I mean it’s like eerie how well it works. People the same age don’t last.”
The couple first met at the 2006 Screen Actors Guild Awards, where Silver was working, and Van Dyke was appearing during the ceremony. Although Van Dyke was 81 and she was 35 at the time, the two didn’t strike up a romance until after Van Dyke’s longtime partner, Michelle Triola Marvi, died from lung cancer in 2009.
In 1984, Van Dyke finalized his split from his first wife, Margie Willett, who died in 2008. The pair welcomed four children — Christian, 75, Barry, 74, Stacy, 69, and Carrie, 63 — together.
While promoting his new book, Van Dyke has also shared his secrets to living a long life, weeks before his 100th birthday. He told People he has successfully avoided anger and hate, which is “one of the chief things that kept me going.”
According to the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star, he has “never really able to work up a feeling of hate” and attributes reaching 99 to his “brighter outlook.”
“I’ve always thought that anger is one thing that eats up a person’s insides – and hate,” he explained. “There were things I didn’t like, people I don’t like and disapprove of. But I never really was able to do a white heat kind of hate.”
However, in a recent health diary for The Times, he confessed that he feels “diminished” both “physically and socially”, and revealed that “every single one of my dearest lifelong friends is gone, which feels just as lonely as it sounds.
