Dick Van Dyke’s Wife Finally Opened Up About Their 46-Year Age Gap

Of course, age gaps are nothing new in the crazy world of Hollywood. There are 34 years between Richard Gere and his wife Alejandra Silva, for example. Likewise music industry hotshot David Foster and former American Idol finalist Katharine McPhee. And there’s a further four years separating Star Trek icon Patrick Stewart and his spouse Sunny Ozell.

But Van Dyke and Silver’s age gap remains one of the biggest in showbiz. In fact, other than the 49-year difference between “American Pie” hitmaker Don McLean and Paris Dylan, it’s hard to think of another that surpasses it. As you’d expect, it’s a regular topic of conversation whenever the pair are interviewed, too. 

So how exactly did the unlikely couple cross paths? Well, it turns out that there’s a little bit of serendipity to their story. In 2006 make-up artist Silver was out on a lunch date with some pals when she spotted Van Dyke’s name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And then after noticing that his most famous film, Mary Poppins, was screening at a nearby theater, the gang decided to buy tickets.

Somehow, Silver had never had the pleasure of watching Van Dyke singing “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” with Julie Andrews before. But the viewing appeared to set the wheels in motion for their May to December romance. For just a few days later the future Mrs Van Dyke spotted him sitting at a catering table at the SAG Awards where she was working.

Silver had been a professional make-up artist in the TV and movie world for several years by this point. But her first major showbiz credit came as an art department production assistant on the 2003 drama Carolina. After that, the stylist’s talents with a make-up brush eventually led her to the SAG Awards, which is where her life ultimately changed forever.

Silver explained to HuffPost exactly how in 2013, recalling, “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.”

Van Dyke obviously wasn’t offended by the fact that Silver was unfamiliar with his vast body of work. For he offered her a make-up artist job on several of his Hallmark Channel films. And it was on one of these TV movies that sparks between the couple began to fly.

When asked about the first time that Van Dyke took her breath away, Silver replied, “There was one time when we were doing a night shoot... and he was laughing like he always does, but it was the way he was lit or something – he had on a sweater and I thought, ‘Wait a minute!’ I just felt a little different.”

Silver admitted that she previously hadn’t had much luck with guys her own age. In fact, she had been single for roughly six years before connecting with the man almost half a century older than her. Van Dyke, on the other hand, had previously been a married man for nearly four decades!

That’s right: in 1948 Van Dyke had walked down the aisle with Margie Willett. They went on to have four children together: sons Barry and his elder brother Christian, and daughters Stacy and her older sister Carrie Beth. But sadly, in 1984 after 36 years of marriage, the long-wed couple decided to go their own separate ways.

Van Dyke has continued to maintain a strong relationship with his four kids both on and off screen. You might not know that they all appeared alongside him in Night at the Museum. Christian regularly showed up on his dad’s eponymous TV show, too, while Stacy and Barry often joined Van Dyke on Diagnosis: Murder.

Willett isn’t the only woman with whom Van Dyke has had a long-standing relationship, either. He also lived with Michelle Triola for over three decades before she passed away in 2009. By this point Van Dyke and Silver had been friends for several years. But the latter insisted to news website HuffPost that their relationship didn’t turn romantic until after Triola’s death.

The fact that Van Dyke and Triola never married despite being together for more than 30 years suggested that the Bye Bye Birdie star was reluctant to tie the knot again. But in 2012 he once again said ‘I do.’ In fact, the Hollywood legend said it on two separate occasions.

Yes, Van Dyke made an honest woman out of Silver at a Malibu chapel situated close to his home. The bride sported an Anthropologie red dress for the occasion, while the groom went traditional with a simple black suit complete with silver tie. This intimate affair was then followed by a bigger ceremony with an unusual theme.

Roughly seven months later the pair invited all their nearest and dearest to celebrate their matrimony with a bash themed as a “seafoam circus.” Bob Palmer, Van Dyke’s publicist, told TV channel ABC News, “Despite their obvious age difference, Dick has never been happier. She brings a lot of light into his life.”

Silver and Van Dyke also have the blessing of the latter’s longtime friend Suzanne Somers. In a 2021 interview with entertainment source ET Canada, the actress recalled telling her more-skeptical husband why the pair deserved to find happiness. She said, “When you’re pushing 90 you don’t have a lot of time for a long courtship.”

Somers added, “Anyway, this woman is so great for him. They’ve been together now, eight or nine years. He loves her, she loves him. She’s responsible for Dick Van Dyke Day in Ohio or wherever he is from. There are street signs with Dick Van Dyke doing a Mary Poppins pose, and she was responsible for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Day in Disneyland, and surrounds him with young people.”

Silver admits that she was initially apprehensive about informing her nearest and dearest about her relationship with Van Dyke. She recalled to HuffPost, “I was so scared that everyone was going to be like, ‘Oh, what are you doing?’ Now it’s just so normal, it’s not even an issue at all. It’s hard to explain unless you’re in it.”

Luckily, the first close friend that Silver told about her relationship with Van Dyke gave their seal of approval. And from then on, things got much easier. The make-up artist explained, “Her face was like a kid at Christmas. She just loves the whole thing about it. Then, it just seemed like everyone I told was happy about it.”

Despite Silver’s claims, not quite everyone was as convinced by the pair’s age-gap relationship, though. Van Dyke once told chat show Oprah: Where Are They Now?, “My brother just said, ‘It’ll never work. What do you talk about? What do you do together?’ The fact is, we talk all the time, and we do everything together.”

And Van Dyke insists that by staying as active as possible he can still put his peers to shame. The star said, “I do a lot of leg work, all kinds of treadmills and weights and everything, because I like to keep the bounce when I dance. I can dance better than any 90-year-old you ever know.”

Van Dyke got the opportunity to put his money where his mouth is when he bagged a cameo in Mary Poppins Returns. The actor pops up as Mr. Dawes Jr., not chimney sweeper Bert, in the long-awaited sequel. And in one of its most memorable scenes, Van Dyke’s banker surprises everyone with an energetic dance break. Even more impressively, the film’s director told Entertainment Weekly magazine that no stunt doubles were required.

Rob Marshall said, “All of that is him, every bit of it. And in fact, when he jumped on the desk, we had put a stool, a chair, and then the desk, and [Lin-Manuel Miranda] was there to help him up. He didn’t use Lin’s hand. He didn’t even use the stool. He just jumped up. We were like, ‘What did he just do?’ Because he could, and he was so excited to do that.”

Marshall’s comments were backed up by the actress who replaced Julie Andrews in the iconic leading role. Referring to the dance break, Emily Blunt recalled, “He just waved us away, almost like, ‘Get out of my way.’ He was so game and so agile.” The Brit also revealed that she and co-star Miranda couldn’t stop grinning while filming the scene.

Who knows where Van Dyke gets all his energy? As it turns out he’s just as active when it comes to his social life, too. Silver told HuffPost, “I go everywhere with him. He has to go to dinners and charity appearances, so that has become a great social thing. I mix in very well with all of his friends and then we love having parties at the house.”

As you’d expect, Van Dyke is often the center of attention whenever he and Silver head out in public. Luckily, the make-up artist appreciates why people are so fascinated with her husband. She added, “He’s been in people’s lives their whole life. It’s not like he did one great movie. He’s been kind of the fabric of so many people’s lives that I understand what he means to people so I don’t mind it.”

But Silver insists that Van Dyke hasn’t let all the fame and adulation go to his head. She added, “That’s what’s so crazy is that you forget when we’re just at home. You forget that he’s known like that. He’s so normal. He doesn’t have an ego at all. I feel very lucky to know him at all, and then I’m married to him and live with him!”

So what does Silver think about the aspect of her marriage that everyone initially focuses on: the 46-year age difference? Well, she once admitted to Oprah: Where Are They Now? that she did have reservations before they decided to tie the knot. Silver recalled, “I thought... ‘There’s no way that this could ever work.’”

And in a chat with HuffPost, Van Dyke revealed that Silver was hesitant to commit to anything other than friendship before they finally got together. When asked whether love struck at the same moment for both parties, the actor replied, “No, the age difference kind of stopped her. I had to convince her that it was meaningless.”

Eventually Silver began to realize that she couldn’t hide her true feelings. But she was still worried about what others in her circle might think. She told HuffPost, “He [Van Dyke] didn’t feel like there was anything to worry about. But there was really no role model for this kind of age difference. It’s never taken seriously so I was scared about that.”

Of course, Silver now doesn’t have any reservations at all about being with someone old enough to be her grandfather. While discussing a documentary she was filming with Van Dyke, the make-up artist said, “It originally revolved around Dick’s life but then I’m so much a part of his life it seems like it’s becoming sort of a portrait of an unusual relationship and how well it works... just that love is ageless.”

It’s a heartwarming sentiment, and one with which Van Dyke definitely agrees. In his own interview with HuffPost the Diagnosis Murder star claimed that in some ways, Silver is even more mature than him. He said, “Emotionally I’m about 13. She’s very wise for her age, so I’m just having the time of my life.”

You might think that living with a man who’s emotionally 13 years old could be a little testing. But luckily, Silver doesn’t seem to mind. She told HuffPost, “He’s not immature in a bad way. He’s immature in a good way with the wonder of a child. He’s just fun, he’s open-minded. He’s not stuck in his ways at all. We’re both like children. We feel like we’re both having a second childhood.”

In fact, Silver sometimes finds it hard to believe that the man she’s married to really is approaching the centenary mark. After referring to her own recent birthday, the make-up artist joked, “He’s supposed to stop. He’s amazing. I think he lies about his age. I don’t think he’s that age at all.”

And Silver hopes that by helping him to stay young, Van Dyke will still be around for his 110th birthday! She said, “I do my best to take care of him and make him happy. I just think me being here is making him happy. I cook for him and I love taking care of him.”

Several years on from that interview, the pair still seem to be as loved-up as ever. In 2019 Silver celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary with a throwback Instagram snap from the ceremony. She captioned it, “Four score and seven years ago, the Mister... and I took a ‘leap’ of faith and jumped into a life together filled with laughter, music, dancing, kindness, positivity and joy. I love you so dang much, it hurts.”

A year later Van Dyke showed he was still very much smitten in a gushing interview with Closer Weekly magazine. Referring to Silver, he said, “She’s just delightful, a great cook and a woman of great patience. She’s given me a third life, and I’m tickled to death with it.”

And the pair looked like the picture of happiness when they attended the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony together in 2021. Van Dyke, who was being recognized for his services to entertainment at the show, once again kept things classic with a smart tuxedo and bow tie. Silver added a bit of glamor with her silver sparkly low-cut dress.

In an interview with The Washington Post newspaper that same month Van Dyke acknowledged just how important Silver was to his life. He said, “I can’t be alone. I couldn’t be a bachelor if my life depended on it. I have to have a partner and I found the perfect one.”