Dick Van Dyke felt love at first sight with wife Arlene Silver, even though she had never seen one of his most famous roles.
“I was backstage in the green room of the [2007] SAG Awards, just sitting there by myself and she walked by,” Van Dyke, 99, recalled on the Tuesday, January 21, episode of SiriusXM’s “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” podcast. “For the first time in my life, I approached [someone]. I jumped up, I said, ‘Hi, I’m Dick,’ almost without thinking.”
He continued, “She sat down [and] I introduced myself. I was totally in love at first sight. I found out she was a makeup lady and I said, ‘You can come on my show.’ … She didn’t know who I was.”
Silver, 53, joined Van Dyke on Ted Danson and wife Mary Steenburgen’s podcast, correcting the acclaimed actor’s side of the story.
“That’s not true,” Silver quipped. “Of course, I knew who he is; he’s Dick Van Dyke! I said I had never seen anything he had done.”
Van Dyke chimed in, pointing out that 1964’s Mary Poppins was included in his filmography that Silver had “never seen.” At the time, Silver wasn’t aware that Van Dyke was smitten by her.
Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in ‘Mary Poppins.’ Disney/Cover Images
“In a way, it was kind of good for me because she wasn’t [overly] impressed or anything,” he noted. “I was just a guy. It was a hard sell!”
Van Dyke and Silver, who have a 46-year age difference, tied the knot in 2012 after five years of dating. (Van Dyke shared four 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren with late ex-wife Margerie Willett, who died in 2008.)
The makeup artist eventually got around to watching Van Dyke’s role in the beloved Disney musical. He famously played lamplighter Bert in Mary Poppins opposite Julie Andrews as the titular magical nanny. He also portrayed Mr. Dawes Senior after urging the film studio.
“I did a screen test, I made myself up and got out in front of what was the banker’s house and sang a little song,” Van Dyke recalled. “I think what sold it was at the end of the song, I went over and pretended to pee in the bushes — that broke old Walt [Disney]. I think that gave me the part.”
Van Dyke had previously claimed that he offered to play the banker for free despite studio exec Disney’s hesitations.
The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star and Silver filmed the joint podcast appearance inside their Malibu home, which made Danson, 77, and Steenburgen, 71, starstruck. Throughout the hour-long conversation, Van Dyke further attempted to remember highlights of his illustrious career.
“I’m his memory,” Silver quipped, later noting Van Dyke often rewatches his past projects and realizes “new things” with every viewing.