Arlene Silver, Dick Van Dyke’s Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Getty Dick Van Dyke and wife Arlene Silver attend the 43rd Kennedy Center Honors on May 21, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Arlene Silver is a professional makeup artist and the wife of iconic actor Dick Van Dyke. The couple has been married since 2012.

There is a 46-year age gap between them. But both Silver and Van Dyke say the age difference has never been an issue in their relationship.

Here’s what you need to know about Arlene Silver:

1. Silver & Van Dyke First Met at the SAG Awards & Were Friends for Years Before the Relationship Became Romantic

Getty Arlene Silver and Dick Van Dyke arrive at the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on January 29, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.

Silver and Van Dyke knew each other for several years before the relationship turned romantic. They first met at the SAG Awards in 2006. ABC reported Silver applied Van Dyke’s stage makeup at the event.

Silver explained to the Huffington Post in 2013 that Van Dyke approached her in the green room at the SAG Awards and introduced himself. She confessed she didn’t know a lot about Van Dyke’s work at the time. She said her first question to him was, “Weren’t you in Mary Poppins?”

Silver said Van Dyke hired her to do the makeup for a couple of his movies after that. Silver told the Huffington Post that’s how she and Van Dyke developed a friendship. “We got along immediately as friends, so it didn’t feel like he was so much older than me.”

Silver also clarified the relationship timeline. She explained that she and Van Dyke dated for about a year before they tied the knot in February 2012.

Van Dyke was still with longtime partner Michelle Triola Marvin when he first met Silver. Van Dyke and Triola lived together for more than 30 years before she died of lung cancer in 2009 at age 76, The New York Times reported. Van Dyke was married to first wife Margie Willett from 1948 until 1984, with whom he had four children.

2. Silver Calls Her Relationship With Van Dyke a ‘Fairytale’ & That It’s Like They’re Both Having a ‘Second Childhood’

Getty In this handout photo provided by Disney Parks, Disney legend Dick Van Dyke, wife Arlene Silver and Mary Poppins celebrate his 90th birthday at Disneyland on December 13, 2015.

Based on interviews and their respective social media accounts, Silver and Van Dyke’s relationship is all about enjoying each other’s company and having fun. Silver described her husband to the Huffington Post as someone who never lost “the wonder of a child.”

Silver added that Van Dyke is “immature in a good way” and that he is 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.” She also described their love story as a “fairytale” and called Van Dyke her “prince.”

Van Dyke shared a similar assessment to Parade in 2013. He told the newspaper that marrying Silver was “one of the smartest moves I ever made.” He joked, “She’s very mature for her age, and I’m very immature for my age, so it’s just about right!”

3. Silver Wore a Fuchsia Dress for Their Low-Key Malibu Wedding

Silver and Van Dyke had two wedding celebrations in 2012. The first one was a low-key, intimate event in Malibu on February 29. The ceremony took place at a chapel located near Van Dyke’s home, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Silver opted for a fuchsia-colored dress for the celebration and had a flower in her hair. After their 7th wedding anniversary, Silver shared a throwback photo from their big day on Instagram with the caption, “Four score and seven years ago, the Mister @official_dick_van_dyke 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.”

The couple threw a larger wedding on September 8, 2012. Silver wore a white dress for that event, which was themed “seafoam circus.” She even played with the hula hoop during the party, as show in this Instagram photo.

Silver posted more photos from the seafoam circus wedding in September 2018. She wrote in the caption, “6 years ago?!? The @seafoamcircus came to town. I put on a gown 👗 Married my clown 🤡 Forever, in the sea of love we would drown To the man I adore, with never a frown If you asked me again, I’d double down 🐙🎈🐙 @official_dick_van_dyke.”

4. Silver Worked as a Makeup Artist in Hollywood For More Than a Decade

Getty Dick Van Dyke and Arlene Silver attend AARP’s Movies For Grownups Awards on February 8, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California.

Silver worked in Hollywood as a makeup artist for more than a decade, according to her IMDB profile. Her first listed credit was in 2003 when she worked as an “art department production assistant” on the movie Carolina.

Silver was credited as the makeup artist on several video shorts between 2007 and 2015. She also did Van Dyke’s makeup for two episodes of a TV series called Murder 101 in 2008.

Silver is no longer a licensed esthetician in California. Public state records show Silver obtained her license in 2004. She does not appear to have renewed it since it expired in October 220.

5. Silver Moved to California From the Bronx, New York, When She Was 10

Getty Dick Van Dyke and Arlene Silver attend the premiere Of Disney’s ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ on November 29, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.

Silver was born in September 1971, according to a search of online records. She spent the earliest years of her childhood in the Bronx, New York.

Silver’s family moved to California in 1981. Silver explained in a throwback post to Instagram in 2016 that she was 10 when her mother accepted a job at City National Bank; the bank’s headquarters are in Los Angeles.

Silver joked about her younger self, “Boss has a pool party. Debut the OP two-tone two-piece, wrapped in a bunch of towels. My beet red fluster can’t permeate my ghostly glow.”

Silver has one brother named John Silver.

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