What’s the secret to a long life? Well, according to Dick Van Dyke, marrying younger can help.
The award-winning actor, 97, joked in an interview with Yahoo! published last week that his relationship with his wife Arlene Silver, 51, is one of the many things that have kept him feeling young through the years.
The comedy icon, who starred in the 1964 movie musical “Marry Poppins” alongside Julie Andrews, married Silver in 2012. He was previously married to Margie Willett from 1948 to 1984. Willett died from cancer at 81 in 2008.
Fresh off his brief stint as a contestant on the reality competition series “The Masked Singer,” Van Dyke gave a cheeky reply when asked for his secret to staying youthful.
“Genes, I guess, for one thing. Having a beautiful young wife half my age to take care of me — that works! My positive attitude, I get that from my wife,” he said. “I still go to the gym three days a week and work out.
And I advise everybody to do that, because that’s what ages people — it’s just a stiffening up and not exercising their muscles and their lungs. Exercise is the answer.”
While on “The Masked Singer,” the Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner concealed his iconic face and gray hair in a giant, red-headed gnome costume. Before revealing his identity, Van Dyke performed Frank Sinatra’s “When You’re Smiling” surrounded by a lively second-line band and parade as balloons and confetti fell on the live studio audience.
Van Dyke’s Hollywood career spans decades and includes leading roles in Broadway’s “Bye Bye Birdie” and 1960s sitcom classic “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” alongside Mary Tyler Moore. In 2021, he received the Kennedy Center Honor, calling the prestigious arts award a “capper on my career.”
