Who Are Dick Van Dyke’s Wives?
What To Know
- Dick Van Dyke was first married to Margie Willet from 1948 to 1984, with whom he had four children.
- After an affair, he had a long-term relationship with Michelle Triola from 1976 until her death in 2009, though they never married.
- In 2012, Van Dyke married Arlene Silver, who is 46 years younger than him. He frequently credits her with helping him stay youthful.
Dick Van Dyke is one of the most beloved entertainers of all time — but that doesn’t mean his love life has been a jolly holiday. After settling down with his hometown sweetheart before he became famous, Van Dyke had an adulterous affair in the ’70s and early ’80s that turned into a 30+ year romantic partnership. And in 2012, at age 86, Van Dyke officially married for the second time, to a woman 46 years his junior. As we approach Van Dyke’s 100th birthday on December 13, 2025, it’s the perfect time to look back at the personal side of the star’s life.
Margie Willet (1948-1984)
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Van Dyke began dating Margie — a local girl from Danville, Illinois, who he had known for years — in 1945. In the summer of 1947, Dick started his partnership with another Danville local, Phil Erickson, and they headed to Los Angeles for their two-man show that satirized the popular singers and songs of the day.
It was in L.A. that Van Dyke met the producer of a radio show called Bride and Groom and mentioned that he wanted to get married but couldn’t afford it. The radio show was the answer (couples who appeared on it received a free honeymoon). “Borrowing money, I sent Margie a one-way train ticket, and on Feb. 12, 1948, we exchanged ‘I do’s’ in front of a minister and two radio microphones as an estimated 15 million people listened in,” Dick shared in his memoir Dick Van Dyke: My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business.
The couple spent most of their early years broke and on the road, before Dick found success. While Margie had no fondness for show business, Dick credits her for doing a “terrific job keeping the kids grounded and on track.” They had four children together: Christian (born in 1950), Barry (1951), Stacy (1955) and Carrie (1961).
Michelle Triola (1976-2009)
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In the early 1970s, Dick and Margie began to have issues, as Dick met and fell for his agent’s secretary, Michelle Triola. Triola was a former singer/dancer, best known at the time for her groundbreaking court case unsuccessfully suing her former partner Lee Marvin for alimony, despite being unmarried at the time of their breakup. The two began an affair, which Dick admitted to in 1976. Dick and Margie continued to live their separate lives, unable to conceive of a divorce.
In 1984, however, it was finally time to move on, and the couple officially split. For the next 25 years, Van Dyke remained in a relationship with Michelle until her death in 2009 (Margie died two years prior). Though Triola and Van Dyke never officially married, she was everything to him. “I was completely unprepared for life without Michelle,” Dick shared in his book.
Arlene Silver (2012)
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He met his last love and current wife, Arlene Silver, at the SAG Awards when she was a makeup artist and he was still involved with Michelle, in 2006. They were just friends at first. Then Silver, who is 46 years his junior, helped take care of Dick while he was mourning the loss of Michelle. Eventually, he fell in love with her and they married in 2012.
They are still married to this day, and he credits his wife as his secret to staying young. He told People Magazine in November 2025, “She’s responsible for keeping me in the moment,” Van Dyke says. “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 … I’m just lucky.”
Remind 
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