Dick Van Dyke, best known for his roles in family musicals like Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, might not seem like the typical man to cheat on his wife.
But that’s exactly what he did back in the 70s, while he was husband to Margie Willet. The pair had been married for 24 years at the time and welcomed four children together – Barry, Carrie, Stacy and Christian. It all started in 1972, when Dick spent three weeks hospitalised for alcohol addiction.
He admitted he was an alcoholic “for 25 years” which “inevitably impacted on family life.” Dick said: “When I went into therapy, I realised I was repeating my father’s mistakes.”
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Shortly after, Margie too was hospitalised for addiction to prescription drugs, and later began spending time at her family’s desert ranch – leaving Van Dyke to confide in his agent’s secretary, Michelle Triola. He admitted she was “easy to talk to” and he was “drawn into a relationship”.
(Image: Getty Images)
In his memoir Keep Moving, he admitted: “I was involved with a woman other than my wife. It was unbelievable. I was writhing in guilt. By 1976 I had to do something. I needed to be honest.”
The actor didn’t divorce his wife until 1984, although they lived separate lives. Meanwhile, Dick stayed with his new partner Michelle until her death in 2009. His ex-wife Margie had died from pancreatic cancer just a year before.
Speaking of Margie, he confessed: “Even though we were long divorced, with her death I lost a part of myself.” While of Michelle he admitted: “She spent her last week in a coma. Her doctor said she could still hear, so I sang and talked to her until the hospice nurses told me she was gone.”
(Image: Michael Ochs Archives)
He and Margie had grown up together while living in Danville, Illinois, but said they were “too broke to get married”. That all changed when a radio producer said he would pay for both their wedding and honeymoon as long as they got married live on his show.
So the pair tied the knot in 1948 on the radio show Bride and Groom, with Dick telling The Guardian: “We exchanged our vows in front of a minister and two radio microphones while 15 million people listened!” But Margie wasn’t a fan of Hollywood and became “hooked on antidepressants”.
In 2006, Dick met his second wife, make-up artist Arlene Silver – who is 46 years his junior. The pair were just professional at first, but after Michelle’s death, Arlene would bring Dick food and ended up “supporting” him so much that he “fell in love”.
(Image: WireImage)
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Arlene is helping to keep Dick, 98, young, as he explained in 2022: “Having a beautiful young wife half my age to take care of me — that works! My positive attitude, I get that from my wife.”
The pair have often been spotted heading to the gym together – despite Dick now being a great-grandfather. The actor boasts seven grandchildren and plenty more great-grandchildren. Sadly his granddaughter Jessica passed away when she was only 13 years old after battling Reye’s Syndrome.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
