If you’ve spent any time reading up on Dick Van Dyke, the name Margie Willett has probably come up. She was his first wife, the mother of his four kids, and the person who stood beside him through his climb from a small town act to one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood. Unlike her ex husband, Margie never wanted the spotlight, and that choice shaped almost everything we know, and don’t know, about her.
Here’s what the record actually shows about who she was, how her marriage to Van Dyke played out, and what happened after it ended.
Who Was Margie Willett?
Margie Willett was born in 1927 in Danville, Illinois, the same hometown as Van Dyke. According to People and several other outlets covering the couple’s history, the two began dating in 1945 after Van Dyke had known her for years as a local girl from Danville.
Details about her early life outside of that connection are thin. She largely avoided interviews and public appearances throughout her life, which is part of why so much of what circulates online about her fills in gaps with guesswork rather than fact. A number of biography style posts online even leave placeholder brackets where her birthplace or childhood details should be, a sign that the writers didn’t actually have the information and published anyway. We’re not going to do that here. Where the public record is thin, we’re saying so.
Margie Willett and Dick Van Dyke’s Marriage
Van Dyke and Willett married in February 1948, before he had any real fame to his name. Their wedding wasn’t a private affair either. Multiple sources note that the couple tied the knot on the ABC radio program Bride and Groom, a show that married off more than 1,000 couples over its run in front of an audience of roughly 15 million listeners.
At the time, Van Dyke was broke and just starting out as a performer. He and a partner named Phil Erickson had a two person comedy act that poked fun at popular singers and songs of the era, and it was through the entertainment world, specifically a producer connected to that same radio show, that the couple found a way to afford getting married at all.
The marriage lasted 36 years, which puts it well outside the norm for Hollywood unions, especially ones where fame arrived after the wedding rather than before it. Van Dyke’s career took off in the 1960s with The Dick Van Dyke Show and then Mary Poppins, and Margie raised their children largely out of the public eye while he became one of the most beloved entertainers in the country.
The Four Van Dyke Children
Margie and Dick had four kids together, and all four have their own stories worth knowing if you’re going deep on this topic.
Christian Van Dyke, born in May 1950, is the oldest. He appeared briefly on The Dick Van Dyke Show as a kid but chose law over acting, eventually working as an assistant attorney general in Oregon and later as district attorney for Marion County, according to Cascade Business News reporting cited by Today.com.
Barry Van Dyke, born in July 1951, followed his father into acting and became the most recognizable of the four kids. He’s best known for playing detective Steve Sloan opposite his father on Diagnosis: Murder from 1993 to 2001. Barry has said his father let him choose his own path rather than pushing him into showbiz early.
Stacy Van Dyke, born in 1955, also dabbled in acting as a kid and young adult, appearing in The New Dick Van Dyke Show and later Diagnosis: Murder. She married musician Mike Breen in 1979 and has kept a mostly private life since.
Carrie Beth Van Dyke, the youngest, was born in October 1961. She made a couple of appearances in The New Dick Van Dyke Show as a kid but never pursued acting as a career. She married Kevin McNally in 1983.
Between them, Margie and Dick’s kids have gone on to give him a large extended family, including grandchildren like Barry’s son Shane Van Dyke, who has also worked in film and television.
Why Margie Willett and Dick Van Dyke Divorced
The marriage ended in 1984 after the couple had already been separated for a few years. Van Dyke has been open in later interviews about the fact that alcoholism played a real role in the strain on his family life. He told The Guardian in a 2016 interview that he struggled with alcohol for about 25 years and that going through therapy later in life helped him understand he was repeating patterns from his own father.
Around the same period, Van Dyke had already begun a relationship with actress Michelle Triola, who he stayed with for decades without remarrying until her death in 2009.
Despite everything, Van Dyke has credited Margie directly for how their kids turned out. He told The Guardian that Margie did the work raising their children, though he said he’d take some credit too, and he’s described all four kids as turning out to be genuinely admirable people given the circumstances they grew up in.
What Happened to Margie Willett After the Divorce
After the split, Margie stayed almost entirely out of public life. She didn’t remarry, didn’t give interviews about the marriage or the divorce, and largely let her ex-husband’s fame stay his own.
She passed away after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Sources differ slightly on the exact year, with some outlets citing 2007 and others, including Wikidata records, citing 2008. What’s consistent across reporting is that she was around 80 or 81 years old at the time of her death, and that the diagnosis came only about a year before she died.
Her death hit Van Dyke hard. In interviews discussing that period of his life, he’s described losing a part of himself when she passed, a loss made heavier the following year when Michelle Triola also died. By his own account, it was the first time in decades he found himself without a partner looking out for him, a stretch that lasted until he married current wife Arlene Silver in 2012.
Margie Willett Quick Facts
| Detail | Information |
| Born | 1927, Danville, Illinois |
| Married Dick Van Dyke | February 1948 |
| Children | Christian, Barry, Stacy, Carrie Beth |
| Separated | Early 1980s |
| Divorced | 1984 |
| Died | 2007 or 2008 (sources vary), pancreatic cancer |
FAQ
How long were Margie Willett and Dick Van Dyke married? Their marriage lasted 36 years, from February 1948 until their divorce was finalized in 1984, though they had separated a few years before that.
Did Margie Willett ever remarry? There’s no public record of her remarrying after divorcing Van Dyke. She kept her post divorce life largely private.
How many kids did Margie Willett have? She had four children with Dick Van Dyke: Christian, Barry, Stacy, and Carrie Beth.
What did Margie Willett die from? She died after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, with reports citing her death as occurring in either 2007 or 2008.
The Bottom Line
Margie Willett’s story isn’t a dramatic one, and that’s kind of the point. She married a broke entertainer before he became famous, raised four kids largely on her own terms, and never once tried to cash in on being Mrs. Dick Van Dyke. In an industry built on visibility, choosing privacy for 36 plus years is its own kind of statement. If you’re curious about the rest of the Van Dyke family tree, from Barry’s acting career to the grandkids who’ve since shown up in film and TV, that’s a rabbit hole worth going down next.
