Alan Alda First Fell For His Future Wife After They Bonded Over One Strange Shared 'Habit'

It was the 1950s and future-M*A*S*H star Alan Alda was at a friend’s dinner party. There, he ran into a mutual acquaintance, a budding musician from the Bronx named Arlene. From that moment on, the two began what would go on to become a 60-year long relationship. And yet their union wouldn’t have existed if the two hadn’t indulged in a peculiar mutual quirk that night.

60-Year Romance

Not many romances span six decades – especially ones that have some link with show business. But then again Alan and Arlene Alda don’t have what you would call an average romance. For over 60 years the pair have doted over each other. And they’re just as much in love today as they were all those moons ago.

Their Marriage Secret

Of course, the pair’s prolonged affection has attracted a lot of curiosity from interested parties. Given their age, they seem to agree that their secret “is a short memory” as the 84-year-old Alan joked to Closer Weekly in 2019. And yet a closer look at the Aldas’ life together shows their relationship hinges just as much on a series of shared habits.

Simple Pleasures

First, there’s the way they spend their evenings: in spite of their accumulated wealth, the two prefer simpler pleasures like playing board games together. Then there are the decades-old routines such as celebrating with pizza every time Alan gets an acting gig. And to top it all off, whenever one is reading something, they read it aloud to the other.

The Little Things

So how did the Aldas come to appreciate these little habits so much? And why does such a financially successful couple – he, the beloved star of M*A*S*H; she, a respected photographer and writer – still go back to them. For her, at least, it comes partly down to personal experience.