Alan Alda met his wife in the most Alan Alda way

They ate cake off the floor together.

AP

Alan Alda and his wife, Arlene, recently celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary. They met in New York City in the 1950s. Alan was attending Fordham University in the Bronx while Arlene studied at Hunter College in Manhattan. Their very first encounter was quick, if not a bit blunt.

They were both invited to a party at a mutual friends apartment. Arlene brought her clarinet and played a piece by Mozart. Alan found her after the performance but didn’t exactly wow her with his loquaciousness. According to a recent profile in The Washington Post, all he said was, "Hi. You were good."

Their second meeting, while much less conventional, was really when sparks began to fly.

They were both invited to another gathering at the same mutual friend’s apartment. Their hostess baked a lovely rum cake for the occasion. Little did she know, only two of her guests would get to eat it.

The cake was cooling on top of the refrigerator when it suddenly crashed to the floor. It was an unfortunate event that meant there would be no dessert, at least for most of the attendees. While everyone else saw tragedy, Alan and Arlene saw an opportunity. They both grabbed spoons and ate the cake right off the floor!

They started talking (presumably in between mouthfuls of floor cake) and a six-decade-plus relationship began.

"So that was it," explains Alan. "From that time on we were almost inseparable."

Watch M*A*S*H on MeTV!

Weeknights at 6 PM, Sundays at 7 PM

*available in most MeTV markets
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
Close

8 Comments

BorisT 30 months ago
Strange how turning points in peoples lives are often linked to poltergeists Who would have thought that a petulant spirt throwing a cake onto the floor, would have the same effect as Cupid's deadly arrow?
OlgaBagley 34 months ago
What a sweet story. God bless them
Fati 49 months ago
Start earning money today from 2-3 hundred dollars per hour by just simple on-line working by giving only one hour of your daily life . its very easy. Everybody can now get this job and start earning cash online right now by just follow instructions click on this link and visit tabs( Home, Media, Tech) for more details thanks

Here⇝⇝ www.evening2.com
Mercerrich Fati 47 months ago
Oh my. An ad for some wacky thing
mememememe66 50 months ago
I hope to meet someone live and in person, after Social Distancing, that is.
Mercerrich mememememe66 47 months ago
A new era dawns. Dancing cheek to cheek on the iPad verses skin to skin. Mental massages verses neck rubs. And saving money on deodorant cause no one is close enough to smell. Of course there will be the true rest of love, I’ll drop my mask if you will.
Robert23 50 months ago
Cool my wife of 20 years met in the old days of chat rooms.
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?