M*A*S*H star Alan Alda found love while eating rum cake off the floor — and it’s the coolest meet-cute ever

Sometimes, the best love stories begin in the most unexpected ways. Grand romantic gestures are great, but sometimes, it’s the small, quirky moments that stick like a rum cake hitting the floor at a dinner party and sparking a lifelong romance. That's exactly how Alan Alda met his wife, Arlene Weiss. Alda, best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in "M.A.S.H," has spent decades in the spotlight. His career spans acting, writing and directing, with memorable roles in "The West Wing" and "Manhattan Murder Mystery."

Alda has shared the story of how he met Weiss multiple times over the years, including in an interview with The Washington Post. As college students in New York City—Alda at Fordham and Weiss at Hunter College—both happened to attend two dinner parties hosted by the same mutual friend. During the first gathering, Alda found himself too shy to say much. A few weeks later, at a second dinner, the host had placed a rum cake on top of the refrigerator, only for it to unexpectedly fall to the floor. While the other guests dismissed it as ruined, Alda and Weiss grabbed spoons and ate it right where it landed. One post on X (formerly Twitter) in 2021 shared this information that resurfaced the anecdote from his Wikipedia page.

@sonyashea3 shared a screenshot with the caption, "Head empty, only thinking about how Alan Alda met his wife." The photo attached read, "In 1956, while attending Fordham, Alda met Arlene Weiss, who was attending Hunter College. They bonded at a mutual friend's dinner party; when a rum cake accidentally fell onto the kitchen floor, they were the only two guests who did not hesitate to eat it."

The tweet quickly went viral, amassing over 140,000 likes as people fell in love with the charming story. And then, in a move that made the internet collectively swoon, Alda himself stepped in to confirm the story, adding even more heartwarming details. Quoting the viral post, he tweeted, "We did eat the rum cake off the floor and were inseparable after that. But I was captivated by her even earlier in the meal when I heard her at the end of the table laughing at my jokes. She had me at Ha." The simple but sweet response only made fans love the couple more, and it didn’t take long for Alda’s tweet to take off. With over 145,000 likes, the love story is warming hearts across social media.

@amiricanews wrote, "As I'm wearing a MASH shirt today, I think about how much your kindness, decency and humanity truly resonated with me. You're a true treasure Mr. Alda!!" @Domnjamesb chimed in, "Aww! It reminds me of my now husband. We were teenagers, and he was eyeing me so hard, he ran into a pillar. Ladies were around (office setting) and giggled. I knew then." @BiscuitTinQueen added, "For me, the sexiest thing someone can do is laugh at my jokes. Congratulations on finding someone to laugh and eat cake with." @KatherineAmyRos commented, "And I thought I couldn’t admire him more. Proud to name my son after him. I hope he too will meet his SO by eating rum cake off the floor." @Gracen23855777 admired their love, saying, "The way that he describes her in his first memoir makes me tear up…if I don’t find a love like theirs I don’t want it."