Scene stealing comedic actor Gene Wilder passed away on Monday, August 29, 2016 at his home in Stamford, CT. His nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman said that he died from Alzheimer’s disease complications. Wilder was 83 years old.
Wilder is celebrated for his show stopping performances in comedic gems like Young Frankenstein, The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Stir Crazy, and the family classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Wilder was born Jerome Silberman on June 11, 1933 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His mother was afflicted with rheumatic heart disease and her doctor warned 8 year-old Wilder not to argue with her but rather to make her laugh. His career began then when he would use different accents to make his mom laugh. He got involved in local theater, making his stage debut in Romeo and Juliet.
He studied communication and theater arts at the University of Iowa then studied theater and fencing at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol, United Kingdom. He served in the army for two years then moved to New York City where he took on the stage name Gene Wilder. He appeared regularly on Broadway and off-Broadway where he met Anne Bancroft and her boyfriend, Mel Brooks. Wilder and Brooks quickly became friends and Brooks cast him for The Producers.
Wilder’s film debut was in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde and he had his first major role in The Producers. Though the movie was a box office flop, Wilder was nominated for a Supporting Actor Academy Award.
He became a sought after actor and was cast for the titular role in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. The offbeat, somewhat bizarre family film earned him a Golden Globe nomination and became a family movie staple.
Wilder followed that up in 1972’s Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) and then in Brooks’ comedy classic Blazing Saddles then Young Frankenstein, both in 1974. Blazing Saddles, a western that set out to offend audiences, became a cult classic. Similarly, Young Frankenstein warped the horror genre with oddball comedy, featuring Wilder as Dr. Frankenstein’s grandson. The movie showcases the talents of Wilder, Teri Garr, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman, and Madeline Kahn with plenty of jokes and sight gags.
For a decade from 1976 to 1986 Wilder had a comedic partnership with Richard Pryor. The pair costarred in Blazing Saddles, then Silver Streak, Stir Crazy, See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Another Year, and Haunted Honeymoon. Their chemistry was always on point with hilarious results.
Wilder retired from acting in 1999 and announced that he had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He did guest star on Will and Grace in 2002 and 2003 and voice acted in Yo Gabba Gabba! in 2015.
He published a few novels and a collection of short stories and published the memoir Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art in 2005.
We are sure that he finds himself, now, in a world of pure imagination.