Gene Wilder who regularly stole the show in such comedic gems as âThe Producers,â âBlazing Saddles,â âYoung Frankenstein,â âWilly Wonka and the Chocolate Factoryâ and âStir Crazy,â died Monday at his home in Stamford, Conn. His nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman said he died of complications from Alzheimerâs disease. He was 83.
His nephew said in a statement, âWe understand for all the emotional and physical challenges this situation presented we have been among the lucky ones â this illness-pirate, unlike in so many cases, never stole his ability to recognize those that were closest to him, nor took command of his central-gentle-life affirming core personality. The decision to wait until this time to disclose his condition wasnât vanity, but more so that the countless young children that would smile or call out to him âthereâs Willy Wonka,â would not have to be then exposed to an adult referencing illness or trouble and causing delight to travel to worry, disappointment or confusion. He simply couldnât bear the idea of one less smile in the world.
He continued to enjoy art, music, and kissing with his leading lady of the last twenty-five years, Karen. He danced down a church aisle at a wedding as parent of the groom and ring bearer, held countless afternoon movie western marathons and delighted in the the company of beloved ones.â
He had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkinâs lymphoma in 1989.
The comic actor, who was twice Oscar nominated, for his role in âThe Producersâ and for co-penning âYoung Frankensteinâ with Mel Brooks, usually portrayed a neurotic who veered between total hysteria and dewy-eyed tenderness. âMy quiet exterior used to be a mask for hysteria,â he told Time magazine in 1970. âAfter seven years of analysis, it just became a habit.â
Habit or not, he got a great deal of mileage out of his persona in the 1970s for directors like Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, leading to a few less successful stints behind the camera, the best of which was âThe Woman in Red,â co-starring then-wife Gilda Radner. Wilder was devastated by Radnerâs death from ovarian cancer in 1989 and worked only intermittently after that. He tried his hand briefly at a sitcom in 1994, âSomething Wilder,â and won an Emmy in 2003 for a guest role on âWill & Grace.â
His professional debut came in Off Broadwayâs âRootsâ in 1961, followed by a stint on Broadway in Graham Greeneâs comedy âThe Complaisant Lover,â which won him a Clarence Derwent Award as promising newcomer. His performance in the 1963 production of Brechtâs âMother Courageâ was seen by Mel Brooks, whose future wife, Anne Bancroft, was starring in the production; a friendship with Brooks would lead to some of Wilderâs most successful film work. For the time being, however, Wilder continued to work onstage, in âOne Flew Over the Cuckooâs Nestâ in 1963 and âDynamite Tonightâ and âThe White Houseâ the following year. He then understudied Alan Arkin and Gabriel Dell in âLuv,â eventually taking over the role.
Wilder also worked in television in 1962âs âThe Sound of Hunting,â âThe Interrogators,â âWindfallâ and in the 1966 TV production of âDeath of a Salesmanâ with Lee J. Cobb. He later starred in TV movies including âThursdayâs Gameâ and the comedy-variety special âAnnie and the Hoods,â both in 1974.
In 1967 Wilder essayed his first memorable bigscreen neurotic, Eugene Grizzard, a kidnapped undertaker in Arthur Pennâs classic âBonnie and Clyde.â
Then came âThe Producers,â in which he played the hysterical Leo Bloom, an accountant lured into a money bilking scheme by a theatrical producer played by Zero Mostel. Directed and written by Brooks, the film brought Wilder an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor. With that, his film career was born.
He next starred in a dual role with Donald Sutherland in âStart the Revolution Without Me,â in which he displayed his fencing abilities. It was followed by another middling comedy, âQuackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx,â also in 1970.
In 1971 he stepped into the shoes of Willy Wonka, one of his most beloved and gentle characters. Based on the childrenâs book by Roald Dahl, âWilly Wonka and the Chocolate Factoryâ was not an immediate hit but became a childrenâs favorite over the years. The same cannot be said for the 1974 Stanley Donen-directed musical version of âThe Little Prince,â in which Wilder appeared as the fox. He had somewhat better luck in Woody Allenâs spoof âEverything You Wanted to Know About Sex,â appearing in a hilarious segment in which he played a doctor who falls in love with a sheep named Daisy.
Full-fledged film stardom came with two other Brooks comedies, both in 1974: Western spoof âBlazing Saddlesâ and a wacko adaptation of Mary Shelleyâs famous book entitled âYoung Frankenstein,â in which Wilder portrayed the mad scientist with his signature mixture of hysteria and sweetness.
Working with Brooks spurred Wilder to write and direct his own comedies, though none reached the heights of his collaborations with Brooks. The first of these was âThe Adventure of Sherlock Holmesâ Smarter Brotherâ (1975), in which he included such Brooks regulars as Madeline Kahn and Marty Feldman. It was followed by 1977âs âThe Worldâs Greatest Lover,â which he also produced.
Wilder fared better, however, when he was working solely in front of the camera, particularly in a number of films in which he co-starred with Richard Pryor.
The first of these was 1976âs âSilver Streak,â a spoof of film thrillers set on trains; 1980âs âStir Crazyâ was an even bigger hit, grossing more than $100 million. Wilder and Pryorâs two other pairings, âSee No Evil, Hear No Evilâ and âAnother You,â provided diminishing returns, however.
While filming âHanky Pankyâ in 1982, Wilder met âSaturday Night Liveâ comedienne Radner. She became his third wife shortly thereafter. Wilder and Radner co-starred in his most successful directing stint, âThe Woman in Redâ in 1984, and then âHaunted Honeymoon.â But Radner grew ill with cancer, and he devoted himself to her care, working sporadically after that and hardly at all after her death in 1989.
In the early â90s he appeared in his last film with Pryor and another comedy, âFunny About Love.â In addition to the failed TV series âSomething Wilderâ in 1994, he wrote and starred in the A&E mystery telepics âThe Lady in Questionâ and âMurder in a Small Townâ in 1999. He also appeared as the Mock Turtle in a 1999 NBC adaptation of âAlice in Wonderland.â
He last acted in a couple of episodes of âWill and Graceâ in 2002-03 as Mr. Stein, winning an Emmy.
He was born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee and began studying acting at the age of 12. After getting his B.A. from the U. of Iowa in 1955, Wilder enrolled in the Old Vic Theater school in Bristol, where he learned acting technique and fencing. When he returned to the U.S. he taught fencing and did other odd jobs while studying with Herbert Berghofâs HB Studio and at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg.
Wilderâs memoir âKiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Artâ was published in 2005. After that he wrote fiction: the 2007 novel âMy French Whoreâ; 2008âs âThe Woman Who Wouldnâtâ; a collection of stories, âWhat Is This Thing Called Love?,â in 2010; and the novella âSomething to Remember You By: A Perilous Romanceâ in 2013.
Wilder was interviewed by Alec Baldwin for the one-hour TCM documentary âRole Model: Gene Wilderâ in 2008. The actor was also active in raising cancer awareness in the wake of Radnerâs death.
He is survived by his fourth wife Karen Boyer, whom he married in 1991 and his nephew. His sister Corinne, predeceased him in January 2016.
Before Radner, Wilder was married to the actress-playwright Mary Mercier and Mary Joan Schutz (aka Jo Ayers).
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