Wilder’s nephew said Monday that the actor and writer died earlier this month in Stamford, Connecticut from complications resulting from a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
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Actor/singer Harry Connick, Jr. posted: “so sad to learn of the passing of my good friend, gene wilder. such an incredible man. i’ll miss you”, and funnyman Ricky Gervais quoted Wilder’s Willy Wonka character in his tribute, writing, “Good Day Sir!”
After Army service in a psychiatric ward, Wilder picked up his theatrical career and appeared in several Broadway productions. “The choice to keep this private was his choice, in talking with us and making a decision as a family”.
Wilder was nominated for two Oscars: best supporting actor for “The Producers” and best adapted screenplay for “Young Frankenstein“. And his roles usually did.
In Mel Brooks’s The Producers, Wilder played an accountant named Leopold Bloom who is lured into a fraud scheme by bankrolling a Broadway show called Springtime for Hitler intentionally meant to bomb that turns out to be a hit.
For many people, Wilder might be best remembered for “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”, playing the mysterious candy tycoon in the 1971 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book. He blessed every film we did together with his special magic. And he blessed my life with his friendship. But Brooks once said he found Wilder “a natural.an Everyman with all the vulnerability showing”.
When director Mel Stuart asked him why, Wilder said, “Because from that time on, no one will know if I’m lying or telling the truth”. He also made his last appearance onscreen when he guest-starred on Will & Grace, for which Wilder won an Emmy in 2003.
He also paired with Richard Pryor, who co-wrote Blazing Saddles and acted with Wilder in Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) and Another You (1991).
Wilder’s stressed-out accountant Leo Bloom turned out to be the ideal foil for Zero Mostel’s grifter producer Max Bialystock, which included devolving into a screaming mess when deprived of his “blue blanket”. Only it doesn’t work out that way.
Gene Wilder, a comedy icon who entertained a generation on the screen and later fueled an online meme machine, is dead at 83.
Gene Wilder signs copies of his debut novel “My French Whore” at Waterstones in Picadilly on May 11, 2007 in London, England. His father was a Russian emigre, his mother was of Polish descent. When he was 6, his mother suffered a heart attack that left her a semi-invalid.
With Gene Wilder’s death, how much loss can our collective childhood take?
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This year alone we have said goodbye to David Bowie and Prince, Garry Marshall, whose sitcoms made us laugh as kids, and Marni Nixon, whose voice sang us too many lullabies to count.
