Gene Wilder, an actor whose work with comics Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor made him one of the most popular stars of the 1970s and whose memorable portrayals of neurotics and eccentrics included the hilariously mad scientist in “Young Frankenstein”, died August 28 at his home in Stamford, Conn.
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Wilder’s nephew said he died at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, having suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, the Associated Press reported.
Jordan Walker-Pearlman, Wilder’s nephew, said his uncle was diagnosed with the disease three years ago but kept the condition private so as not to disappoint fans.
Gene Wilder, the star of classic movies Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Young Frankenstein, and Blazing Saddles, has died, aged 83.
With his unkempt hair and big buggy eyes, Wilder was a master at playing panicked characters caught up in schemes that only a madman such as Brooks could devise. Later that year, he starred as Dr. Frankenstein – “That’s fronk-en-steen!” – in Young Frankenstein. “He simply couldn’t bear the idea of one less smile in the world”, said Walker-Pearlman.
Singer Josh Groban tweeted: “Thank you Gene Wilder for the wonderful, the weird, the pure imagination. If there’s a heaven he has a Golden Ticket”.
Wilder scored an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor in 1969 for The Producers.
Wilder’s stressed-out accountant Leo Bloom turned out to be the flawless foil for Zero Mostel’s grifter producer Max Bialystock, which included devolving into a screaming mess when deprived of his “blue blanket”.
Wilder was close friends with Richard Pryor and their contrasting personas – Wilder uptight, Pryor loose – were ideal for comedy.
Alex Segal’s Emmy Award-winning adaptation for television of Arthur Miller’s iconic play, starring Lee J Cobb from the original 1949 Broadway cast as Willy Loman.
Following a run of cinema hits in the 1980s, Wilder became a virtual recluse in Hollywood and only appeared in period TV series, including his own show, Something Wilder, in the mid-1990s and Will & Grace, portraying Mr Stein, the boss of Eric McCormack’s character.
He soon teamed with Brooks, and Wilder’s comic skills tended to overshadow his work as a director, writer and championship fencer, all of which he displayed in “The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother” (1975).
Born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee on June 11, 1935, Wilder began performing at a young age, eventually studying at the Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol, England, in the mid-1950s.
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Survivors include his fourth wife, Karen Boyer, a speech therapist who taught him to lip-read for his role as a deaf man in “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” (1989).
