“I’m heartbroken at Gene’s passing, but what a wonderful way to celebrate his gifts and talents this weekend”, he said.
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Remembering Gene Wilder and his visit to HIES in 2011. Frequent collaborator Mel Brooks and others bid Wilder adieu on social media, Brooks reminisced during a previously scheduled Tonight Show appearance with Jimmy Fallon, and countless others chimed in across all mediums.
Brooks told Wilder about this idea he had for a movie.
The 90-year-old filmmaker had all kinds of great stories about Wilder, including one about the two working on The Producers together. “You are Leo Bloom, ‘” Brooks said, recalling a conversation he had with Wilder.
On the set of Blazing Saddles, in which Wilder plays The Waco Kid, Brooks said Wilder would constantly be writing on a legal pad that said “Young Frankenstein”.
The Transit Drive-In has announced it will host a double feature of two of Wilder’s most popular films, “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” and “Blazing Saddles”, from September 2-5.
“Miracle of miracles”, Brooks did find the backing and visited Wilder backstage of a play he was doing called “Luv”. I like him, but I don’t care for that director.
“He blessed every film we did with his magic and he blessed me with his friendship”, Brooks wrote.
But the film remains a big part of his life, and Wilder’s death Sunday hit him personally.
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The death of American actor Gene Wilder has made the headlines around the world. With lines as “There is no life I know / To compare with / Pure imagination / Living there, you’ll be free / If you truly wish to be”, the song is a ideal fit to pay homage to Wilder. We’re going to make the movie. What if the grandson of Victor Frankenstein was a serious, brilliant surgeon, and wanted nothing to do with the people that were responsible for making a monster, reanimating dead tissue and so forth? “And he’s fighting it, but it’s in his blood, ‘” Brooks said. “He burst into tears and held his face and cried. It was a wonderful moment”, the Oscar victor recalled.
