Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory would not have been the same, had it not been the eccentric and amusing presence of Gene Wilder who played Willy Wonka.
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After Wilder’s death, his nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman released a statement detailing his uncle’s passing.
He continued to enjoy art, music, and kissing with his leading lady of the last twenty-five years, Karen. Wilder would go on to play iconic characters in Brooks’ films like Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein.
Still, the actor is, perhaps, best remembered for his role as Willy Wonka in Mel Stuart’s 1971 musical Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, adapted from the Roald Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. According to reports, Wilder died in his home in Stamford, Connecticut.
“He blessed every film we did with his magic and he blessed me with his friendship”, Brooks wrote.
Rest in peace Mr Willy Wonka……
Born Jerome Silberman to Russian immigrant parents in 1933, Wilder moved to the United Kingdom in 1955 to studying acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre.
He starred in two other Brooks comedies in 1974, Western spoof Blazing Saddles and gothic horror parody, Young Frankenstein.
If you were around in the 1970s, you saw Gene Wilder in the movies.
He also frequently collaborated with Richard Pryor.
The star-powered comedic duo appeared in four films together, including “Silver Streak” and “See No Evil, Hear No Evil“.
Wilder’s second wife was legendary “Saturday Night Live” alum, Gilda Radner.
Gene Wilder, a two-time Oscar nominee and comedy star, has died at age 83.
The incredulous expression Wilder wore as Willy Wonka dealing with an onslaught of naughty children became the centerpiece of a “condescending/creepy Willy Wonka” meme that seemed to take over social media a few years back.
“I’m not so amusing”, Wilder once said of his late wife.
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“Goodbye, Gene Wilder. You were one of the great screen comedians”. Three years ago, Business Insider called the Philadelphia-set and shot film the greatest Wall Street movie ever made, and did an oral history of the movie.
