To honor Wilder’s memory and celebrate his many contributions to American cinema, AMC Theaters will screen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Blazing Saddles on Saturday, Sept. 3 and Sunday, Sept. 4.
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The Oscar-nominated actor is not only famous for some of the funniest films of the 1970s but also known for his partnership with Mel Brooks.
“He was sick, and I knew it”, Brooks explained to host Jimmy Fallon. I expected it. I expected he would go but, I don’t know, when it happens, it’s still tremendous.
But the notoriety of the NY resident with Chanute ties heightened this week with the passing of actor Gene Wilder, the star of the movie.
“Brooks and Wilder met when Brooks” wife Anne Bancroft was doing a play with Wilder. “Miracle of miracles, we got the money”, Brooks said, so he went to tell Wilder the good news, and Wilder burst into tears.
On Monday, following Wilder’s death, Brooks said the actor was one of the “great talents of our time”. He blessed every film we did with his magic.
And that gentleness that Wilder carried to his various on-screen persona made the roles believable, even as the scheming man conning Broadway in the 1960s version of “The Producers”. Brooks said that once he had gathered the money for the movie and told Wilder that he would be playing Leo Bloom, the late actor began to openly cry.
Wilder’s turn as Willy Wonka arguably stands as his most memorable role, while “Blazing Saddles”, one of his many collaborations with director Mel Brooks, was among his most sidesplitting films. “They always had that smile, that look of wonder”, Walker-Pearlman said.
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Gene Wilder’s family said in a statement that the decision to keep his condition was so that children will not associate “Willy Wonka” with Alzheimer’s disease.
