Gene Wilder, Young Frankenstein star,and comedic icon, dies at 83 

Gene Wilder, who regularly stole the show in such comedic gems as “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and “Stir Crazy,” died Monday at his home in Stamford, Conn. His nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman said he died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 83.

His nephew said in a statement, “We understand for all the emotional and physical challenges this situation presented we have been among the lucky ones — this illness-pirate, unlike in so many cases, never stole his ability to recognize those that were closest to him, nor took command of his central-gentle-life affirming core personality. The decision to wait until this time to disclose his condition wasn’t vanity, but more so that the countless young children that would smile or call out to him “there’s Willy Wonka,” would not have to be then exposed to an adult referencing illness or trouble and causing delight to travel to worry, disappointment or confusion. He simply couldn’t bear the idea of one less smile in the world.

He continued to enjoy art, music, and kissing with his leading lady of the last twenty-five years, Karen. He danced down a church aisle at a wedding as parent of the groom and ring bearer, held countless afternoon movie western marathons and delighted in the the company of beloved ones.”

He had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1989.

The comic actor, who was twice Oscar nominated, for his role in “The Producers” and for co-penning “Young Frankenstein” with Mel Brooks, usually portrayed a neurotic who veered between total hysteria and dewy-eyed tenderness. “My quiet exterior used to be a mask for hysteria,” he told Time magazine in 1970. “After seven years of analysis, it just became a habit.”

Habit or not, he got a great deal of mileage out of his persona in the 1970s for directors like Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, leading to a few less successful stints behind the camera, the best of which was “The Woman in Red,” co-starring then-wife Gilda Radner. Wilder was devastated by Radner’s death from ovarian cancer in 1989 and worked only intermittently after that. He tried his hand briefly at a sitcom in 1994, “Something Wilder,” and won an Emmy in 2003 for a guest role on “Will & Grace.”

His professional debut came in Off Broadway’s “Roots” in 1961, followed by a stint on Broadway in Graham Greene’s comedy “The Complaisant Lover,” which won him a Clarence Derwent Award as promising newcomer. His performance in the 1963 production of Brecht’s “Mother Courage” was seen by Mel Brooks, whose future wife, Anne Bancroft, was starring in the production; a friendship with Brooks would lead to some of Wilder’s most successful film work. For the time being, however, Wilder continued to work onstage, in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1963 and “Dynamite Tonight” and “The White House” the following year. He then understudied Alan Arkin and Gabriel Dell in “Luv,” eventually taking over the role.

Wilder also worked in television in 1962’s “The Sound of Hunting,” “The Interrogators,” “Windfall” and in the 1966 TV production of “Death of a Salesman” with Lee J. Cobb. He later starred in TV movies including “Thursday’s Game” and the comedy-variety special “Annie and the Hoods,” both in 1974.

In 1967 Wilder essayed his first memorable bigscreen neurotic, Eugene Grizzard, a kidnapped undertaker in Arthur Penn’s classic “Bonnie and Clyde.”

Then came “The Producers,” in which he played the hysterical Leo Bloom, an accountant lured into a money bilking scheme by a theatrical producer played by Zero Mostel. Directed and written by Brooks, the film brought Wilder an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor. With that, his film career was born.

He next starred in a dual role with Donald Sutherland in “Start the Revolution Without Me,” in which he displayed his fencing abilities. It was followed by another middling comedy, “Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx,” also in 1970.

In 1971 he stepped into the shoes of Willy Wonka, one of his most beloved and gentle characters. Based on the children’s book by Roald Dahl, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” was not an immediate hit but became a children’s favorite over the years. The same cannot be said for the 1974 Stanley Donen-directed musical version of “The Little Prince,” in which Wilder appeared as the fox. He had somewhat better luck in Woody Allen’s spoof “Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex,” appearing in a hilarious segment in which he played a doctor who falls in love with a sheep named Daisy.

Full-fledged film stardom came with two other Brooks comedies, both in 1974: Western spoof “Blazing Saddles” and a wacko adaptation of Mary Shelley’s famous book entitled “Young Frankenstein,” in which Wilder portrayed the mad scientist with his signature mixture of hysteria and sweetness.

Working with Brooks spurred Wilder to write and direct his own comedies, though none reached the heights of his collaborations with Brooks. The first of these was “The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother” (1975), in which he included such Brooks regulars as Madeline Kahn and Marty Feldman. It was followed by 1977’s “The World’s Greatest Lover,” which he also produced.

Wilder fared better, however, when he was working solely in front of the camera, particularly in a number of films in which he co-starred with Richard Pryor.

The first of these was 1976’s “Silver Streak,” a spoof of film thrillers set on trains; 1980’s “Stir Crazy” was an even bigger hit, grossing more than $100 million. Wilder and Pryor’s two other pairings, “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” and “Another You,” provided diminishing returns, however.

While filming “Hanky Panky” in 1982, Wilder met “Saturday Night Live” comedienne Radner. She became his third wife shortly thereafter. Wilder and Radner co-starred in his most successful directing stint, “The Woman in Red” in 1984, and then “Haunted Honeymoon.” But Radner grew ill with cancer, and he devoted himself to her care, working sporadically after that and hardly at all after her death in 1989.

In the early ’90s he appeared in his last film with Pryor and another comedy, “Funny About Love.” In addition to the failed TV series “Something Wilder” in 1994, he wrote and starred in the A&E mystery telepics “The Lady in Question” and “Murder in a Small Town” in 1999. He also appeared as the Mock Turtle in a 1999 NBC adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland.”

He last acted in a couple of episodes of “Will and Grace” in 2002-03 as Mr. Stein, winning an Emmy.

He was born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee and began studying acting at the age of 12. After getting his B.A. from the U. of Iowa in 1955, Wilder enrolled in the Old Vic Theater school in Bristol, where he learned acting technique and fencing. When he returned to the U.S. he taught fencing and did other odd jobs while studying with Herbert Berghof’s HB Studio and at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg.

Wilder’s memoir “Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art” was published in 2005. After that he wrote fiction: the 2007 novel “My French Whore”; 2008’s “The Woman Who Wouldn’t”; a collection of stories, “What Is This Thing Called Love?,” in 2010; and the novella “Something to Remember You By: A Perilous Romance” in 2013.

Wilder was interviewed by Alec Baldwin for the one-hour TCM documentary “Role Model: Gene Wilder” in 2008. The actor was also active in raising cancer awareness in the wake of Radner’s death.

He is survived by his fourth wife Karen Boyer, whom he married in 1991 and his nephew. His sister Corinne, predeceased him in January 2016.

Before Radner, Wilder was married to the actress-playwright Mary Mercier and Mary Joan Schutz (aka Jo Ayers).

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comic genius o our time..he’ll be missed, but at least he’s doing shtick with Gilda now .Thanks for the memories Gene…you’ll live on forever in our memories. Condolences to his loved ones.

So you are my guest, and I am your host. What would you like to do? Chess and sex… Ill get the chess board…..

It is so sad watching the great entertainers die. I wasn’t a huge Wilder fan, but he was better than most of the ‘comedians’ today who count on the curse to be funny. Same is true for rock icons. Seeing Freddie and David die creates a huge emptiness in the world…and Lennon and Harrison! Wow – the world will never be the same.

One point to add here. Wilder didn’t just portray the mad scientist in “Young Frankenstein”. He created it and then co-wrote it, with Brooks. This is common knowledge.

“In a 2010 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Mel Brooks discussed how the film came about:

‘ I was in the middle of shooting the last few weeks of Blazing Saddles somewhere in the Antelope Valley, and Gene Wilder and I were having a cup of coffee and he said, I have this idea that there could be another Frankenstein. I said not another — we’ve had the son of, the cousin of, the brother-in-law, we don’t need another Frankenstein. His idea was very simple: What if the grandson of Dr. Frankenstein wanted nothing to do with the family whatsoever. He was ashamed of those wackos. I said, That’s funny. ‘ – Wikipedia

“No matter how much I beg, No matter how loud I scream, do not open the door” Young Frankenstein”

A wonderful gentle soul who was always a pleasure to watch. He will be sadly missed

Death by Complications from Alzheimer’s, What does this mean?

I said the same thing when I heard it on the radio on the way home today, Bob- what the hell does that mean?

Not a complication unless the furniture talks back. Check out the legs on that Chesterfield – va va va voom.

What a tragic loss of a great person who entertained us with his brilliance and made us laugh. I don’t know anybody who didn’t love this man for his incredible craft as an actor. I will sorely miss him. RIP Dear Friend.

They do not make them like him anymore, Hollywood and America have lost one of their best.

My goodness, I just always think of these folks I grew up watching in the movies and TV as eternally young. I feel so sad Mr. Wider is gone, its like a piece of my younger life has been lost. God bless you and rest well.

Terrible actor..as most of that era..they put anyone on screen and thought is was entertainment.

I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Wilder not long after he released Young Frankenstein. He gave Mel Brooks all the credit for making his film so successful but we all know that nobody else could have imagined or embodied the character of Dr. Frankenstein so hilariously. Still the BEST comedy of all time. He will be greatly missed.

Gene was great, he made me howl with laughter.

@OfficalGene What a loss to us all Rest Easy Sir – A wee tribute to you as you inspired so many of us Thank you Gene My tribute to you Sir and we will be performing ‘Pure Imagination’ as the opening number to my show on the 17th September https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyPRgRJ7_nw

This is very sad news. Just thinking of his character in ‘Young Frankenstein’ made me laugh out loud, spontaneously, and it didn’t matter where I was.

Mr. Wilder RIP “If you want to view paradise, Simply look around and view it, Anything you want to, do it – Want to change the world? There’s nothing to it” Helped us escape to a world of wonder and pure imagination!

Thank you for your excellent writing honouring Gene Wilder, my deepest sympathies to his wife and family. R.I.P. Gene gone but not forgotten.

You have left Lonnie Mack out of the of deceased celebrities. He was one of the most influential guitar players of all time–his version of Mephis was #5 on the 1963 charts & sold a million plus copies–see link below if really don’t know who he is.

I once flew with him to LA from NY : he was an amazing guy…nice, humble, funny…that’s how he came across to me. It was a pleasant experience…I loved him especially as the Young Frankenstein…

Such a wonderful person and actor certainly deserved a better writer. The grammar was butchered, the time sequence of his career so jumbled as to be senseless, and the conclusion (if it could be called such) was limp.

Perhaps this piece should have been edited before Variety published it.

Rest in peace ! Now he and his beloved Gilda Radner are beck together again!!

If you don’t have anything nice to say…seriously, a man dies, and NOW you have the courage to stand up and be counted among the heartless?

Insulting Gene Wilder says more about the insultor than anything about the insultee. He made people laugh, and made people cry, and made people forget their troubles for at least a little while, and he did it with more class than a lot of those Hollywood types. So what if he was a terrible actor, it’s because he was never really acting. I believe he was Willy Wonka, and I also believe he was Dr Frankensteen.

Just because someone dies doesn’t mean you have to say nice things….I k ow many mean dead people.

My favorite movie was Young Frankenstein. Loved all the other movies too. Gene was a Great comedic actor. Rest in Peace, Gene, you made the world laugh!

Enduring image: Wilder drinking a bottle of Woolite, a broken man after his affair w/ DaIsy the sheep ends in “Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex.” Also – sensational in “The Producers” (and ridiculously denied the Oscar for his uber-neurotic perf). Great as “Eugene” in Bonnie and Clyde, too! Farewell, funny man. And thank you for all the laughs.

An old but well loved comic theme. I had to have watch Willy Wonka near 100 times flipping channels over the decades. Then the drunk “Waco Kid” from Blazing Saddles……

I have always been a fan! Gene Wilder was one of the greatest. As to his having Alzheimer’s, I would have Alzheimer’s Disease too, if I had listened to the cardiologists when they wanted to give me blood pressure pills. I quit taking the terrible pills a week before my heart operation. That was over ten years ago, and I am still alive, happy, and healthy at 87. Don’t take those pills!!

Here’s a caricature drawing I did of Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner and Dom DeLuise in the 1980s. https://www.facebook.com/FunnyNotUgly/photos/a.258929100810725.55083.153672464669723/1098125433557750/?type=3&theater

“So much time, so little to do! wait, reverse that!”

You were born under another name, but really, whats in a name? I loved you no matter where you were, who you were called or what great theatrics you were performing. I am greatful you were in this world, and in my life on television. Be happy and free in your new surrounding, keep the angels laughing and smiling. All my love, Susan.

Milking the cow….”I’m sure you’ve had a similar experience, Steve..”

I wonder if he was aware that he became such a huge internet meme sensation (i.e. the Willy Wonka meme)? You see them just about everywhere.

Dude! That photo does NOT include Mel Brooks, who did NOT die this year! That’s Alan Rickman! Get your facts straight!

My favorite Wilder line is, “It’s good to be the king.” I use it all the time.

I Think that was Mel Brooks who said “It’s good to be the king.”

What a brilliant actor and comedic talent! I can’t remember a performance of his that wasn’t memorable, hilarious, and Oscar-worthy. As Leo Bloom, I wept with laughter when he talked about his “blanky”. Or when going into a room with his monster-creation, telling Igor “do NOT LET ME OUT … no matter what!!”. Then after one growl from the monster, Dr. FrankenSteen says first quietly, “Get me out of here … get me the god damn hell out of here.” Then his panic escalates as only Wilder could perfectly portray. Perhaps my favorite scene of his, I laughed out loud the first time I saw it and every time since. A great, great talent left us today. And Gilda welcomed him home with loving arms.

you made me laugh anne………! funny moments which will always be just as funny……..! thanks….

How do you know Gilda welcomed him? He was married to several women.

You’re a fanciful little think aren’t ya, Ron?

jeeeshhh richie, don’t you know that love is ALL there is, particularly “on the other side”……all three wives , among others who loved gene will be nothing but the vibrations of love……..after all, we are made up of energy and it merely changes form when we pass…………….that’s spirituality 101 which interestingly coincides with the laws of physics as opposed to man made dogmatic “religion” which has little to do with spirituality…..

A comic genius, and seemingly a lovely human being. Gene Wilder’s movies always make me laugh no matter how bleak things get. RIP, Gene. We’ll always love you!

I loved Gene in Frisco Lid, too. Blazing Saddles is my favorite.

RIP, prayers & condolences to all his loved ones.

“Let me out. Let me out of here! Get me the hell out of here!” – Young Frankenstein.

Dear Gene, I loved you. You gave me many laughs and happiness with your performances. Your talent was wonderful.. I have many of your movies on DVD to remind me of you. May you rest in peace and I