Caramel Corn

Name
Gene Wilder

Known For
Acting

Birthday
1933-06-11

Deathday
2016-08-29 (83 years old)

Place of Birth
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Biography

Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman; June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016) was an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, singer-songwriter, and author.

He began his career on stage, and made his screen debut in an episode of the TV series The Play of the Week in 1961. Although his first film role was portraying a hostage in the 1967 motion picture Bonnie and Clyde, Wilder's first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1967 film The Producers for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This was the first in a series of collaborations with writer/director Mel Brooks, including 1974's Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, which Wilder co-wrote, garnering the pair an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

He is known for his iconic portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and for his four films with Richard Pryor: Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), and Another You (1991), as well as starring in Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972). He directed and wrote several of his own films, including The Woman in Red (1984).

With his third wife, Gilda Radner, he starred in three films, the last two of which he also directed. Her 1989 death from ovarian cancer led to his active involvement in promoting cancer awareness and treatment, helping found the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Center in Los Angeles and co-founding Gilda's Club.

After his last acting performance in 2003 – a guest role on Will & Grace for which he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor – he turned his attention to writing. He produced a memoir in 2005, Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art; a collection of stories, What Is This Thing Called Love? (2010); and the novels My French Whore (2007), The Woman Who Wouldn't (2008), and Something to Remember You By (2013).

Known For

Movies

Tv Shows

1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory as Willy Wonka
1967 Bonnie and Clyde as Eugene Grizzard
1974 Young Frankenstein as Dr. Frankenstein
1996 Making Frankensense of Young Frankenstein as Self
1968 The Producers as Leo Bloom
1989 See No Evil, Hear No Evil as Dave Lyons
1974 Blazing Saddles as Jim
1984 The Woman in Red as Theodore Pierce
1976 Silver Streak as George Caldwell
1980 Stir Crazy as Skip Donahue
1986 Haunted Honeymoon as Larry Abbot
1991 Another You as George / Abe Fielding
1972 Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask as Dr. Doug Ross
1999 Alice in Wonderland as Mock Turtle
1982 Hanky Panky as Michael Jordon
2003 Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!! as (archive footage)
2013 Mel Brooks: Make a Noise as Self (archive footage)
1975 The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother as Sigerson Holmes
1974 The Little Prince as The Fox
1977 The World's Greatest Lover as Rudy Valentine / Rudy Hickman
1979 The Frisco Kid as Avram
1990 Funny About Love as Duffy Bergman
1974 Rhinoceros as Stanley
2007 Hitler: The Comedy Years as Leo Bloom (archive footage) (uncredited)
1970 Start the Revolution Without Me as Claude / Philippe
1970 Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx as Quackser Fortune
1991 Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook as Dr. Frankenstein (archive footage)
1999 Murder in a Small Town as Cash Carter
1980 Sunday Lovers as Skippy (sketch 'Skippy')
2026 Wilder as Self (archive footage)
2005 EXPO: Magic of the White City as Narrator (voice)
2016 The Last Laugh as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1974 Thursday's Game as Harry Evers
2008 Role Model: Gene Wilder as Self
1988 Hello Actors Studio as Self
1972 The Trouble With People as Ernie (Story 4)
1982 Baryshnikov in Hollywood as Self - Special Appearence
2024 Remembering Gene Wilder as Self (archive footage)
1972 Scarecrow as Lord Ravensbane
2008 Marty Feldman: Six Degrees of Separation as Self
1973 Acts of Love and Other Comedies as Herb Waterman
2018 Mel Brooks: Unwrapped as Self (archive footage)
2001 Pure Imagination: The Story of 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory' as Self
1999 The Lady in Question as Larry 'Cash' Carter
1966 Death of a Salesman as Bernard
2013 Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic as George / Skip Donahue (archive footage)
2018 Love, Gilda as Self (archive footage)
2001 Back in the Saddle as Self
2002 The Making of 'The Producers' as Self
1997 Blacks and Jews as Self
2014 Blaze of Glory: Mel Brooks' Wild, Wild West as Self (archive footage)
2010 Gene Wilder: Be in the Moment, Today as Himself
1991 A Party For Richard Pryor as Self

1994 Inside the Actors Studio ( 1 episode ) as Self
1997 The View ( 1 episode ) as Self
1979 CBS News Sunday Morning ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
1971 The Electric Company ( 780 episodes ) as Letterman (voice)
1998 Will & Grace ( 2 episodes ) as Mr. Stein
1993 Late Night with Conan O'Brien ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
1995 The Frank Skinner Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
1994 Something Wilder ( 18 episodes ) as Gene Bergman
1982 Wogan ( 1 episode ) as Self
1961 The Defenders ( 1 episode ) as Waiter
1961 The DuPont Show of the Week ( 1 episode ) as Reporter
1961 The DuPont Show of the Week ( 1 episode ) as Muller
1962 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ( 1 episode ) as Self
2002 After They Were Famous ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
1975 Les Rendez-vous du dimanche ( 2 episodes ) as Self
2006 Legends ( 1 episode ) as Self
1977 Please Turn the Page ( 1 episode ) as Self
1971 Film '72 ( 4 episodes ) as Self
1978 Ciné regards ( 1 episode ) as Self
2004 Parkinson ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest

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