2016 Hollywood Obituaries

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The Deer Hunter was the first movie to really impress me with it's cinematography...

'Deer Hunter,' 'Close Encounters' cinematographer dies at 85
3 Jan.`16 — The legendary cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, best known for "The Deer Hunter" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," has died.

His business partner Yuri Neyman confirmed that Zsigmond died on Friday in Big Sur, California. He was 85.

The Hungarian-born Zsigmond helped define cinema's American New Wave in the 1970s through iconic collaborations and a preference for natural light. He first gained renown for his collaboration with Robert Altman on classics "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" and "The Long Goodbye." In addition to his work on Michael Cimino's classic "The Deer Hunter," for which he earned an Oscar nomination, Zsigmond also worked with Brian De Palma on a number of films including "Blow Out."

Hungarian born cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond is interviewed by the Hungarian News Agency MTI in Budapest, Hungary. The legendary cinematographer Zsigmond, best known for "The Deer Hunter" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," has died. His business partner Yuri Neyman confirmed that Zsigmond died on Friday Jan. 1, 2016 in Big Sur, California. He was 85.​

Zsigmond's sole Oscar win was for Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."

'Deer Hunter,' 'Close Encounters' cinematographer dies at 85

 

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Naked Gun star George Kennedy dies...

Actor George Kennedy, star of Naked Gun, dies aged 91
Mon, 29 Feb 2016 - US actor George Kennedy, star of Cool Hand Luke and Naked Gun, has died at the age of 91, his grandson announces.

US actor George Kennedy, who starred in movies including Cool Hand Luke and the Naked Gun series, has died at the age of 91, his grandson has announced. Cory Schenkel said his grandfather died on Sunday morning in the city of Boise, Idaho, celebrity news website TMZ reported. Kennedy won an Oscar in 1968 for Best Supporting Actor in Cool Hand Luke.

As well as the Naked Gun comedies, he also made memorable appearances in Earthquake and Airport 1975. Mr Schenkel, quoted by TMZ, said the veteran actor had been in poor health since the death of his wife, Joan, more than a year ago, and had been in a hospice for the past month. Kennedy was born in 1924 in New York where his father worked as a musician and his mother was a dancer.

He served with the US infantry during World War Two, winning several decorations, and in the 1950s he worked for Armed Forces Radio and Television before moving to Hollywood. The 6ft 4in actor quickly became well known for playing tough-guy characters. Kennedy's final film role was in The Gambler in 2014, TMZ added.

Actor George Kennedy, star of Naked Gun, dies aged 91 - BBC News

 

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Actor Ken Howard passes on...

Actor Ken Howard, TV actor and acting union leader, dies
March 23, 2016 — Ken Howard, the strapping character actor who starred in the 1970s TV drama "The White Shadow" and was currently serving as president of SAG-AFTRA, has died at age 71. The union announced Howard's death Wednesday. No cause was given.

Howard's career spanned four decades in TV, theater and film. In the acclaimed CBS series "The White Shadow," which aired from 1978-81, he starred as a white coach to an urban high school basketball team — a part, one of Howard's best known, that drew on the personal history of the 6-foot-6 actor, who played basketball growing up on Long Island in New York and at Amherst College. The series' title came from Howard's nickname as the only white starter on the Manhasset High varsity team. He was a staple character actor on television, starring opposite Blythe Danner in "Adam's Rib" on ABC in the 1970s and appearing as the chipper Kabletown boss Hank Hooper on NBC's "30 Rock" some 40 years later.

In early seasons of NBC's "Crossing Jordan," which premiered in 2001, he played the father of star Jill Hennessy, a retired police detective who gave behind-the-scenes advice to his daughter, a crime-solving forensic pathologist. He starred opposite Jimmy Smits in the 2007 CBS drama "Cane." His other TV credits included "The West Wing," ''NYPD Blue," ''The Practice," ''Boston Legal," ''Law & Order: SVU," ''Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The Office." Howard played Thomas Jefferson on Broadway in "1776," a role he reprised in the 1972 film. He won a Tony award for Robert Marasco's Catholic boarding school drama "Child's Play."

After making his film debut opposite Liza Minnelli in 1970's "Tell Me That You Love Me," Howard's films included "Rambo," ''In Her Shoes," ''Michael Clayton," and last year's Jennifer Lawrence starrer, "Joy." He won an Emmy for his performance in HBO's "Grey Gardens" in 2009. He was also familiar to viewers of the Screen Actors Guild Awards, providing an update on the union's accomplishments during the televised awards ceremony. Howard was elected SAG president in 2009 and was a catalyst for its 2012 merger with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union. Combined, the groups represent 160,000 actors, broadcasters and recording artists.

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Comic Garry Shandling passes on...

Garry Shandling, Star of 'The Larry Sanders Show,' Dead at 66
March 24, 2016 - Police confirm actor's death as reports of surprise hospital visit circulate

Garry Shandling, star of The Larry Sanders Show and It's Garry Shandling's Show, has died. TMZ reports that he was not suffering from a specific illness but was in a hospital at the time of his death. Police confirmed the actor's death to The Associated Press. He was 66. The comic originally made a name for himself in the late Seventies and early Eighties for his dry, ironic wit and humorously pained grimace. Between comedy stages, television programs and Hollywood films in the decades since then, Shandling became a cherished and inimitable comic talent.

​

"R.I.P. Garry Shandling," Albert Brooks wrote on Twitter after news of the comedian's death spread. "I am so saddened to hear this. [He was] brilliantly funny and such a great guy. He will be so missed." Ricky Gervais described him as "one of the most influential comedians of a generation." Shandling rose to prominence as a standup comedian, making appearances on Comic Relief, Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, but transitioned into acting by mid-decade. In 1986 and 1987, he also became a frequent guest host for Carson, helming the show on the regular host's days off.

From 1986 to 1990 he starred on the Showtime meta-sitcom It's Garry Shandling's Show, in which he played a fictionalized version of himself who was obsessed with his hair and would often speak directly to the camera. Two years after that program's conclusion, he employed his skills as Carson guest host on the HBO sitcom The Larry Sanders Show, a sendup of late-night television at a turbulent time for the medium, as Carson bowed out of the spotlight that year and Jay Leno, David Letterman and Arsenio Hall duked it out in the ratings. NBC even courted Shandling as a permanent Carson replacement in 1993, as he filmed Sanders. He also declined The Late Late Show. Before its finale in 1998, The Larry Sanders Show won three Emmys and was nominated for 56.

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[waltky]

Uncle Ferd had a big ol' crush on her back inna day...

Oscar-winning actress Patty Duke dies at 69
29 Mar.`16 — Patty Duke, who as a teen won an Oscar for playing Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker," then maintained a long career while battling personal demons, has died at the age of 69. The actress died early Tuesday morning of sepsis from a ruptured intestine, according to her agent, Mitchell Stubbs. She died in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, where she had lived for the past quarter-century, according to Teri Weigel, the publicist for her son, actor Sean Astin.

Duke astonished audiences as the young deaf-and-blind Keller first on Broadway, then in the acclaimed 1962 film version, appearing in both alongside Anne Bancroft (who won an Oscar of her own) as Helen's teacher, Annie Sullivan. Then in 1963, Duke burst on the TV scene starring in her own sitcom, "The Patty Duke Show," which aired for three seasons. She played dual roles as identical cousins Kathy, "who's lived most everywhere, from Zanzibar to Barclay Square" while (according to the theme song) "Patty's only seen the sights a girl can see from Brooklyn Heights. What a crazy pair!"

Actress Patty Duke, 16, accepts the Oscar as best supporting actress for her work in "The Miracle Worker" at the annual Academy Awards in Santa Monica, Calif. Duke, who won an Oscar as a child at the start of an acting career that continued through her adulthood​

In 2015, she would play twin roles again: as a pair of grandmas on an episode of "Liv and Maddie," a series on the Disney Channel. "We're so grateful to her for living a life that generates that amount of compassion and feeling in others," Astin told The Associated Press in reflecting on the outpouring of sentiment from fans at the news of her death. She had "really, really suffered" with her illness, Astin added. From late last week until early Tuesday morning, he said, "was a really, really, really hard process. It was hard for her, it was hard for the people who love her to help her...."

Actress Patty Duke is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.Duke, who won an Oscar as a child at the start of an acting career that continued through her adulthood​

But throughout her life, she was "a warrior," he said. "You watch this 4-foot-10, tiny imp of a lady who's more powerful than the greatest military leaders in history." Born Anna Marie Duke in the New York borough of Queens on Dec. 14, 1946, she had a difficult childhood with abusive parents. By age 8, she was largely under the control of husband-and-wife talent managers who kept her busy on soap operas and advertising displays. In the meantime, they supplied her with alcohol and prescription drugs, which accentuated the effects of her undiagnosed bipolar disorder.

Academy and Emmy award-winning actress, Patty Duke appears during a news conference at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, Calif. Duke, who won an Oscar as a child at the start of an acting career that continued through her adulthood, died Tuesday, March 29, 2016, of sepsis from a ruptured intestine. She was 69.​

In her 1988 memoir, "Call Me Anna," Duke wrote of her condition and the diagnosis she'd gotten only six years earlier, and of the subsequent treatment that helped stabilize her life. The book became a 1990 TV film in which she starred, and she became an activist for mental health causes, helping to de-stigmatize bipolar disorder. With the end of "The Patty Duke Show" in 1966, which left her stereotyped as not one, but two squeaky-clean teenagers, Duke attempted to leap into the nitty-grittiness of adulthood in the 1967 melodrama "Valley of the Dolls," in which she played a showbiz hopeful who falls prey to drug addiction, a broken marriage and shattered dreams.

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[Auld Phart]

 

[waltky]

Liked him in the 'Trinity' westerns with Terence Hill...

Italian actor Bud Spencer dies aged 86
Tue, 28 Jun 2016 - Italian actor and filmmaker Bud Spencer, who starred in a number of spaghetti westerns, dies aged 86.

He passed away peacefully on Monday in Rome "and did not suffer from pain", his son said. Spencer, whose real name was Carlo Pedersoli, was known among his fans as the "big friendly giant" of the screen because of his height and weight. Spencer, who was also a professional swimmer, played in more than 20 films from the 1950s to the 1980s. "He had all of us next to him and his last words were 'Thank you'," his son Giuseppe Pedersoli said.

In a tweet (in Italian), Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said: "Ciao #BudSpencer We loved you so much." Spencer was born in the southern Italian city of Naples in 1929, but later moved to Rome, where he became a promising swimmer. In 1950, he was the first Italian to swim 100m in under one minute.

He later abandoned his sporting career and began playing in westerns and comedy films, often alongside Terence Hill. Spencer appeared in movies including Ace High, They Call Me Trinity and A Friend is a Treasure. Spencer said he chose his name as a tribute to his favourite beer Budweiser and US actor Spencer Tracy.

Italian actor Bud Spencer dies aged 86 - BBC News

 

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Futurist Alvin Toffler, author of Futire Shock, passes away at 87...

Alvin Toffler, futurologist guru, dies at 87
30 June 2016 - Alvin Toffler, the author of Future Shock and other works predicting social, economic and technological change, has died at the age of 87.

Future Shock, which sold 15 million copies, defined people's anxiety at the pace of social change in the 1960s. Toffler popularised terms such as "information overload" and his works led world leaders and business moguls to seek his advice. He predicted the rise of the internet and decline of the nuclear family. He died in his sleep late on Monday at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles.

Online chat rooms

Although many writers in the 1960s focused on social upheavals related to technological advancement, Toffler wrote in a page-turning style that made difficult concepts easy to understand. Future Shock (1970) argued that economists who believed the rise in prosperity of the 1960s was just a trend were wrong - and that it would continue indefinitely. The Third Wave, in 1980, was a hugely influential work that forecast the spread of emails, interactive media, online chat rooms and other digital advancements. But among the pluses, he also foresaw increased social alienation, rising drug use and the decline of the nuclear family.

Space colonies

Not all of his futurist predictions have come to pass. He thought humanity's frontier spirit would lead to the creation of "artificial cities beneath the waves" as well as colonies in space. One of his most famous assertions was: "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn." Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, China Prime Minister Zhao Ziyang and Mexican business guru Carlos Slim were among those who sought his advice. The futurologist, also termed futurist by some, was born to Jewish Polish immigrants in 1928 and honed his theories working for IBM and other technology firms in the 60s. Toffler is survived by his wife, Heidi, with whom he collaborated on many of his books.

Alvin Toffler, futurologist guru, dies at 87 - BBC News

See also:

Alvin Toffler: What he got right - and wrong
Thu, 30 Jun 2016 - Futurologist Alvin Toffler predicted everything from the rise of the Internet to the decline of the nuclear family, but he wasn't always right

Futurologist Alvin Toffler captivated millions worldwide with his profound forecasts on everything from the rise of the internet to a new wave of drugs and crime. The esteemed author, most remembered for his books Future Shock and Third Wave, died at the age of 87 at his home in Los Angeles. Future Shock - which sold millions of copies, was translated into dozens of languages and still remains in print - posited that rapid social and technological progress would sweep society into a new, unrelenting era of change. Toffler's work captured the attention of global figures including Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, China Prime Minister Zhao Ziyang and Mexican business guru Carlos Slim, all of whom sought advice from the futurologist guru. In honour of Toffler, who popularised the term "information overload", here are some of his most prescient predictions and other failed forecasts.

WHAT HE GOT RIGHT

Rise of internet and cable television

The author rightly predicted a knowledge-based economy would eclipse the post-industrial age, shifting focus from manufacturing and labour to information and data. "The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn," he wrote in one of his observations. Toffler also predicted the spread of interactive media, online chatrooms and devices that remind you "of your own appointments". "Advanced technology and information systems make it possible for much of the work of society to be done at home via computer-telecommunications hook-ups," he wrote.
Genetic engineering and cloning

Though his predictions focused on the human condition more than scientific advancement, Toffler foresaw a future where a woman would be able to "buy a tiny embryo, take it to her doctor, have it implanted in her uterus...and then give birth as though it had been conceived in her own body". His forecast that humans would breed babies with "supernormal vision or hearing" and other abilities may now seem a bit outlandish, but he did foresee the advancement of cloning. "One of the more fantastic possibilities is that man will be able to make biological carbon copies of himself," he wrote.

The demise of the nuclear family

Toffler predicted a symptom of rapid change would be the dissolution of the family unit. The author noted it would lead to a rise in divorce rates while society would also begin to embrace the LGBT community. He wrote, "we shall... also see many more 'family' units consisting of a single unmarried adult and one or more children. Nor will all of these adults be women... As homosexuality becomes more socially acceptable, we may even begin to find families based on homosexual marriage."

He also acknowledged the societal shift in delaying the decision to have children. "Why not wait and buy your embryos later, after your work career is over? Thus childlessness is likely to spread among young and middle-aged couples; sexagenarians who raise infants may be far more common." Consumerism In the age of Amazon and the proliferation of online marketplaces and share economies, Toffler's thoughts on consumerism as a global trend ring true. "People of the future may suffer not from an absence of choice but from a paralysing surfeit of it. They may turn out to be victims of that peculiarly super-industrial dilemma: overchoice." In coining the term "prosumer," Toffler predicted the emergence of the combined role of producer and consumer, or the trend of do-it-yourself (DIY) in every aspect of life.

WHAT HE GOT WRONG

 

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Deer Hunter and Heaven's Gate film director Michael Cimino dies...

Deer Hunter film director Michael Cimino dies
Sun, 03 Jul 2016 - Michael Cimino, director of the landmark 1978 Vietnam War film The Deer Hunter, has died, his friend and former lawyer confirms.

Double Oscar winner Michael Cimino's body was found at his Los Angeles home on Saturday, Eric Weissmann said. Cimino, 77, who directed a total of eight films, will be remembered for a career of highs and lows. While The Deer Hunter has been hailed as one of the best movies in Hollywood history, his next project, Heaven's Gate, was derided as a flop. Mr Weissmann said Cimino's body was found after friends had been unable to contact him. No cause of death has yet been determined.

The Deer Hunter with its famous Russian roulette scene starred Robert de Niro and Christopher Walken and won five Oscars including the award for the best film in 1979. It chronicles the lives of a group of friends from a Pennsylvania town and the devastating effect of the Vietnam War, both on those who fought in it and those who stayed at home in small-town America. "Our work together is something I will always remember. He will be missed," De Niro said in a statement.

The director of the 1978 Vietnam War film The Deer Hunter has died, his friend and former lawyer has confirmed​

Based on the success of The Deer Hunter, Cimino wrote and directed Heaven's Gate, loosely based on the Wyoming Johnson County war of 1889-93. It was a financial disaster that went four times over budget and a year behind schedule, It nearly bankrupted the United Artists studio. But the film, starring Christopher Walken and Kris Kristofferson, has more recently been hailed as a masterpiece.

Cimino in his earlier career was an advertising executive who moved into film with the Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges crime caper, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, in 1974. He also directed Desperate Hours (1990), starring Mickey Rourke and Anthony Hopkins, and the gangster film The Sicilian (1986), adapted from a novel by Godfather author Mario Puzo. Correspondents say Heaven's Gate led to the demise of director-driven productions in the late 1970s and the imposition of tighter controls on film budgets.

Deer Hunter film director Michael Cimino dies - BBC News

 

[Auld Phart]

BREAKING: Actress Noel Neill passed away yesterday at 95. Goodbye Lois

Appeared in nearly every Superman Vehicle from 1948-2006

 

[Auld Phart]

Garry Marshall, ‘Pretty Woman’ Director and Creator of ‘Happy Days,’ Dies at 81

 

[Auld Phart]

Marni Nixon

Marni Nixon - IMDb

Singing voice behind Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood, others

 

[waltky]

Granny gonna be real sad, she liked havin' her palm read over the phone...

Telephone Psychic Miss Cleo Has Died At 53
July 26, 2016 - Miss Cleo, the embattled telephone psychic famous for turning the phrase “call me now for your free reading!” into a cultural meme, has died at 53 after a battle with cancer.

According to TMZ, which has confirmed with Cleo’s rep, the clairvoyant, entrepreneur, and actress — if you didn’t know, her accent was fake — died on Tuesday after fighting colon cancer that tragically spread to both her liver and her lungs. The rep told TMZ that Youree Dell Cleomili Harris (Cleo’s real name) was a “pillar of strength” until her untimely death and passed while in the presence of those who knew and loved her.

While Miss Cleo will be fondly remembered by anyone who has ever seen one of her commercials, Harris’ life became increasingly difficult in 2002, when the FTC filed a complaint against the company the psychic worked for — The Psychic Readers Network — for unethical business practices (including the fact that all those free readings Miss Cleo offered were never really free). While she was later dropped from the suit, Harris never regained her footing in the cutthroat world of psychic healing and quickly dropped out of the limelight.

In 2006, Harris made headlines by coming out as a lesbian in The Advocate, telling the publication that she made the difficult decision to go public when her godson came to her when struggling with his own coming out: “He and I started talking when he was concerned about coming out. He was 16. When he made the decision I told him I’d be there to support him 100%, and he embraced [coming out] wholeheartedly,” Harris says. “It’s a different vibe than when I was his age, being raised Catholic in an all-girls boarding school. But he was afraid of nothing, and I thought, I can’t be a hypocrite. This boy is going to force me to put my money where my mouth is.”

In an interview with Vice in 2014, Harris revealed that she really was psychic, that she’d never been in jail, and that while others on the hotline may have been making “14 cents a minute,” she’d barely made more, telling the interviewer that her cut was “24 cents.” She also discussed the struggles she faced in the court of public opinion, including conflict with members of the Jamaican community, who railed against her for being a “bad representative”: According to some articles, I’m still in jail. I never went to jail; I didn’t own the company. It’s taken ten years for me to move through all of that, because in the Jamaican culture—especially with the way my father was—all you have is your word. So it hurts for people to go around and be able to tell a lie to the point where it becomes fact on a [computer] box. So I struggle with it.

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[Auld Phart]

Jerry Doyle

I've seen him, but I don't remember in what.

(Not a big fan of Babylon 5)

 

[Auld Phart]

Gloria DeHaven:

Singer and Actress Dies at Age 91, Daughter Confirms
DeHaven died Saturday in Las Vegas, her daughter told The Hollywood Reporter. Born July 23, 1925, she began her six-decade film, TV and stage career with Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times" in 1936.

 

[waltky]

Gloria DeHaven passes on...

Gloria DeHaven, star of golden age cinema, dies aged 91
Tuesday 2nd August, 2016 - Gloria DeHaven, the daughter of vaudeville stars who carved out her own successful career in Hollywood musicals and comedies of the 1940s and 50s, has died. She was 91. Her agent Scott Stander said that Ms DeHaven was in hospice care in Las Vegas after suffering a stroke a few months ago.

She achieved stardom in 1944's Two Girls and a Sailor, in which she and June Allyson played sisters vying for the affections of Van Johnson. MGM then employed Ms DeHaven frequently as the second lead in such lightweight films as Summer Holiday, Summer Stock, The Yellow Cab Man and Three Little Words - in which she portrayed her own mother. As a teenager, she toured with big bands led by Bing Crosby's brother Bob and others. An MGM talent scout spotted her at a concert in Texas. DeHaven never achieved the top stardom Allyson and Kathryn Grayson enjoyed in musical movies for MGM, but had better luck at other studios, starring with Donald O'Connor in Yes, Sir, That's My Baby, Tony Curtis in So This Is Paris and Glenn Ford in The Doctor and the Girl.

With her movie career waning in the 1950s, DeHaven turned to television and theatre. She hosted ABC's 15-minute Gloria DeHaven Show, appeared on numerous variety specials and became a regular on Bob Hope's overseas tours to entertain US soldiers. She also starred in the series Nakia, Delta House and Girl Talk - and played lengthy roles in the soap operas Ryan's Hope and As the World Turns. DeHaven starred on Broadway with Ricardo Montalban in Seventh Heaven in 1955 and toured in The Sound of Music, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Hello Dolly and Cactus Flower. After a decades-long absence, DeHaven returned to films in 1997 with Out at Sea, playing a mature woman who has a shipboard romance with Jack Lemmon. "I thought I would be very nervous," she said at the time. "It was like I'd never been away. Like going home."

Gloria DeHaven has died aged 91​

The only difference she noticed was the faster pace Hollywood films were being made compared to the 1940s and 50s. "When I was under contract, we had a great deal more time," she said. In her youth, DeHaven often toured with her parents, a popular song-and-dance team billed in Broadway shows, vaudeville and silent movies as Mr and Mrs Carter DeHaven. (Her mother's name was Flora Parker). After the vaudeville era died, her father worked as an assistant director on Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times. When 11-year-old Gloria visited her father on the set, Chaplin hired her to play Paulette Goddard's younger sister.

Six years later her brother, Carter Jr, landed DeHaven an audition with Bob Crosby's band. She was halfway through her first song when Crosby interrupted and told her, "OK, you can go home now." Thinking she failed the audition, she left, only to be contacted by the bandleader the next day. Crosby apologised and told her, "I interrupted you because you were perfect for the job." DeHaven was married and divorced four times, including twice to Florida car dealer Richard Fincher. She had two children, Kathy and Thomas, with her first husband, actor John Payne, and two with Fincher, Harry and Faith. Harry Fincher did some acting under the name Richard DeHaven, according to the Internet Movie Database.

Gloria DeHaven, star of golden age cinema, dies aged 91 - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

 

[Auld Phart]

The Big Lewboski

David Huddleston Dies: Prolific Character Actor With ‘The Big Lebowski’ Title Role Was 85

 

[Auld Phart]

Actor Gene Wilder, star of Mel Brooks movies, dies at 83

 

[waltky]

Willie Wonka passes on...

Actor Gene Wilder, star of Mel Brooks movies, dies at 83
Aug 29,`16 -- Gene Wilder, the frizzy-haired actor who brought his deft comedic touch to such unforgettable roles as the neurotic accountant in "The Producers" and the deranged animator of "Young Frankenstein," has died. He was 83.

Wilder's nephew said Monday that the actor and writer died late Sunday at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, from complications from Alzheimer's disease. Jordan Walker-Pearlman said in a statement that Wilder was diagnosed with the disease three years ago, but kept the condition private so as not to disappoint fans. "He simply couldn't bear the idea of one less smile in the world," Walker-Pearlman said. Wilder started his acting career on the stage, but millions knew him from his work in the movies, especially his collaborations with Mel Brooks on "The Producers," ''Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein." The last film - with Wilder playing a California-born descendant of the mad scientist, insisting that his name is pronounced "Frahn-ken-SHTEEN" - was co-written by Brooks and Wilder. "One of the truly great talents of our time," Mel Brooks tweeted. "He blessed every film we did with his magic & he blessed me with his friendship."

Actor Gene Wilder listens as he is introduced to receive the Governor's Awards for Excellence in Culture and Tourism at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Conn. Wilder, who starred in such film classics as "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and "Young Frankenstein" has died. He was 83.​

With his unkempt hair and big, buggy eyes, Wilder was a master at playing panicked characters caught up in schemes that only a madman such as Brooks could devise, whether reviving a monster in "Young Frankenstein" or bilking Broadway in "The Producers." Brooks would call him "God's perfect prey, the victim in all of us." But he also knew how to keep it cool as the boozy gunslinger in "Blazing Saddles" or the charming candy man in the children's favorite "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." His craziest role: the therapist having an affair with a sheep in Woody Allen's "Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex." He was close friends with Richard Pryor and their contrasting personas - Wilder uptight, Pryor loose - were ideal for comedy. They co-starred in four films: "Silver Streak," ''Stir Crazy," ''See No Evil, Hear No Evil" and "Another You." And they created several memorable scenes, particularly when Pryor provided Wilder with directions on how to "act black" as they tried to avoid police in "Silver Streak."

In 1968, Wilder received an Oscar nomination for his work in Brooks' "The Producers." He played the introverted Leo Bloom, an accountant who discovers the liberating joys of greed and corruption as he and Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) conceive a Broadway flop titled "Springtime For Hitler" and plan to flee with the money raised for the show's production. Matthew Broderick played Wilder's role in the 2001 Broadway stage revival of the show. Though they collaborated on film, Wilder and Brooks met through the theater. Wilder was in a play with Brooks' then-future wife, Anne Bancroft, who introduced the pair backstage in 1963. Wilder, a Milwaukee native, was born Jerome Silberman on June 11, 1935. His father was a Russian emigre, his mother was of Polish descent. When he was 6, Wilder's mother suffered a heart attack that left her a semi-invalid. He soon began improvising comedy skits to entertain her, the first indication of his future career.

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[Auld Phart]

Jon Polito

Jon Polito - IMDb