Gene Wilder - Dead, but no less funny

[DGS49]

Please, somebody tell me how this guy was able to make a living in show biz.

Not funny, not ever.

A good example of the "Good ol' Boy" network in Hollywood. Gene and Richard Pryor? Less funny than RP alone. Blazing Saddles? Would have been funnier with almost anyone else. Young Frankenstein was funny in spite of him.

Willie Fucking Wonka? Any real comedic actor would have been better. If it were not for the influence of Mel Brooks, Wilder would have been waiting tables somewhere.

RIP and good riddance.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

Please, somebody tell me how this guy was able to make a living in show biz.

Not funny, not ever.

A good example of the "Good ol' Boy" network in Hollywood. Gene and Richard Pryor? Less funny than RP alone. Blazing Saddles? Would have been funnier with almost anyone else. Young Frankenstein was funny in spite of him.

Willie Fucking Wonka? Any real comedic actor would have been better. If it were not for the influence of Mel Brooks, Wilder would have been waiting tables somewhere.

RIP and good riddance.

 

[DGS49]

From Wilder's obituary: "If it were not for Mel [Brooks], I'd still be doing temporary typing for a living and selling toys at FAO Schwarz for $1.40 an hour."

I rest my case.

 

[JOSweetHeart]

The only other film of his that I've seen besides the chocolate factory film is the one named See No Evil, Hear No Evil. I thought that he was funny in that one.

God bless you and his family always!!!

Holly

P.S. I have heard that the Stir Crazy film is funny too.

 

[hadit]

Please, somebody tell me how this guy was able to make a living in show biz.

Not funny, not ever.

A good example of the "Good ol' Boy" network in Hollywood. Gene and Richard Pryor? Less funny than RP alone. Blazing Saddles? Would have been funnier with almost anyone else. Young Frankenstein was funny in spite of him.

Willie Fucking Wonka? Any real comedic actor would have been better. If it were not for the influence of Mel Brooks, Wilder would have been waiting tables somewhere.

RIP and good riddance.

Obviously, a minority opinion.

 

[Al Azar]

I never cared for Gene, but Gilda Radner married him so he must have had something going for him.

 

[Borillar]

I kind of see what you're saying here. In all the movies I have seen him in, he wasn't the funniest character. Still, some very enjoyable performances in Young Frankenstein, The Producers, Stir Crazy, etc. No reason to piss all over his legacy. RIP Gene.

 

[waltky]

Excellent Obit by the BBC...

Gene Wilder: Wild-eyed star and top comic talent
Mon, 29 Aug 2016 - Wild-eyed star who became one of Hollywood's top comedy talents.

Gene Wilder's distinctive looks helped him create roles that he made his own. His performances combined sentimentality, comedy and suppressed rage, often veering between idiocy and apoplexy. Films such as Young Frankenstein, Silver Streak and The Producers established him as one of Hollywood's top comedy talents. But behind the corkscrew hair, the bulging organ-stop eyes and the twitchy mannerisms, lay a much gentler, more reflective individual. He was born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on 11 June 1933. He later described his childhood as "sane but disturbed" and was always drawn to acting by the "chance to be someone else".

Gene Wilder​

When he was eight years old, Wilder's mother had a heart attack. Her doctor took the confused child to one side and told him: "Don't ever get angry with her, you might kill her." He turned to leave and added: "You can make her laugh, though." For years Wilder harboured the belief that any harsh words would end his mother's life. His parents sent him to a military school in Hollywood where, as the only Jewish boy, he recalled the bullying that made his life a misery. He quickly returned home where he became involved with the local theatre, making his first public performance at the age of 15 in a production of Romeo and Juliet.

Critic

He took a course in Communication and Theatre Arts at the University of Iowa before moving to England to pursue his studies with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He felt stifled by his acting lessons in Britain, but became the first American to win the English Schools Fencing Championship. He admitted he had always worshipped Errol Flynn. In 1956 he was drafted into the US Army where he found himself posted as an aide in a psychiatric ward, helping to administer electro-shock therapy to patients.

On his discharge, he went back to acting, having changed his name to Gene Wilder, partly, he later said, because he could not imagine a Jerry Silberman being asked to play Hamlet. He also became an outspoken critic of the US involvement in Vietnam and would later oppose the invasion of Iraq. In 1961, he had a small part in a production of Arnold Wesker's Roots and made his Broadway debut as the comic valet in The Complaisant Lover. His breakthrough came in 1963, when he starred alongside Anne Bancroft in a Broadway production of Bertolt Brecht's play, Mother Courage and Her Children.

Spontaneity

See also:

A silent goodbye: Gene Wilder wraps up his life’s shoot at 83
Tuesday 30th August, 2016 - The world bid a teary goodbye to actor and writer Gene Wilder popularly known for his role as Willy Wonka.

Losing a three-year-long battle to Alzheimer’s, the actor known for his comic ability and unique acting prowess died at his home in Stamford, Connecticut. "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,” Wilder’s nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman said in a statement. Lot of stars took to social media to pour their grief over the death of the Willy Wonka star. “Gene Wilder was the best,” tweeted Jimmy Kimmel, popular show anchor. Comedian Jim Carey tweeted, “Gene Wilder was one of the funniest and sweetest energies ever to take a human form. If there's a heaven he has a Golden Ticket.” “Gene Wilder-One of the truly great talents of our time. He blessed every film we did with his magic & he blessed me with his friendship,” Mel Brooks said on Twitter.

Wilder had worked with Brooks on various films like The Producer, Blazing saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silver Streak all of which earned him a great reputation in the industry and won him several awards. “When God saw Gene Wilder, He said, ‘That is prey. And we’ll put him on Earth and everybody will chase him and have some fun,'” Brooks was quoted as saying during that time. During the New Hollywood revolution, Wilder was greatly sought after but took up only selective roles. “I was always very selective. No, selective isn’t the right word. Egomaniacal is more like it,” he had said. It was his role as Willy Wonka, the eccentric chocolate factory owner in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, that he is remembered widely for. Wilder told director Mel Stuart he would accept the role only if his character could make his entrance limping out of the factory, planting his cane in the ground, and doing a somersault. When asked why he wanted that - Wilder told Stuart, “Because from that time on, no one will know if I'm lying or telling the truth."

Wilder was born to Jewish Russian parents in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Born as Jerry Silberman, he changed his name as a tribute to both Thornton Wilder and a character in Thomas Wolfe's novel Look Homeward, Angel. Wilder got his first big break in the acting industry from Broadway where he was part of Arnold Wesker's production Roots. He acted in a number of Broadway productions like The Complaisant Lover, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The White House, Luv, and Mother Courage and Her Children. His debut on the silver screen was made in 1967 with the movie Bonnie and Clyde. The actor also made a stint on television with sitcoms like Something Wilder, Will & Grace. He even won an Emmy for his guest role in the latter. Earlier in his career, Wilder played roles in many television movies including Death of a Salesman, The Scarecrow, Acts of Love and Other Comedies and Thursday’s Game. Wilder’s off-screen life was as tragic as his onscreen life was glorious. He had to see his mother suffer from ovarian cancer and years later his third wife Gilda Radner also succumbed to the disease. The actor had married Radner who was also a comedian in 1984. The couple was the golden couple of the times and acted in three films together. Her death left him broken hearted.

Wilder later gave voice to his pain in his 2005 memoir, Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art. He also opened an organisation that provides support to cancer patients and their families. In 1991, he married Karen Boyer, a woman he would remain with for the rest of his life. Besides acting Wilder was also blessed with the gift of the pen. He wrote screenplays (Young Frankenstein was one of them), three novels and a collection of short stories during his lifetime. Wilder’s last years, perhaps best explain all he was and all he loved to do. “He continued to enjoy art, music, and kissing with his leading lady of the last 25 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 company of beloved ones,” recounts his nephew.

A silent goodbye Gene Wilder wraps up his lifes shoot at 83