https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Wilder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Wilder#Work
Jerome Silberman (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), known professionally as
Gene Wilder, was an
American stage and
screen comic actor, screenwriter, and author.
Wilder began his career on stage, and made his screen debut in the TV-series
Armstrong Circle Theatre in 1962. 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 1968 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. Wilder is known for his 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). Wilder directed and wrote several of his own films, including
The Woman in Red (1984).
His third wife was actress
Gilda Radner, with whom he starred in three films. Her 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 most recent contribution to acting in 2003, Wilder 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).