
Gene Wilder
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).
Filmografi
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory1971 · Willy Wonka
Young Frankenstein1974 · Dr. Frankenstein
Blazing Saddles1974 · Jim
Bonnie and Clyde1967 · Eugene Grizzard
See No Evil, Hear No Evil1989 · Dave Lyons
The Woman in Red1984 · Theodore Pierce
Alice in Wonderland1999 · Mock Turtle
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask1972 · Dr. Doug Ross
The Producers1968 · Leo Bloom
Wilder2026 · Self (archive footage)
Stir Crazy1980 · Skip Donahue
Silver Streak1976 · George Caldwell
The World's Greatest Lover1977 · Rudy Valentine / Rudy Hickman
Funny About Love1990 · Duffy Bergman
Hanky Panky1982 · Michael Jordon
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother1975 · Sigerson Holmes
The Little Prince1974 · The Fox
Haunted Honeymoon1986 · Larry Abbot
Thursday's Game1974 · Harry Evers
The Frisco Kid1979 · Avram
Another You1991 · George / Abe Fielding
Hello Actors Studio1988 · Self
Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic2013 · George / Skip Donahue (archive footage)
Gene Hackman
Mel Brooks
Madeline Kahn
Liam Dunn
Kevin Spacey
Kelly LeBrock
Cloris Leachman
Faye Dunaway
Richard Haydn
Dub Taylor
Zach Grenier
Marty Feldman