Film News: Gene Wilder of ‘Willy Wonka’ Fame Dies at 83

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LOS ANGELES – The genius comedy of Gene Wilder was often in the subtlety. With a slow burn or a raised eyebrow, Wilder was able to draw big laughs. The star of “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” and “Young Frankenstein” died in Stamford, Connecticut, according to his nephew in Los Angeles. He was 83.

Wilder was well into his thirties before the first big break came along in 1967, in the classic film “Bonnie and Clyde.” From there he was able to trade in his frizzy-haired persona in his co-starring role in Mel Brook’s “The Producers” (1968). It was his collaboration with Brooks that certified his legacy, with one-two punch of “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein” in 1974. He was also held in high regard by a generation of children with his classic turn as the title character in “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (1971).

Pure Imagination: Gene Wilder in ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’
Photo credit: Warner Home Video

He was born Jerome Siberman in Milwaukee, and took his stage name from a war veteran relative and author Thorton Wilder. He studied Communication and Theatre Arts at the University of Iowa, and went from there to the Old Vic Theatre School in England. After serving in the army in the mid-1950s, he studied acting in New York City under Lee Strasberg, and had a notable stage career. He met Mel Brooks through a lead role on Broadway in 1963 of “Mother Courage and Her Children,” which co-starred Anne Bancroft, Brooks’ wife. After a number of TV roles, he broke out in a small-but-significant character in “Bonnie and Clyde,” and cashed in his encounter with Brooks by comically jousting with Zero Mostel in the original film version of “The Producers.”

He became one of the hottest comic actors in the 1970s, doing “Willy Wonka” in 1971, and co-writing and starring in “Young Frankenstein” in 1974. He also wrote and starred in “The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother” (1975) and “The World’s Greatest Lover” (1977) during that magic decade, and his four movie partnership with comedian Richard Pryor began in 1976 with “Silver Streak” – and Stir Crazy” (1980), “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” (1989) and “Another You” (1991) followed. “Another You” was his last major film, and the semi-retired actor tried a television sitcom with “Something Wilder” (1994) and did a couple of episodes of “Will & Grace.”

That’s Frahn-ken-steen! Gene Wilder with Peter Boyle in ‘Young Frankenstein’
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

He was married four times, including to comic actress Gilda Radner in 1984. He was with her when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and died in 1989. He is survived by his current wife, Karen Boyer. The cause of his death was complications of Alzheimer’s disease (Wilder kept the diagnosis private), according to a press statement from his nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman.

On one of his most famous roles, that of Willy Wonka, Gene Wilder said…”The children understood the movie very well. That there are limits. And they want to know the limits. And it’s reassuring to know that someone can tell you what the limits are, and that’s what Willy Wonka did.”

By PATRICK McDONALD Writer, Editorial Coordinator HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]