Gene Wilder, a two-time Oscar nominee and comedy star, has died at age 83. Wilder appeared in some of the most enduring comedies of the modern era. He had an ability to capture a frazzled persona on the brink of meltdown, bringing audiences ongoing delight. His collaborations with Mel Brooks, on films "The Producers," "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein," are considered classics.
"It is with indescribable sadness and blues, but with spiritual gratitude for the life lived that I announce the passing of husband, parent and universal artist Gene Wilder, at his home in Stamford, Conn.," Wilder's nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman said in a statement. "It is almost unbearable for us to contemplate our life without him."
Wilder died Sunday night from complications from Alzheimer's disease. "The choice to keep this private was his choice, in talking with us and making a decision as a family," his nephew said.
It was Wilder's memorable turn as the title character in the 1971 film "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" that spurred his decision to keep his condition private. "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," his nephew said. "He simply couldn't bear the idea of one less smile in the world."
Other notable performances include roles in "Bonnie and Clyde," "Silver Streak," "Stir Crazy" and "The Woman in Red." Wilder was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor for "The Producers" and for co-writing "Young Frankenstein" along with Brooks. He won an Emmy in 2003 for a guest role on "Will & Grace."
The films with Brooks remain among Wilder's best known and most popular. On Monday afternoon, Brooks posted to Twitter about Wilder, calling him: "One of the truly great talents of our time. He blessed every film we did with his magic & he blessed me with his friendship."
Though Wilder's association with Brooks would bring him some of his greatest artistic and commercial successes, the two didn't always see things the same way. When Wilder first told Brooks of the idea that would become "Young Frankenstein," Brooks reportedly responded simply with "Cute. That's Cute."
"Mel is not interested in romantic love in the movies ... while I can hardly live without it," Wilder told the Los Angeles Times in a 1977 interview. "On the other hand, what that Borscht Belt comic and this classically trained actor do have in common is that we both want to make the audience pee in their pants with laughter."
Born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee on June 11, 1933, Wilder began performing at a young age, eventually studying at the Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol, England, in the mid-1950s. Returning to the States, in 1956 he was inducted into the Army for a brief stint. In 1961 he became a member of the Actors Studio in New York, studying with Lee Strasberg. His first Broadway appearance was in November 1961 in "The Complaisant Lover," and he returned to Broadway in 1963 in "Mother Courage and her Children." It was through his co-star Anne Bancroft, who would later marry Brooks, that he met his future collaborator.
"If it weren't for Mel, I'd still be doing temporary typing for a living, and selling toys at FAO Schwarz for $1.40 an hour," Wilder told the Times in 1990.
Wilder made his movie debut in Arthur Penn's landmark 1967 film "Bonnie and Clyde." Starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as notorious depression outlaws Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, Wilder made a brief appearance as an undertaker kidnapped by the gang, but he made a strong impression even with little screen time.
Wilder came to wider attention in 1968 with "The Producers," the first film written and directed by Brooks. In the film, Wilder played a neurotic accountant caught up in a scheme to create a theatrical production intended to fail that becomes an accidental hit. The film would earn Wilder an Oscar nomination for supporting actor and Brooks would win an Oscar for the screenplay.
The actor-comedian also appeared in the title role of Mel Stuart's 1971 adaptation of Roald Dahl's "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and in Woody Allen's 1972 film "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (asterisk) But Were Afraid to Ask."
In 1974, "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein" were released, a staggering one-two punch with both films now seen as landmarks of screen comedy. As part of "Blazing Saddles' " bold mix of homage and parody to the Hollywood western with daring racial humor, Wilder played an alcoholic gunslinger who helps a small town's black sheriff against cutthroat land grabbers. In "Young Frankenstein," on which Wilder collaborated on the screenplay with Brooks, the actor played a young surgeon attempting to live down his notorious ancestor when he inherits the family castle in Transylvania.
Wilder made his directing debut with 1975's "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother," in which he also wrote and starred. He would also write, direct and star in 1977's "The World's Greatest Lover." He also directed 1984's "The Woman in Red" and 1986's "Haunted Honeymoon," which he also co-wrote.
He also enjoyed a successful screen collaboration with Richard Pryor. They first appeared together in 1976's "Silver Streak," but it was the box-office smash of "Stir Crazy," in which they played a pair of men wrongfully imprisoned, that cemented their dynamic. They also appeared together in "See No Evil, Hear No Evil" in 1989 and "Another You" in 1991.
His first two marriages, to Mary Mercier and Mary Joan Schutz, ended in divorce. While making the comedy "Hanky Panky" in 1982, Wilder met comedienne and actor Gilda Radnor. The two married in 1984 and remained together until her death from cancer in 1989.
Wilder is survived by his fourth wife, Karen, whom he married in 1991, and other relatives including his second wife's daughter Katherine, whom he adopted and was estranged from.
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