Gene Wilder

Actor
BirthdayJun 11, 1933 (83 years old)
DeathdayAug 29, 2016
Place of birthMilwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
GenderMale

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). ​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Known for

Willy Wonka

Jun 29, 1971

Frederick Frankenstein

Dec 15, 1974

Jim

Feb 7, 1974

Eugene Grizzard

Aug 13, 1967

Dave Lyons

May 12, 1989

Leo Bloom

Mar 18, 1968

Theodore Pierce

Aug 15, 1984

Mr. Stein

Sep 21, 1998

Skip Donahue

Dec 12, 1980

Mock Turtle

Feb 28, 1999

George Caldwell

Dec 3, 1976

Larry Abbot

Jul 25, 1986

Avram

Jul 6, 1979

Self - Guest

Sep 13, 1993

The Fox

Nov 6, 1974

Self

Aug 11, 1997

George / Abe Fielding

Jul 26, 1991

Willy Wonka

Jun 29, 1971

Frederick Frankenstein

Dec 15, 1974

Jim

Feb 7, 1974

Eugene Grizzard

Aug 13, 1967

Dave Lyons

May 12, 1989

Acting


Participated in 53 movies, 17 TV series

2024

Self (archive footage)


2018

Self (archive footage)


2018

Self (archive footage)


2016



2014

Self (archive footage)


2013

Self (archive footage)


2013

George / Skip Donahue (archive footage)


2012

Willy Wonka (archive footage)



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