Gene Wilder, born Jerome Silberman on June 11, 1933, was a multifaceted American artist who left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry.
He began his professional journey on the stage, making his television debut in an episode of The Play of the Week in 1961. Although his initial film appearance was in the 1967 motion picture Bonnie and Clyde, Wilder's breakout role was as Leopold Bloom in The Producers, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Wilder's iconic portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) cemented his status as a beloved actor, and his collaborations with writer/director Mel Brooks, including Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The actor's impressive filmography includes four films with Richard Pryor: Silver Streak, Stir Crazy, See No Evil, Hear No Evil, and Another You, as well as Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask). Wilder also directed and wrote several of his own films, including The Woman in Red.
Wilder's personal life was marked by a strong connection with his third wife, Gilda Radner, with whom he starred in three films and co-founded Gilda's Club after her untimely death from ovarian cancer in 1989. He continued to advocate for cancer awareness and treatment, founding the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Center in Los Angeles.
Following his last acting performance in 2003, Wilder turned his attention to writing, publishing a memoir, Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art, in 2005, as well as a collection of stories, What Is This Thing Called Love?, and several novels.
