He became interested in acting at age eight, and then studied under an acting teacher for two years from thirteen years of age. He studied briefly at the Black-Foxe military institute in Hollywood that attracted the sons of those involved in the movie business including Charles Chaplin Jnr. and Larry Hagman. He graduated from Milwaukee's Washington High School in 1951, and studied Communication and Theatre Arts at the University of Iowa where he graduated from in 1955. He then travelled to England having been accepted to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and after six months enrolled at the Herbert Berghof Studio (HB Studio) School in Greenwich Village, New York.
Having been drafted into the US Army in late 1956 where he served for just over two years, he gained a full time scholarship to the HB Studio, and then in the early '60's was accepted into Lee Strasberg's Actor's Studio. In 1963 he was cast in a lead role in 'Mother Courage and Her Children' with Anne Bancroft, who introduced Wilder to her boyfriend, Mel Brooks, who was working up a Script for a feature film for which he thought Wilder would be well suited in a lead role. It was around about this time at age 26 that he adopted the stage name Gene Wilder. That film was 'Springtime for Hitler' which later on became 'The Producers' in which Wilder starred as Leo Bloom alongside Zero Mostel, with Brooks Directing. That was 1968 and Wilder's only second film role after a bit-part as a hostage in Arthur Penn's 1967 cult crime classic 'Bonnie and Clyde' with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. For his role as Leo Bloom in 'The Producers' Wilder secured an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
1971 saw 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory' - the role for which he is perhaps best known, and which garnered a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical. This was followed up with Woody Allen's 'Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)', and then the classic comedy Western 'Blazing Saddles' for Mel Brooks again. 'The Little Prince' followed.
'Young Frankenstein' was Wilder's first attempt at Screenwriting with Mel Brooks who also Directed. The film returned US$86M from a US$3M budget investment and was hailed both a critical and commercial success. This film gained Wilder his second Academy Award nomination which he shared with Mel Brooks for Best Adapted Screenplay. His first Directing gig came in 1975 with 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother' which he also Wrote and starred in. The film returned US$20M from its under US$3M budget outlay.
1976 delivered comedy thriller 'Silver Streak' and was Wilder's first pairing with Richard Pryor. Making US$51M from less than a US$7M budget the film was well received by critics. Those other collaborations with Pryor were 'Stir Crazy' in 1980 which was again well received critically and was the third highest grossing film of 1980 at US$101M from a US$10M budget. 'See No Evil, Hear No Evil' was Wilder's third outing with Pryor in 1989 which fared less well with the critics but returned US$47M from its US$18M outlay. 1991's 'Another You' was their final film together and was a critical and commercial bomb and marked the last full length feature film that either Actor would star in.
In the meantime there had been 'The World's Greatest Lover' in 1977 which he Wrote, Produced, Directed and starred in, 'The Frisco Kid' in 1979 with Harrison Ford, the four segment 'Sunday Lovers' in 1980, 'Hanky Panky' for Director Sidney Poitier, 'The Woman in Red' in 1984 which again he Directed and Co-Wrote too, 'Haunted Honeymoon' in 1986 which he also Co-Wrote, Directed and starred in and then 'Funny About Love' in 1990 for Director Leonard Nimoy. After this Wilder starred in a number of made for television movies and TV series including two episodes on 'Will & Grace' for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.
All up Wilder had 37 Acting credits to his name, nine as Writer, five as Director, one as Producer. He also sang in nine of his films. He was nominated for two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, won a Primetime Emmy together with three others wins and six other nominations. Wilder was married to Actress Mary Mercer from 1960 to 1965; to Mary Joan Schutz from 1967 to 1980; to Actress Gilda Radner from 1984 until her death in 1989, and movie costume and wardrobe supervisor Karen Boyer from 1991 until the present day. He spent the last decade or so writing several books including his highly personal memoir 'Kiss Me Like a Stranger : My Search for Love and Art' in 2005, and then a number of novels - his first in 2007 'My French Whore', then the next in 2008 'The Woman Who Wouldn't' and then in 2013 'Something to Remember You By : A Perilous Romance'. He also campaigned to raise awareness and treatment for ovarian cancer which his third wife Gilda Radner died from, and subsequently helped found the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Centre in Los Angeles.
Gene Wilder - Rest In Peace
1933-2016
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
