Gene Wilder

Gene Wilder born Jerome Silberman June 11 1933 August 29 2016 was an American actor director screenwriter producer singersongwriter 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 Wilders 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 writerdirector Mel Brooks including 1974s Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein which Wilder cowrote 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 Allens 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 cofounding Gildas 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 Wouldnt 2008 and Something to Remember You By 2013 From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia