Gene Wilder
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).
Photos
Movies (55)
Wilder
2026 · Self (archive footage)
Remembering Gene Wilder
2024 · Self (archive footage)
Celebrating Laughter: The Life and Films of Colin Higgins
2022 · Self
Love, Gilda
2018 · Self (archive footage)
Mel Brooks: Unwrapped
2018 · Self (archive footage)
The Last Laugh
2016 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Blaze of Glory: Mel Brooks' Wild, Wild West
2014 · Self (archive footage)
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise
2013 · Self (archive footage)
Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic
2013 · George / Skip Donahue (archive footage)
Gene Wilder: Be in the Moment, Today
2010 · Himself
Role Model: Gene Wilder
2008 · Self
Marty Feldman: Six Degrees of Separation
2008 · Self
Hitler: The Comedy Years
2007 · Leo Bloom (archive footage) (uncredited)
EXPO: Magic of the White City
2005 · Narrator (voice)
Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!!
2003 · (archive footage)
The Making of 'The Producers'
2002 · Self
Pure Imagination: The Story of 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'
2001 · Self
Back in the Saddle
2001 · Self
The Lady in Question
1999 · Larry 'Cash' Carter, Writer
Alice in Wonderland
1999 · Mock Turtle
Murder in a Small Town
1999 · Cash Carter, Writer
Blacks and Jews
1997 · Self
Making Frankensense of Young Frankenstein
1996 · Self
A Party For Richard Pryor
1991 · Self
Another You
1991 · George / Abe Fielding
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
1991 · Dr. Frankenstein (archive footage)
Funny About Love
1990 · Duffy Bergman
See No Evil, Hear No Evil
1989 · Dave Lyons, Screenplay
Hello Actors Studio
1988 · Self
Haunted Honeymoon
1986 · Larry Abbot, Director, Writer
The Woman in Red
1984 · Theodore Pierce, Director, Writer
Hanky Panky
1982 · Michael Jordon
Baryshnikov in Hollywood
1982 · Self - Special Appearence
Stir Crazy
1980 · Skip Donahue
Sunday Lovers
1980 · Skippy (sketch 'Skippy'), Director
The Frisco Kid
1979 · Avram
The World's Greatest Lover
1977 · Rudy Valentine / Rudy Hickman, Director, Writer, Producer
Silver Streak
1976 · George Caldwell
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
1975 · Sigerson Holmes, Director, Writer
Young Frankenstein
1974 · Dr. Frankenstein, Screenplay, Screenstory
The Little Prince
1974 · The Fox
Thursday's Game
1974 · Harry Evers
Blazing Saddles
1974 · Jim
Rhinoceros
1974 · Stanley
Acts of Love and Other Comedies
1973 · Herb Waterman
The Trouble With People
1972 · Ernie (Story 4)
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask
1972 · Dr. Doug Ross
Scarecrow
1972 · Lord Ravensbane
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
1971 · Willy Wonka
Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx
1970 · Quackser Fortune
Start the Revolution Without Me
1970 · Claude / Philippe
The Producers
1968 · Leo Bloom
Bonnie and Clyde
1967 · Eugene Grizzard
Death of a Salesman
1966 · Bernard
My French Amore
· Novel
TV shows (20)
Legends
2006 · Self
Parkinson
2004 · Self - Guest
After They Were Famous
2002 · Self (archive footage)
Will & Grace
1998 · Mr. Stein
The View
1997 · Self
The Frank Skinner Show
1995 · Self
Something Wilder
1994 · Gene Bergman
Inside the Actors Studio
1994 · Self
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993 · Self - Guest
Wogan
1982 · Self
CBS News Sunday Morning
1979 · Self - Guest
Ciné regards
1978 · Self
Please Turn the Page
1977 · Self
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975 · Self
Film '72
1971 · Self
The Electric Company
1971 · Letterman (voice)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962 · Self
The DuPont Show of the Week
1961 · Reporter, Muller
The Defenders
1961 · Waiter
Very Young Frankenstein
· Original Film Writer