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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
June 11, 1933
Died
August 29, 2016
Place of Birth
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Also Known As
- Jerome Silberman
- Jerry Silberman
- Ζερόμ Ζίλμπερμαν
- Τζιν Γουάιλντερ
Gene Wilder
1.0 Popularity
Biography
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).
Known For
7.2
Self (archive footage)
Remembering Gene Wilder
2024
7.2
Self (archive footage)
Love, Gilda
2018
6.4
Self (archive footage)
Mel Brooks: Unwrapped
2018
6.9
Self
The Last Laugh
2016
0.0
Self (archive footage)
Blaze of Glory: Mel Brooks' Wild, Wild West
2014
7.3
Self (archive footage)
Private Screenings: Robert Osborne
2014
8.2
Self (archive footage)
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise
2013
7.0
George / Skip Donahue (archive footage)
Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic
2013
🎬
0.0
Himself
Gene Wilder: Be in the Moment, Today
2010
7.0
Self
Role Model: Gene Wilder
2008
Credits
Remembering Gene Wilder
as Self (archive footage)
2024
7.2
Love, Gilda
as Self (archive footage)
2018
7.2
Mel Brooks: Unwrapped
as Self (archive footage)
2018
6.4
The Last Laugh
as Self
2016
6.9
Blaze of Glory: Mel Brooks' Wild, Wild West
as Self (archive footage)
2014
0.0
Private Screenings: Robert Osborne
as Self (archive footage)
2014
7.3
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise
as Self (archive footage)
2013
8.2
Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic
as George / Skip Donahue (archive footage)
2013
7.0
🎬
Gene Wilder: Be in the Moment, Today
as Himself
2010
0.0
Role Model: Gene Wilder
as Self
2008
7.0
Marty Feldman: Six Degrees of Separation
as Self
2008
7.8
Hitler: The Comedy Years
as Leo Bloom (archive footage) (uncredited)
2007
5.0
Legends
as Self
2006
5.0
EXPO: Magic of the White City
as Narrator (voice)
2005
6.9
Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!!
as (archive footage)
2003
8.0
The Making of 'The Producers'
as Self
2002
7.5
After They Were Famous
as Self (archive footage)
2002
6.0
Pure Imagination: The Story of 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'
as Self
2001
6.7
Back in the Saddle
as Self
2001
6.0
The Lady in Question
as Larry 'Cash' Carter
1999
4.0
Alice in Wonderland
as Mock Turtle
1999
6.2
Murder in a Small Town
as Cash Carter
1999
5.2
Will & Grace
as Mr. Stein
1998
6.8
The View
as Self
1997
4.3
Blacks and Jews
as Self
1997
6.0
Making Frankensense of Young Frankenstein
as Self
1996
8.5
The Frank Skinner Show
as Self
1995
7.5
Something Wilder
as Gene Bergman
1994
0.0
Inside the Actors Studio
as Self
1994
7.5
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
as Self - Guest
1993
7.2
Another You
as George / Abe Fielding
1991
5.4
🎬
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
as Dr. Frankenstein (archive footage)
1991
5.7
Funny About Love
as Duffy Bergman
1990
4.7
See No Evil, Hear No Evil
as Dave Lyons
1989
6.8
Hello Actors Studio
as Self
1988
6.5
Haunted Honeymoon
as Larry Abbot
1986
5.3
The Woman in Red
as Theodore Pierce
1984
6.2
Hanky Panky
as Michael Jordon
1982
5.3
Wogan
as Self
1982
4.5
Baryshnikov in Hollywood
as Self - Special Appearence
1982
0.0
Stir Crazy
as Skip Donahue
1980
6.5
Sunday Lovers
as Skippy (sketch 'Skippy')
1980
5.7
The Frisco Kid
as Avram
1979
6.1
CBS News Sunday Morning
as Self - Guest
1979
6.9
The World's Greatest Lover
as Rudy Valentine / Rudy Hickman
1977
5.5
🎬
Please Turn the Page
as Self
1977
6.0
Silver Streak
as George Caldwell
1976
6.7
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
as Sigerson Holmes
1975
6.0
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
as Self
1975
6.0
Young Frankenstein
as Dr. Frankenstein
1974
7.9
The Little Prince
as The Fox
1974
6.8
Thursday's Game
as Harry Evers
1974
5.8
Blazing Saddles
as Jim
1974
7.2
Rhinoceros
as Stanley
1974
5.3
Acts of Love and Other Comedies
as Herb Waterman
1973
7.0
🎬
The Trouble With People
as Ernie (Story 4)
1972
0.0
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask
as Dr. Doug Ross
1972
6.5
Scarecrow
as Lord Ravensbane
1972
8.0
The Electric Company
1971
7.1
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
as Willy Wonka
1971
7.5
Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx
as Quackser Fortune
1970
4.2
Start the Revolution Without Me
as Claude / Philippe
1970
5.8
The Producers
as Leo Bloom
1968
7.1
Bonnie and Clyde
as Eugene Grizzard
1967
7.5
Death of a Salesman
as Bernard
1966
6.0
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self
1962
7.5
The DuPont Show of the Week
as Muller
1961
6.0
The DuPont Show of the Week
as Reporter
1961
6.0
The Defenders
as Waiter
1961
5.9
🎬
Wilder
as Self (archive footage)
N/A
0.0
8 Husbands
as Wesley Wicked
N/A
0.0