Gene Wilder
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Wilder won a 1975 Nebula Award (best dramatic presentation) for "Young Frankenstein".
He enjoys watercolor painting in his spare time.
Biography
Comedic actor Gene Wilder caught his first big break playing a small roll in the off-Broadway production of Arnold Wesker's "Roots" and followed quickly with his Broadway debut as the comic valet in "The Complaisant Lover" (both 1961), for which he won the Clement Derwent Award. His other Broadway credits included "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1963, with Kirk Douglas), "The White House" (1964, with Helen Hayes), and "Luv" (1966), but it was a 1963 Broadway production of "Mother Courage and Her Children" that altered the course of his life forever. In its cast was Anne Bancroft, who was dating Mel Brooks at the time, and the relationship established between the two men eventually led to Wilder's becoming part of Brooks' "stock company." His Actor's Studio connection may have helped him land his first feature, Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967), in which he drew much favorable attention in a small but memorable role as a frightened young undertaker abducted by the legendary duo. Wilder's performance as the endearingly frantic Leo Bloom in "The Producers" (1967) kicked off his celebrated collaboration with Brooks and garnered him an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor. His career gained momentum as he played a swashbuckler in Bud Yorkin's "Start the Revolution without Me" (1970), the candy impresario of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (1971) and a sheep-smitten doctor in Woody Allen's "Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex* (* but were afraid to ask)" (197). But the hilarity was just beginning, Wilder reteamed with Brooks for the inspired lunacy of "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein" (both 1974), earning his second Oscar nomination for his first-time screenwriting efforts (along with Brooks) on the latter. Spurred by these triumphs, Wilder made his directorial debut (in addition to acting and starring) with "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother" (1975), featuring actors from the Brooks' troupe like Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman and Dom DeLuise. Wilder's subsequent behind-the-camera genre spoofs have, on the whole, been disappointing, with the exception of "The Woman in Red" (1984), a broad remake of the French farce "Pardon Mon Affaire". His first association with Richard Pryor had come on "Blazing Saddles", but Pryor (co-screenwriter) had lost out in his bid for the Cleavon Little role. The two first acted together in the highly entertaining and commercially successful "Silver Streak" (1976) and scored at the box office again with "Stir Crazy" (1980), but their later efforts ("See No Evil, Hear No Evil" 1989, "Another You" 1991) were mediocre, the final film particularly marred by Pryor's all-too-apparent real-life health problems. Wilder starred in the short-lived NBC sitcom "Something Wilder" (1994-95) and made his London stage debut in Neil Simon's "Laughter on the 23rd Floor" in 1996.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Writer (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1956
Served with US Army
1961
Broadway debut as the comic valet in "The Complaisant Lover"
1961
Off-Broadway acting debut in "Roots"
1963
Portrayed Billy Bibbit in original NYC stage production of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
1966
Acted in CBS movie presentation of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman"; played Bernard
1967
Film acting debut in "Bonnie and Clyde"
1968
Earned Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for Mel Brooks' "The Producers"
1971
Offered a tour de force in title role of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"
1972
Played a memorable comic turn as a man who fell in love with a sheep for the bestiality segment of Woody Allen's "Everything You Wanted to Know about Sex* (*but were afraid to ask)"
1974
Co-screenwriting debut (with director Brooks), "Young Frankenstein"; also starred
1974
Reteamed with Brooks for "Blazing Saddles"; shared Best Screenplay Oscar nomination
1975
Film directing and solo screenwriting debut, "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother"; also acted
1976
Starred opposite Richard Pryor in "Silver Streak"
1977
Film producing debut (also director, writer and actor), "The World's Greatest Lover"; composed a song for picture
1980
Reunited with Pryor for "Stir Crazy"
1982
Starred opposite future wife Gilda Radner in Sidney Poitier's "Hanky Panky"
1984
Directed and acted in "The Woman in Red"; second film with Radner
1986
Last feature with Radner, "Haunted Honeymoon"; produced, directed and acted
1989
Reteamed with Pryor for the misfire "See No Evil, Hear No Evil"
1990
Helped establish the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles (date approximate)
1991
Last film to date with Pryor, "Another You"
1996
Made London stage debut in Neil Simon's "Laughter on the 23rd Floor"
2000
Disclosed a 1999 diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
Photo Collections
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Promo
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Wilder won a 1975 Nebula Award (best dramatic presentation) for "Young Frankenstein".
He enjoys watercolor painting in his spare time.
