TMC
06-11-2023, 06:18 PM
https://lebeauleblog.com/2023/06/11/june-11-happy-birthday-gene-wilder/
https://lebeauleblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/0611Wilder.jpg
Gene Wilder (1933-2016, given name Jerome Silberman) was born in Milwaukee. He became involved in theatrical productions in his teens, and studied at the University of Iowa and at the Bristol Old Vic School in England. Wilder is pictured above with Cleavon Little in a shot from Blazing Saddles.
Wilder made his feature film debut in 1967. After a small role in Bonnie and Clyde, he starred as Leo Bloom in Mel Brooks’s The Producers, and received a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
Before he began working in film, Wilder spent several years as a stage actor. He made his Broadway debut in 1961, in Graham Greene’s The Complaisant Lover. He was part of the original cast of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as Billy Bibbit. Wilder also costarred in the Broadway production of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children; during that production, Anne Bancroft, the star, introduced him to Mel Brooks.
A few years later, Brooks came calling, with a role for Wilder in The Producers. Wilder would collaborate with Brooks again as one of the stars of Blazing Saddles, and then for Young Frankenstein. Wilder co-wrote the latter film with Brooks, receiving an Oscar nomination, and also starred as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein.
In the early 1970s, Wilder starred in the title role of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. He received a second Golden Globe nomination for starring in Silver Streak in 1976, his first of several films costarring with Richard Pryor. The two subsequently worked together on films like Stir Crazy and See No Evil, Hear No Evil.
After co-writing Young Frankenstein, Wilder became interested in directing and writing his own films. He made his feature directing debut in 1976 with The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother, which he also wrote and starred in. He followed that by writing, directing and starring in The World’s Greatest Lover. In the 1980s, he directed, starred in and wrote The Woman in Red and Haunted Honeymoon.
From 1990 on Wilder was most often seen on television. In 1994, he began starring on the NBC sitcom Something Wilder. It was canceled after one season. Later in the decade, he wrote and starred in several TV movies. His final screen appearances were in a guest role on Will & Grace in the 2002-03 season, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor.
https://lebeauleblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/0611Wilder.jpg
Gene Wilder (1933-2016, given name Jerome Silberman) was born in Milwaukee. He became involved in theatrical productions in his teens, and studied at the University of Iowa and at the Bristol Old Vic School in England. Wilder is pictured above with Cleavon Little in a shot from Blazing Saddles.
Wilder made his feature film debut in 1967. After a small role in Bonnie and Clyde, he starred as Leo Bloom in Mel Brooks’s The Producers, and received a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
Before he began working in film, Wilder spent several years as a stage actor. He made his Broadway debut in 1961, in Graham Greene’s The Complaisant Lover. He was part of the original cast of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as Billy Bibbit. Wilder also costarred in the Broadway production of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children; during that production, Anne Bancroft, the star, introduced him to Mel Brooks.
A few years later, Brooks came calling, with a role for Wilder in The Producers. Wilder would collaborate with Brooks again as one of the stars of Blazing Saddles, and then for Young Frankenstein. Wilder co-wrote the latter film with Brooks, receiving an Oscar nomination, and also starred as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein.
In the early 1970s, Wilder starred in the title role of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. He received a second Golden Globe nomination for starring in Silver Streak in 1976, his first of several films costarring with Richard Pryor. The two subsequently worked together on films like Stir Crazy and See No Evil, Hear No Evil.
After co-writing Young Frankenstein, Wilder became interested in directing and writing his own films. He made his feature directing debut in 1976 with The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother, which he also wrote and starred in. He followed that by writing, directing and starring in The World’s Greatest Lover. In the 1980s, he directed, starred in and wrote The Woman in Red and Haunted Honeymoon.
From 1990 on Wilder was most often seen on television. In 1994, he began starring on the NBC sitcom Something Wilder. It was canceled after one season. Later in the decade, he wrote and starred in several TV movies. His final screen appearances were in a guest role on Will & Grace in the 2002-03 season, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor.