Willy Wonka star Gene Wilder dies aged 83

“Thank you so much for everything you gave us, Gene Wilder, you are loved and you are going to be so dearly, dearly missed”.

Gene Wilder who impressed everyone as Willy Wonka in ‘Charlie And The Chocolate Factory’ breathed his last at the age of 83. Hell, I tried to watch that film at least once a year, and have never fixed my eyes to watch whatever Johnny Depp did with the role. Everyone’s favourite Willy Wonka, we’ve picked some clips that show Wilder at his funniest and most iconic.

Gene Wilder, the frizzy-haired actor who brought his deft comedic touch to such unforgettable roles as the neurotic accountant in “The Producers” and the mad scientist of “Young Frankenstein”, has died. He told Variety that he and Wilder didn’t keep in touch after the shoot ended, but he is eternally grateful to both Wilder and Jack Albertson, who played Grandpa Joe, for their guidance.

In that 2013 chat, Wilder recounts how, on Willy Wonka, he was the one who suggested to director Mel Stuart that his character make his now-famous cane-enabled entrance.

Young Frankenstein – Whose Brain I did put in? They were married in 1984, and co-starred in two Wilder-penned films: “The Lady in Red” and “Haunted Honeymoon.”.

Wilder began his career in theatre, before landing the role of Leo Bloom in Mel Brooks’s 1968 comedy The Producers and establishing himself as “one of Hollywood’s top comedy talents”, says the BBC.

If you wanted more of the mania that made some of your most favorite moments from Willy Wonka great, seeing him black out on his assistant Igor was the next natural step.

“Goodbye, Gene Wilder. You were one of the great screen comedians”.

That same year, he adopted the stage name Gene Wilder and made both his off-Broadway and Broadway debuts. “And they always recognized him, and they always had that smile, that look of wonder”.

Though they collaborated on film, Wilder and Brooks met through the theater.

He went on to write several screenplays and direct five films.

Wilder had also been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma back in 1989.