Willy Wonka, Young Frankenstein Star Gene Wilder Dies

Wilder mastered kooky, manic characters, like chocolate factory boss Willy Wonka in Mel Stuart’s beloved 1971 movie adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s book Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, and eccentric monster maker Dr. Frankenstein in Mel Brooks comedy Young Frankenstein, which earned him an Oscar nod as a screenwriter.

Wilder is most fondly remembered as the captivating candy man and “Pure Imagination” crooner of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He was also nominated with Brooks for an Oscar for best adapted screenplay in 1975 for Young Frankenstein.

“The greatest comedic mind of my childhood is now gone”, actor/comedian Josh Gad said via Twitter.

Wilder himself came up with the idea for this comedy based on the classic horror novel by Mary Shelley. Wilder’s role was later played by Matthew Broderick in the Tony-winning Broadway adaptation in 2001. Johnny Depp reprised the role decades later and, despite going to great lengths as an actor, never quite measured up to Wilder’s brilliant version. The two paired up on four movies: Silver Streak; Stir Crazy; See No Evil, Hear No Evil; and Another You.

Though they collaborated on film, Wilder and Brooks met through the theater. When he was 6, Wilder’s mother suffered a heart attack that left her a semi-invalid. In 1961, Wilder became a member of Lee Strasberg’s prestigious Actor’s Studio in Manhattan. He and the Saturday Night Live alum made three movies together, including the Wilder-directed The Woman in Red (1984) and Haunted Honeymoon (1986). He dedicated his life to promoting cancer awareness and treatment and founded the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Center in Los Angeles and Gilda’s Club, a support group for cancer awareness in NY.

Wilder starred as San Francisco-bound Polish rabbi Avram Belinski in this 1979 Western comedy, alongside then-relatively unknown actor Harrison Ford. Gene soon after started the cancer facility “Gilda’s Place” in her memory and became quite the cancer advocate, testifying before congress on behalf of the great need for increased cancer research. He provided voice work for the tv show Yo Gabba Gabba! in 2015, according to IMDB. “Gene said, ‘Just get a horse for me to try out and a costume that fits and I’ll do it.’ And he flew out and he did it”. “I didn’t want to do 3D for instance”. Yet with Wilder, as sensitive in assembling words as he was adroit in delivering them, you were always aware of a grounded human being behind the masks, releasing his characters’ anxieties and desires with the light-fingered dexterity of a safe cracker – or, perhaps more appropriately, a bomb-squad veteran.

Wilder is survived by his wife, Karen, nephew Jordan, the Webb family (Kevin, Gretchen, Tucker, and Spencer), as well as Jordan’s wife, Elizabeth.