Gene Wilder - ©Theda Bara

In this post I bring Gene Wilder, a famous Hollywood actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. Wilder was known for participating in comedy films by director Mel Brooks (1926-), acting in partnership in some of these films with comedian Richard Pryor (1940-2005).

Gene Wilder had several film successes, but is best remembered for: “The Chocolate Factory”, which was not a huge success at the box office, raking in the 53rd highest grossing of the year (1971). In this film adaptation of the 1964 British book by: Roald Dahl (1916-1990), Wilder played “Willy Wonka”. The second film adaptation took place in (2005), entitled: “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, this time with actor Johnny Depp (1963-), playing the protagonist: “Willy Wonka”.

Gene Wilder was never nominated for an Oscar and ended up winning only one Primetime Emmy Award, for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, for: “Will and Grace” in (2003).

In 1975 the actor refused to have his name included among the stars of the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, a fact that was repeated in 1976. After the two refusals, the organizers no longer wanted to nominate the actor for this honor, fearing another refusal.

Gene Wilder, born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, on June 11, 1933, died in Stamford, Connecticut, United States, on August 29, 2016, aged 83.

Wilder was married four times. His first marriage was to the Welsh actress Mary Marcier (1928-), from 1960 to 1965; the second time with the American actress Mary Joan Schutz (1951-) from 1967 to 1974, who is the mother of Katherine Wilder (1967-), the couple's adopted daughter from the first months of life; the third marriage was with another American actress, the comedian Gilda Susan Radner (1946-1989), from 1984 to 1989, whose actor ended up widowed; and, finally, Karen Boyer, Hungarian actress, naturalized American (1940-), from 1991 to 2016, who took care of Gene, who suffered from Alzheimer's, until his death.