Gene Wilder
Acting
Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman; June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016) was an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, singer-songwriter, and author. He began his career on stage, and made his screen debut in an episode of the TV series The Play of the Week in 1961. Although his first film role was portraying a hostage in the 1967 motion picture Bonnie and Clyde, Wilder's first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1967 film The Producers for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This was the first in a series of collaborations with writer/director Mel Brooks, including 1974's Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, which Wilder co-wrote, garnering the pair an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is known for his iconic portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and for his four films with Richard Pryor: Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), and Another You (1991), as well as starring in Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972). He directed and wrote several of his own films, including The Woman in Red (1984). With his third wife, Gilda Radner, he starred in three films, the last two of which he also directed. Her 1989 death from ovarian cancer led to his active involvement in promoting cancer awareness and treatment, helping found the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Center in Los Angeles and co-founding Gilda's Club. After his last acting performance in 2003 – a guest role on Will & Grace for which he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor – he turned his attention to writing. He produced a memoir in 2005, Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art; a collection of stories, What Is This Thing Called Love? (2010); and the novels My French Whore (2007), The Woman Who Wouldn't (2008), and Something to Remember You By (2013).
Known for
Acting71
movieRemembering Gene Wilder
2024
Self (archive footage)
movieLove, Gilda
2018
Self (archive footage)
movieMel Brooks: Unwrapped
2018
Self (archive footage)
movieThe Last Laugh
2016
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
movieBlaze of Glory: Mel Brooks' Wild, Wild West
2014
Self (archive footage)
moviePrivate Screenings: Robert Osborne
2014
Self (archive footage)
movieMel Brooks: Make a Noise
2013
Self (archive footage)
movieRichard Pryor: Omit the Logic
2013
George / Skip Donahue (archive footage)
movieHitler: The Comedy Years
2007
Leo Bloom (archive footage) (uncredited)
tvLegends
2006
Self
movieEXPO: Magic of the White City
2005
Narrator (voice)
movieRichard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!!
2003
(archive footage)
tvAfter They Were Famous
2002
Self (archive footage)
movieThe Lady in Question
1999
Larry 'Cash' Carter
movieAlice in Wonderland
1999
Mock Turtle
movieMurder in a Small Town
1999
Cash Carter
tvWill & Grace
1998
Mr. Stein
tvThe View
1997
Self
tvSomething Wilder
1994
Gene Bergman
tvLate Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
Self - Guest
movieAnother You
1991
George / Abe Fielding
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
1991
Dr. Frankenstein (archive footage)
movieFunny About Love
1990
Duffy Bergman
movieSee No Evil, Hear No Evil
1989
Dave Lyons
movieHaunted Honeymoon
1986
Larry Abbot
movieThe Woman in Red
1984
Theodore Pierce
movieHanky Panky
1982
Michael Jordon
tvWogan
1982
Self
movieBaryshnikov in Hollywood
1982
Self - Special Appearence
movieStir Crazy
1980
Skip Donahue
movieSunday Lovers
1980
Skippy (sketch 'Skippy')
tvCBS News Sunday Morning
1979
Self - Guest
movieThe World's Greatest Lover
1977
Rudy Valentine / Rudy Hickman
movieSilver Streak
1976
George Caldwell
movieThe Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
1975
Sigerson Holmes
movieYoung Frankenstein
1974
Dr. Frankenstein
movieThe Little Prince
1974
The Fox
movieThursday's Game
1974
Harry Evers
movieRhinoceros
1974
Stanley
movieActs of Love and Other Comedies
1973
Herb Waterman
The Trouble With People
1972
Ernie (Story 4)
movieScarecrow
1972
Lord Ravensbane
tvThe Electric Company
1971
Letterman (voice)
movieWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
1971
Willy Wonka
movieQuackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx
1970
Quackser Fortune
movieStart the Revolution Without Me
1970
Claude / Philippe
movieThe Producers
1968
Leo Bloom
movieBonnie and Clyde
1967
Eugene Grizzard
movieDeath of a Salesman
1966
Bernard
tvThe DuPont Show of the Week
1961
Reporter / Muller
tvThe Defenders
1961
Waiter
Wilder
Self (archive footage)
Writing10
movieSee No Evil, Hear No Evil
1989
Screenplay
movieYoung Frankenstein
1974
Screenplay, Screenstory
movieMy French Amore
Novel
Very Young Frankenstein
Original Film Writer