Gene Wilder

Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman; June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016) was an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, singer-songwriter and author. Wilder 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. Wilder 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). Wilder 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 ...

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Alice in Wonderland (1999)

Alice follows a white rabbit down a rabbit-hole into a whimsical Wonderland, where she meets characters like the delightful Cheshire Cat, the clumsy White Knight, a rude caterpillar, and the hot-tempered Queen of Hearts and can grow ten feet tall or shrink to three ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Nick Willing
CAST:  Tina Majorino  •  Robbie Coltrane  •  Ben Kingsley  •  Miranda Richardson

Alice follows a white rabbit down a rabbit-hole into a whimsical Wonderland, where she meets characters like the delightful Cheshire Cat, the clumsy White Knight, a rude caterpillar, and the hot-tempered Queen of Hearts and can grow ten feet tall or shrink to three ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Nick Willing
CAST:  Tina Majorino  •  Robbie Coltrane  •  Ben Kingsley  •  Miranda Richardson

Another You (1991)

George has been in a mental hospital for 3 years and is finally ready to go out into the real world again. Eddie Dash, a dedicated con-man, is supposed to keep him out of trouble, but when people begin to recognise George as a missing millionaire, Eddie wants to ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Maurice Phillips
CAST:  Richard Pryor  •  Gene Wilder  •  Mercedes Ruehl  •  Stephen Lang

George has been in a mental hospital for 3 years and is finally ready to go out into the real world again. Eddie Dash, a dedicated con-man, is supposed to keep him out of trouble, but when people begin to recognise George as a missing millionaire, Eddie wants to ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Maurice Phillips
CAST:  Richard Pryor  •  Gene Wilder  •  Mercedes Ruehl  •  Stephen Lang

Blazing Saddles (1974)

FunnyClassicBrilliantEnjoyable

A town—where everyone seems to be named Johnson—stands in the way of the railroad. In order to grab their land, robber baron Hedley Lamarr sends his henchmen to make life in the town unbearable. After the sheriff is killed, the town demands a new sheriff from the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mel Brooks
CAST:  Cleavon Little  •  Gene Wilder  •  Mel Brooks  •  Madeline Kahn

A town—where everyone seems to be named Johnson—stands in the way of the railroad. In order to grab their land, robber baron Hedley Lamarr sends his henchmen to make life in the town unbearable. After the sheriff is killed, the town demands a new sheriff from the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mel Brooks
CAST:  Cleavon Little  •  Gene Wilder  •  Mel Brooks  •  Madeline Kahn

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

GrippingAction-packedDarkHeartbreaking

In the 1930s, bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Arthur Penn
CAST:  Warren Beatty  •  Faye Dunaway  •  Michael J. Pollard  •  Gene Wilder

In the 1930s, bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Arthur Penn
CAST:  Warren Beatty  •  Faye Dunaway  •  Michael J. Pollard  •  Gene Wilder

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask (1972)

A collection of seven vignettes, which each address a question concerning human sexuality. From aphrodisiacs to sexual perversion to the mystery of the male orgasm, characters like a court jester, a doctor, a queen and a journalist adventure through lab experiments ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Woody Allen
CAST:  Lynn Redgrave  •  Gene Wilder  •  John Carradine  •  Lou Jacobi

A collection of seven vignettes, which each address a question concerning human sexuality. From aphrodisiacs to sexual perversion to the mystery of the male orgasm, characters like a court jester, a doctor, a queen and a journalist adventure through lab experiments ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Woody Allen
CAST:  Lynn Redgrave  •  Gene Wilder  •  John Carradine  •  Lou Jacobi

Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!! (2003)

This documentary praises comedian Richard Pryor by showing fragments of various shows Pryor made and having famous comedians talk about the importance and greatness of Pryor. Different themes are reviewed this way. Among others, they are the use of the word nigger, ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Billy Grundfest
CAST:  Richard Pryor  •  Mario Cantone  •  Cedric the Entertainer  •  Dave Chappelle

This documentary praises comedian Richard Pryor by showing fragments of various shows Pryor made and having famous comedians talk about the importance and greatness of Pryor. Different themes are reviewed this way. Among others, they are the use of the word nigger, ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Billy Grundfest
CAST:  Richard Pryor  •  Mario Cantone  •  Cedric the Entertainer  •  Dave Chappelle

See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)

A murder takes place in the shop of David Lyons, a deaf man who fails to hear the gunshot being fired. Outside, blind man Wally Karue hears the shot but cannot see the perpetrator. Both are arrested, but escape to form an unlikely partnership. Being chased by both ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Arthur Hiller
CAST:  Richard Pryor  •  Gene Wilder  •  Joan Severance  •  Kevin Spacey

A murder takes place in the shop of David Lyons, a deaf man who fails to hear the gunshot being fired. Outside, blind man Wally Karue hears the shot but cannot see the perpetrator. Both are arrested, but escape to form an unlikely partnership. Being chased by both ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Arthur Hiller
CAST:  Richard Pryor  •  Gene Wilder  •  Joan Severance  •  Kevin Spacey

Silver Streak (1976)

A somewhat daffy book editor on a rail trip from Los Angeles to Chicago thinks that he sees a murdered man thrown from the train. When he can find no one who will believe him, he starts doing some investigating of his own. But all that accomplishes is to get the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Arthur Hiller
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Jill Clayburgh  •  Richard Pryor  •  Patrick McGoohan

A somewhat daffy book editor on a rail trip from Los Angeles to Chicago thinks that he sees a murdered man thrown from the train. When he can find no one who will believe him, he starts doing some investigating of his own. But all that accomplishes is to get the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Arthur Hiller
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Jill Clayburgh  •  Richard Pryor  •  Patrick McGoohan

Start the Revolution Without Me (1970)

An account of the adventures of two sets of identical twins, badly scrambled at birth, on the eve of the French Revolution. One set is haughty and aristocratic, the other poor and somewhat dim. They find themselves involved in palace intrigues as history happens ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Bud Yorkin
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Donald Sutherland  •  Hugh Griffith  •  Jack MacGowran

An account of the adventures of two sets of identical twins, badly scrambled at birth, on the eve of the French Revolution. One set is haughty and aristocratic, the other poor and somewhat dim. They find themselves involved in palace intrigues as history happens ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Bud Yorkin
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Donald Sutherland  •  Hugh Griffith  •  Jack MacGowran

Stir Crazy (1980)

New Yorkers Skip Donahue and Harry Monroe have no jobs and no prospects, so they decide to flee the city and find work elsewhere, landing jobs wearing woodpecker costumes to promote the opening of a bank. When their feathery costumes are stolen and used in a bank ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sidney Poitier
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Richard Pryor  •  Georg Stanford Brown  •  JoBeth Williams

New Yorkers Skip Donahue and Harry Monroe have no jobs and no prospects, so they decide to flee the city and find work elsewhere, landing jobs wearing woodpecker costumes to promote the opening of a bank. When their feathery costumes are stolen and used in a bank ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sidney Poitier
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Richard Pryor  •  Georg Stanford Brown  •  JoBeth Williams

The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)

After spending decades living in the shadow of his more famous and successful sibling, Consulting Detective Sigerson Holmes (Wilder) is called upon to help solve a crucial case that leads him on a hilarious trail of false identities, stolen documents, secret codes. ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gene Wilder
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Madeline Kahn  •  Marty Feldman  •  Dom DeLuise

After spending decades living in the shadow of his more famous and successful sibling, Consulting Detective Sigerson Holmes (Wilder) is called upon to help solve a crucial case that leads him on a hilarious trail of false identities, stolen documents, secret codes. ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gene Wilder
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Madeline Kahn  •  Marty Feldman  •  Dom DeLuise

The Frisco Kid (1979)

Rabbi Avram arrives in Philadelphia from Poland en route to San Francisco where he will be a congregation's new rabbi. An innocent and inexperienced traveller, he is tricked by con men to pay for the trip to go west, then they leave him and his belongings scattered ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Robert Aldrich
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Harrison Ford  •  Ramon Bieri  •  Val Bisoglio

Rabbi Avram arrives in Philadelphia from Poland en route to San Francisco where he will be a congregation's new rabbi. An innocent and inexperienced traveller, he is tricked by con men to pay for the trip to go west, then they leave him and his belongings scattered ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Robert Aldrich
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Harrison Ford  •  Ramon Bieri  •  Val Bisoglio

The Producers (1967)

FunnyClassicEnjoyableMusical

Broadway producer, Max Bialystock and his accountant, Leo Bloom plan to make money by charming little old ladies to invest in a production many times over what it will actually cost, and then put on a sure-fire flop, so nobody will ask for their money back – and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mel Brooks
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Zero Mostel  •  Kenneth Mars  •  Lee Meredith

Broadway producer, Max Bialystock and his accountant, Leo Bloom plan to make money by charming little old ladies to invest in a production many times over what it will actually cost, and then put on a sure-fire flop, so nobody will ask for their money back – and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mel Brooks
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Zero Mostel  •  Kenneth Mars  •  Lee Meredith

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)

BrilliantFunWeirdBeautiful

When eccentric candy man Willy Wonka promises a lifetime supply of sweets and a tour of his chocolate factory to five lucky kids, penniless Charlie Bucket seeks the golden ticket that will make him a winner.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mel Stuart
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Jack Albertson  •  Peter Ostrum  •  Roy Kinnear

When eccentric candy man Willy Wonka promises a lifetime supply of sweets and a tour of his chocolate factory to five lucky kids, penniless Charlie Bucket seeks the golden ticket that will make him a winner.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mel Stuart
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Jack Albertson  •  Peter Ostrum  •  Roy Kinnear

Young Frankenstein (1974)

FunnyClassicEnjoyableBrilliant

A young neurosurgeon inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback, a pretty lab assistant and the elderly housekeeper. Young Frankenstein believes that the work of his grandfather was ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mel Brooks
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Marty Feldman  •  Madeline Kahn  •  Cloris Leachman

A young neurosurgeon inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback, a pretty lab assistant and the elderly housekeeper. Young Frankenstein believes that the work of his grandfather was ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mel Brooks
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Marty Feldman  •  Madeline Kahn  •  Cloris Leachman

The Little Prince (1974)

Based on the story by Antoine deSaint-Exupery, this magical musical fable begins as a pilot (Richard Kiley) makes a forced landing on the barren Sahara Desert. He is befriended by a "little" prince from the planet Asteroid B-612. In the days that follow, the pilot ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Stanley Donen
CAST:  Richard Kiley  •  Bob Fosse  •  Gene Wilder  •  Donna McKechnie

Based on the story by Antoine deSaint-Exupery, this magical musical fable begins as a pilot (Richard Kiley) makes a forced landing on the barren Sahara Desert. He is befriended by a "little" prince from the planet Asteroid B-612. In the days that follow, the pilot ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Stanley Donen
CAST:  Richard Kiley  •  Bob Fosse  •  Gene Wilder  •  Donna McKechnie

Haunted Honeymoon (1986)

Larry Abbot, speaker in the radio horror shows of Manhattan Mystery Theater wants to marry. For the marriage he takes his fiancée home to the castle where he grew up among his eccentric relatives. His uncle decides that he needs to be cured from a neurotic speech ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gene Wilder
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Dom DeLuise  •  Gilda Radner  •  Jonathan Pryce

Larry Abbot, speaker in the radio horror shows of Manhattan Mystery Theater wants to marry. For the marriage he takes his fiancée home to the castle where he grew up among his eccentric relatives. His uncle decides that he needs to be cured from a neurotic speech ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gene Wilder
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Dom DeLuise  •  Gilda Radner  •  Jonathan Pryce

The Woman in Red (1984)

When a happily married family man, who would never consider an affair, meets a beautiful woman in red, he is totally infatuated and desperate to make her acquaintance. However, as he tries out various schemes to sneak out to meet her, he realizes that adultery is ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gene Wilder
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Charles Grodin  •  Joseph Bologna  •  Judith Ivey

When a happily married family man, who would never consider an affair, meets a beautiful woman in red, he is totally infatuated and desperate to make her acquaintance. However, as he tries out various schemes to sneak out to meet her, he realizes that adultery is ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Gene Wilder
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Charles Grodin  •  Joseph Bologna  •  Judith Ivey

Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx (1970)

In Dublin, a working class family has been unsuccessful in convincing their son to get a real job: the son prefers his job of scooping up horse's dung and selling it for flower gardens. An American exchange student almost runs him over and gets to know him. The ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Waris Hussein
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Margot Kidder  •  Eileen Colgan  •  May Ollis

In Dublin, a working class family has been unsuccessful in convincing their son to get a real job: the son prefers his job of scooping up horse's dung and selling it for flower gardens. An American exchange student almost runs him over and gets to know him. The ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Waris Hussein
CAST:  Gene Wilder  •  Margot Kidder  •  Eileen Colgan  •  May Ollis

Death of a Salesman (1966)

Adaptation of Arthur Miller's play.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Alex Segal
CAST:  Lee J. Cobb  •  Mildred Dunnock  •  Stanley Adams  •  Edward Andrews

Adaptation of Arthur Miller's play.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Alex Segal
CAST:  Lee J. Cobb  •  Mildred Dunnock  •  Stanley Adams  •  Edward Andrews
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