There are plenty of people who entertain us with their abilities as an actor. Some, however, truly take things to a different level.
One actor who was well-known and is still known, even after his death is Gene Wilder. He was more than an entertainer, he played in some of the biggest roles of his time, including Willy Wonka, in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Gene Wilder was born on June 11, 1933, and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His mother had heart issues and Wilder knew that laughter was the best medicine, so he tried to make her laugh. In fact, a doctor even told him not to argue with his mother because he could kill her.
Since he was good at making his mother laugh, he realized that he had the talent and could entertain a crown. Eventually, he would start playing in some off-Broadway shows. At that time, he was known by his birth name of Jerome Silberman, but he would change it.
Wilder was not only an actor, he also loved books. He took his name from the character of Eugene Grant from the Look Homeward, Angel book. His surname came from the author of Our Town, Thorton Wilder.
When he played in an Mel Brooks comedy The Producers, he ended up receiving an Academy Award nomination. Eventually, however, he received the script for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and he loved it.
He wrote to Mel Stuart, the director before filming began. He said: “When I make my first entrance, I’d like to come out of the door carrying a cane and then walk toward the crowd with a limp. After the crowd sees Willy Wonka is a cripple, they all whisper to themselves and become deathly quiet.
“As I walk toward them, my cane sinks into one of the cobblestones I’m walking on and stands straight up, by itself; but I keep on walking, until I realize that I no longer have my cane. I start to fall forward, and just before I hit the ground, I do a beautiful forward somersault and bounce back up, to great applause.”
He also helped with making the costumes that his character wore, even adjusting the size of his hat to be 2 inches shorter.
Eventually, they would remake Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp playing his part. He said he considered it to be an insult, saying: “Johnny Depp, I think, is a good actor, but I don’t care for that director. He’s a talented man, but I don’t care for him doing stuff like he did.”
In 1974, he teamed up with Mel Brooks again to play in Blazing Saddles. He then wrote and starred in Young Frankenstein.
A number of movies that he starred in afterward didn’t receive quite the acclaim of the earlier ones, so he quit acting and published two novels and a number of short stories.
He spoke about the acting business, saying: “Once in a while, there was a nice, good film, but not very many. If something comes along that’s really good and I think I would be good for it, I’d be happy to do it. But not too many came along.
“I mean, they came along for the first, I don’t know, 15, 18 films, but I didn’t do that many. But then I didn’t want to do the kind of junk I was seeing. I didn’t want to do 3D, for instance. I didn’t want to do ones where it’s just bombing and loud and swearing. So much swearing going on. If someone says ‘Ah, go f— yourself,’ well, if it came from a meaningful place, I’d understand it. But if you go to some movies, can’t they just stop and talk, just talk, instead of swearing? That put me off a lot.”
Over the years, Wilder would get married four times before he died in 2016. He had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, although he didn’t let most people know about it.
When he passed, it was said that Somewhere Over the Rainbow was playing and he was surrounded by his family.
A year after his death, his widow started talking about how she struggled during the end of his life. Kareen Webb said:
“My husband took the news with grief, of course, but also astonishing grace. I watched his disintegration each moment of each day for six years. One day, I saw him struggle with the ties on his drawstring pants. That night, I took the drawstrings out. Then his wrist was bleeding from the failed effort of trying to take off his watch. I put his watch away.
“Gene died fifteen months ago. I was in the bed next to him when he took his last breaths. By that point, it had been days since he’d spoken. But on that last night, he looked me straight in the eye and said, three times over, ‘I trust you.’”
We are thankful that he left us with so much to enjoy. May he continue to rest in peace.
