Gene Wilder dies at 83; 'Willy Wonka' star and Mel Brooks collaborator Los Angeles Times

Table Of Content

• M. Emmet Walsh, memorable ‘Blood Simple’ and ‘Blade Runner’ character actor, dies at 88
• Director Jordan Walker-Pearlman bought the house from Musk in October 2020
• Elon Musk reportedly sold Gene Wilder's former estate to Wilder's nephew, and may have financed 95% of the sale
• Alerts & Newsletters
• Elon Musk Sells Gene Wilder’s Former House to Wilder’s Nephew
• The Slamdance Film Festival is moving to Los Angeles with its next edition
• Newsletter Sign Up

In his later years, Wilder became a serious novelist, writing a memoir and several novels. He was married to fellow actor/comedian Gilda Radner, until her death in 1989. He died on August 28, 2016, at the age of 83. In 1975, Wilder's agent sent him a script for a film called Super Chief. Wilder accepted, but told the film's producers that he thought the only person who could keep the film from being offensive was Richard Pryor.

M. Emmet Walsh, memorable ‘Blood Simple’ and ‘Blade Runner’ character actor, dies at 88

Walker-Pearlman recently shared with The Wall Street Journal that his purchase of his late uncle’s home from Musk had been a rather unique experience. The filmmaker stated that he actually spent summers in the Bel-Air home with his uncle, and his experiences in the house made him intimately familiar with the property. Wilder’s first two marriages, to Mary Mercier and Mary Joan Schutz, ended in divorce. While making the comedy “Hanky Panky” in 1982, he met former “Saturday Night Live” star and actor Gilda Radner. The two married in 1984 and remained together until Radner’s death from ovarian cancer in 1989.

Gene Wilder remembered by Kelly Le Brock - The Guardian

Gene Wilder remembered by Kelly Le Brock.

Posted: Sun, 11 Dec 2016 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Director Jordan Walker-Pearlman bought the house from Musk in October 2020

The ranch home overlooks the 13th green and 14th fairway of the Bel-Air Country Club Golf Course, according to the official listing. It has three bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, an oval pool and a private guest cottage. “He would read the newspaper every morning and his personal life was fuller and richer in the last 25 years then it had ever been before,” says Walker-Pearlman. In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology. “I saw their behavior — I thought that was the closest to acting that would help me later on,” he said.

Elon Musk reportedly sold Gene Wilder's former estate to Wilder's nephew, and may have financed 95% of the sale

Grodin persuaded him to leave the studio and begin studying with Strasberg in his private class. Several months later, Wilder was accepted into the Actors Studio. He also liked "Gene" because as a boy, he was impressed by a distant relative, a World War II bomber navigator who was "handsome and looked great in his leather flight jacket".[15][16][a] He later said that he could not see Gene Wilder playing Macbeth, either. Growing up, Mr. Wilder was part of the movies and shows that made us laugh and enjoy family time together. He was a good actor, but the character I enjoyed the most was Willy Wonka.

I remember seeing you in Willy Wonka movie and probably a few others as I was younger. You know you where good at what you did. I have to say you did not leave here not doing what you loved. You definitely loved what you where doing.. After seeing all wonderful things being said about Gene Wilder today, I can only say that I concur.

HUGE loss to the entertainment industry! May God be with his family and friends and provide genuine comfort to get through this difficult time. Radner divorced Smith, and she and Wilder were wed on Sept. 14, 1984, in the south of France. They appeared together in The Woman in Red (1984) and Haunted Honeymoon (1986) before she was found to have stage 4 ovarian cancer in October 1986.

The Slamdance Film Festival is moving to Los Angeles with its next edition

Wonka and Wilder’s own creation of Young Frankenstein‘s Victor Frankenstein are iconic for how they spill over from equanimity to explosions of pure wrath. (As Brooks says, “He’s sweet, simple and honest — but when he got excited he was a volcano”). Together these roles are the apogee of Wilder’s creative genius, but the documentary, directed by Ron Frank, takes a more holistic approach. Wilder died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease on August 28, 2016, in Stamford, Connecticut.

Newsletter Sign Up

Wilder was born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 11, 1933, to a Jewish family. His father, William, had emigrated from Russia. After a brief stint in a California military academy, Wilder moved back to Milwaukee and became involved with the local theater scene, making his stage debut as Balthasar in a production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Although he smiled as he entered the athletic event, his frail appearance and thin white hair ledsome media outlets to speculate that Wilder’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma had returned, according to Page Six. The actor had been diagnosed with the cancer in 1997, but he told CNN in 2002 that he was in complete remission. Gene Wilder was an actor, comedian, and filmmaker. We will always remember him for playing the role Willy Wonka on Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Blazing Saddles was a western like no other, and it set out to offend every viewer equally, becoming a cult classic.

Now records reveal he’s unloaded a second house, the former Gene Wilder estate, for exactly $7 million in another off-market deal. That’s $250,000 more than he paid for the property in 2013, a profit that quickly evaporates once taxes and seven years of upkeep costs are factored into the equation. Back in 2020, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that he would be offloading all his residential properties in California as a way to trim down his possessions. Musk, who owned Wilder’s house, noted that whoever purchases the late actor’s home would have to preserve it. Musk did make improvements to the home like a Tesla Solar Roof installation and Powerwall batteries, but for the most part, the property still retained the spirit it had when Wilder was still living in it. The Wilder estate was built in 1951 and spans 2,756 square feet.

You were such a bright light in what can sometimes feel like a very dark world. My deepest condolences to your family, and May your light continue to shine upon your family and loved ones guiding them along the way and bringing them a smile as only Gene Wilder can do. Famous Actor's such as Gene Wilder will be missed by many who loved him as a family member, a friend, and a great actor. Heaven has recieved Gene Wilder to always bring smiles and laughter with his great sence of humour. When the film was done, Wilder answered a few questions with his wife, Karen, about how he got the role, about his love for Madeline Kahn, and about his friend Richard Pryor.

But, as he explained to The Times in 1977, what saved him from his darkest self was his unfailing ability to tap into an imaginative streak of comic insanity that also ran deep inside him. Wilder is survived by his fourth wife, Karen, whom he married in 1991, and other relatives. Born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee on June 11, 1933, Wilder began performing at a young age, eventually studying at the Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol, England, in the mid-1950s. Returning stateside, in 1956 he was inducted into the Army for a brief stint. In 1961 he became a member of the Actors Studio in New York, studying with Lee Strasberg, and adopted the stage name Gene Wilder. Wilder poses in France with his wife, comedian Gilda Radner, during the 10th American Film Festival of Deauville on Sept. 7, 1984.

Elon Musk has made good on his promise to sell the former estate of Gene Wilder — and the buyer is Wilder's nephew, according to Variety's James McClain.