Two classic movies I enjoyed, over and over while growing up, are Young Frankenstein and Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. Both movies starred Jerome Silberman, better known as Gene Wilder, who passed away August 29, 2016 at 83 years old from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
In his honor last week I binge watched both of those movies, as well as other movies he was in, including Blazing Saddles, Silver Streak and Stir Crazy. Gene Wilder was a genius at making people laugh. He knew how to deliver a joke with a very dry sense of humor, or act in an outrageous way making the audience laugh at him and with him. In Willy Wonka he seemed to make the magic come alive with his great skill as an actor. I remember watching that movie for the first time and wishing I was Charlie. I even read the entire book when it was assigned in school, and while reading it re-lived every minute of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka.
He never had any children of his own, in spite of having been married four times. He has one adopted daughter, but various sources state they have been estranged for many years. One of his more widely known marriages was to actress and comedienne Gilda Radner. Radner died in 1989 from ovarian cancer, and was the moving force behind Wilder becoming involved in the promotion of cancer awareness, and becoming co-founder of Gilda’s Club. Gilda’s Club is an organization for cancer patients, survivors and their friends and family. There are now several locations across the United States to bring resources and support to people diagnosed with cancer. Gene Wilder himself was diagnosed in 1999 with a form of cancer, non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which after a 6 year battle was said to be in remission in 2005.
Reports stated that Mr. Wilder did not disclose his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease roughly 3 years, (which his nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman announced after Wilder’s death), as he believed his fans would be disappointed.
Goodbye and Rest Well Jerome Silberman. Thank you for all the laughs you gave so many, whether we watch your movies for the first time or the 90th. I hope the Pearly Gates look just like the gates of The Chocolate Factory, and that your heaven is full of all the wonder and fun that you conjured up as Willy Wonka.
