In this foul year of our lord two thousand and sixteen, we are plagued with despair. Elections, murder, racism, and Harambe. Despite these things, laughter has always seemed to alleviate people’s sad state of affairs. One of the sources for many people’s laughter came from a man who passed away August 29th—several days ago. His name was Jerome Silberman, better known by his professional name "Gene Wilder".
Gene Wilder was a number of things: an actor, screenwriter, director, author, and husband. He also claimed the University of Iowa as his Alma mater, studying communication and theater arts; also belonging to the fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi. Early in his career, Wilder began getting noticed in the off-Broadway scene leading to an introduction to Mel Brooks.
Mel Brooks at this time was still rather unknown, and for those reading of millennial descent and unsure of who he is, simply put, he is responsible for some of the most important comedy films of all time. One of Brook’s first films featured Wilder in a leading role entitled “The Producers.” The film would go on to becoming a cult comedy classic, leading to several more partnerships down the road with Brooks and Wilder while launching Wilder’s fame.
This partnership would lead to the duo working together on comedy classics such as "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein." During Wilder’s career, he also formed a partnership with comedy superstar Richard Pryor. Together Pryor and Wilder would go on to make several comedies together including "Silver Streak," "Stir Crazy," and "See No Evil Hear No Evil."
But, perhaps what Wilder is best known for is his portrayal of Willy Wonka in Mel Stuart’s “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory," an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” The film has gained cultural and historical significance, gaining significant notoriety over the years for both adults and children respectively.
Another lesser known fact about Wilder is that he is a co-founder of Gilda’s Club, a community organization that supports and people living with cancer, emotionally and socially. The organization is named after Wilder’s late wife Gilda Radner, whom you may know from Saturday Night Live. After her death Wilder actively promoted awareness, setting up in New York City and now all over the country.
Wilder himself was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1999; however, after several years, the cancer was in complete remission from chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. Unfortunately, Wilder died from complications due to Alzheimer’s disease earlier this year.
Gene Wilder was an extremely intelligent and caring man, who through the use of comedy was able to shed light and break down barriers of race relations (especially with Richard Pryor) and push the envelope of what political correctness means especially in Mel Brooks films. What made Gene Wilder comically brilliant was his ability to do something so small that is almost unnoticeable or so quick you barely catch it, and it is a genius line or action.
Whether he was shouting in a bombastic tone or speaking calming in a lax matter, Wilder kept you on your toes for what he would say next. His movies will live on as touchstones for years to come on what a comedy can and should be, and from a fan of your work Mr. Wilder, I just want to thank you and hope you know how many people you touched with your comedy.
