Gene
Wilder ,
1935 ; Comedic actor Gene Wilder caught his first big break
playing a small role in the off-Broadway production of Arnold
Wesker's "Roots" and followed quickly with his Broadway debut
as the comic valet in "The Complaisant Lover" (both 1961), for
which he won the Clement Derwent Award. His other Broadway credits
included "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1963, with Kirk
Douglası (qv)), "The White House" (1964, with Helen Hayesı
(qv)), and "Luv" (1966), but it was a 1963 Broadway production
of "Mother Courage and Her Children" that altered the course
of his life forever. In its cast was Anne Bancroftı (qv), who
was dating Mel Brooksı (qv) at the time, and the relationship
established between the two men eventually led to Wilder's becoming
part of Brooks' "stock company." His Actor's Studio connection
may have helped him land his first feature, Bonnie and Clyde
(1967), in which he drew much favorable attention in a small
but memorable role as a frightened young undertaker abducted
by the legendary duo. Wilder's performance as the endearingly
frantic Leo Bloom in Producers, The (1967) kicked off his celebrated
collaboration with Brooks and garnered him an Academy Award
nomination as Best Supporting Actor. His career gained momentum
as he played a swashbuckler in Start the Revolution without
Me (1970), the candy impresario of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate
Factory (1971) and a sheep-smitten doctor in Woody Allenı (qv)ıs
Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex (1972). Wilder
reteamed with Brooks for the inspired lunacy of Blazing Saddles
(1974) and Young Frankenstein (1974), earning his second Oscar
nomination for his first-time screenwriting efforts (along with
Brooks) on the latter. Spurred by these triumphs, Wilder made
his directorial debut (in addition to acting and starring) with
Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother, The (1975). His
first association with Richard Pryorı (qv) had come on Blazing
Saddles, but Pryor (co-screenwriter) had lost out in his bid
for the Cleavon Little role. The two first acted together in
the highly entertaining and commercially successful Silver Streak
(1976) and scored at the box office again with Stir Crazy (1980),
but their later efforts were mediocre. Ironically, Hanky Panky
(1982), Wilder's first of three films with his late wife Gilda
Radnerı (qv), would have paired him with Pryor, but Pryor's
unavailability necessitated rewriting the part for Radner.
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