Remembering Gene Wilder’s Genius

Less than 45 minutes after news of Gene Wilder’s passing on Monday hit Twitter, “See No Evil” and “Hear No Evil” were among the U.S. top trends. That was due to young adults who grew up with the actor’s 1989 action-comedy with Richard Pryor, “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” — they were showing their appreciation.

It was an ironic but sweet tribute to an actor who was beloved across every generation, even though Wilder — who died at 83 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at home in Stanford, Connecticut — hadn’t appeared on either film or television in 13 years.

His legacy comes down to one of four indisputably iconic films.

Wilder’s greatest film performances couldn’t be any more iconic or diverse: “The Producers,” “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein,” and “Stir Crazy” — the last an earlier (and far better) partnership with Pryor, his longtime friend and artistic colleague.

Yet so great was Wilder’s talent, so expansive his appeal, that even a critical turkey such as “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” — it has an 18 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes — resonated with viewers. Also trending: 1986’s “Haunted Honeymoon” (25 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes).

Within two hours of Wilder’s death being reported, it remained the top trending topic on Twitter, with more than 500,000 tweets. For an octogenarian actor who hadn’t been the lead of a film in 25 years, that’s nothing short of astonishing.

It’s a testament to how great Wilder’s impact was, even in less-than-stellar material — but also to how legendary his run was from 1968, when he starred in “The Producers,” to 1980’s “Stir Crazy.”

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In addition to the aforementioned films, Wilder delighted audiences in “Start the Revolution Without Me,” Woody Allen’s “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask),” and “Silver Streak,” also with Pryor. (He’s seen in the photo above with Margot Kidder in the 1970 film “Quackser Fortune has a Cousin in the Bronx.”)

But virtually anyone you ask has a favorite Wilder performance, and while it depends on your personal tastes and preferences, it virtually always comes down to one of four indisputably iconic films:

• “The Producers” (1968): Wilder’s breakout role as Leo Bloom earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Writer-director Mel Brooks won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and the film was later adapted as a Broadway musical, which itself was adapted into a 2005 film.
• “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (1971): Although it received mixed reviews upon its release, this adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” became a massive cult hit due to regular broadcast on television. That’s thanks to Wilder’s brilliantly nuanced performance as Wonka. The Johnny Depp version in 2005 might have sold (many) more tickets — but to most film fans, Wilder will always be Wonka.
• “Blazing Saddles (1974)”: Wilder re-teamed with Brooks for this critical and commercial Western spoof, playing against type as a rough-and-tough gunslinger with a heart. Brazenly politically incorrect from start to finish, the film would have been Wilder’s first onscreen collaboration with Pryor — whom Brooks wanted for Cleavon Little’s role — but the studio balked at casting the controversial comedian. (Pryor was one of Brooks’ co-writers on the screenplay.)
• “Young Frankenstein (1974)”: For this massively popular spoof of classic Universal horror films, Brooks and Wilder co-wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay. Wilder played Frederic Frankenstein (decidedly pronounced “Frahnkensteen”), grandson of Victor, in an uproariously perverse take on an already perverse trope.

But for younger baby boomers, Gen Xers, and even millennials, Wilder was known as well — and perhaps better — for his onscreen collaborations with Pryor. While their later films (when Pryor suffering from multiple sclerosis) were received poorly — “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” and the 1991 bomb “Another You” — the one-two punch of 1976’s “Silver Streak” and 1980’s “Stir Crazy” were pure gold.

Wilder, who also directed four feature films (and a segment of the 1980 anthology “Sunday Lovers”), largely retired from the movie business after the death of his third wife, comedian and actress Gilda Radner, of ovarian cancer in 1989. In the subsequent years, Wilder focused on writing several books and on promoting cancer awareness and treatment. His frequent acting partner Pryor died of a heart attack in 2005.

Hollywood quickly shared their thoughts about Wilder on social media.

The 90-year-old Brooks said Wilder was “one of the truly great talents of our time. He blessed every film we did with his magic & he blessed me with his friendship.”

Related: Mel Brooks Turns 90

Rob Lowe said Wilder’s performances in “Blazing Saddles” and “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” were “clinics on comic acting.”

Jeffrey Tambor called Wilder “artist, inspirer and hilarious, just brilliantly brilliant.”

Sarah Jessica Parker called Wilder her “first crush … Those blue eyes and unique comedic gifts [were] a potent and seductive combination.”

Wilder’s nephew, Jordan Walker-Pearlman, released a statement following Wilder’s death. He said Wilder “passed holding our hands with the same tenderness and love he exhibited as long as I can remember.”

The statement continued: “As our hands clutched and he performed one last breath, the music speaker, which was set to random, began to blare out one of his favorites: Ella Fitzgerald. There is a picture of he and Ella meeting at a London bistro some years ago that [is among our] cherished possessions. She was singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ as he was taken away.”