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'Willy Wonka' and 'The Producers' Star Gene Wilder Dead at 83

By Nicole Levy | August 29, 2016 5:15pm
 A still from the 1971 film
A still from the 1971 film "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory," in which Wilder played the title character
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Wolper/Warner Brothers/The Kobal Collection

We can only hope he's gone to a world of pure imagination.

Actor Gene Wilder — a scene-stealer in classic comedic films like "The Producers," "Young Frankenstein" and "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" — died Sunday in his Stamford, Connecticut, home from complications related to Alzheimer's disease, according to news reports. He was 83.

Before heading to Hollywood, the Wisconsin-born Wilder launched his career in New York City. The actor made his professional debut in a 1961 Off-Broadway production of "Roots." He then appeared on Broadway in Graham Greene’s comedy “The Complaisant Lover,” winning the Clarence Derwent Award as a promising newcomer.

It was his performance in the 1963 production of Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children" at the Martin Beck Theater that first brought him to the attention of director Mel Brooks, whose cinematic comedies brought Wilder his greatest silver screen success. The comedian won two Oscar nominations for his collaborations with Brooks, the first for his portrayal of Leo Bloom in "The Producers," the second for jointly written "Young Frankenstein" screenplay.

The geographic center of Wilder's career may have shifted to the West Coast, but his trademark on-screen neuroticism — that remained quintessentially New York.

New Yorkers mourned the loss of a man whose eyes twinkled like no others on Instagram and Twitter.

 

RIP Gene Wilder. The candle has finally been put back. #GeneWilder #YoungFrankenstein #Snozzberries #RIP

A photo posted by Franny's Brooklyn (@frannysbk) on

 

RIP to the model for the greatest meme ever. #genewilder

A photo posted by opie radio (@opieradio) on