Died at 93
male
Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman; June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016) was an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, singer-songwriter, and author. He began his career on stage, and made his screen debut in an episode of the TV series The Play of the Week in 1961. Although his first film role was portraying a hostage in the 1967 motion picture Bonnie and Clyde, Wilder's first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1967 film The Producers for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This was the first in a series of collaborations with writer/director Mel Brooks, including 1974's Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, which Wilder co-wrote, garnering the pair an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is known for his iconic portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and for his four films with Richard Pryor: Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), and Another You (1991), as well as starring in Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972). He directed and wrote several of his own films, including The Woman in Red (1984). With his third wife, Gilda Radner, he starred in three films, the last two of which he also directed. Her 1989 death from ovarian cancer led to his active involvement in promoting cancer awareness and treatment, helping found the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Center in Los Angeles and co-founding Gilda's Club. After his last acting performance in 2003 – a guest role on Will & Grace for which he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor – he turned his attention to writing. He produced a memoir in 2005, Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art; a collection of stories, What Is This Thing Called Love? (2010); and the novels My French Whore (2007), The Woman Who Wouldn't (2008), and Something to Remember You By (2013).
Gene Wilder
The Doctor
for The Doctor in American Doctor Who - The Fourth Doctor (1974-1981)
Suggested by optimistic_writer
After the somewhat declining ratings of the Second Doctor Era, the Third Doctor era jumpstarted the Golden Age of Doctor Who with some of the best stories at the time. As well as many highly favoring Price's version of the character. He tried to stay on as long as possible, and was the longest serving Doctor at the time, but eventually, he decided to leave the role as he felt his time was up after 5 years, and wanted to go back to film full time. With this, there was yet another hunt for The Doctor. After a lot of time and tribulation, the producers believed they found the perfect Doctor: Gene Wilder. The producer wanted someone who could play both very very dark and very very light, as well as a touch of arrogance and being very sarcastic. And none of this was more apparent than in Wilder's performance of Willy Wonka. Even though Wilder was somewhat against doing a television series at the height of his career, he eventually decided to do it when he saw the direction the series was taking, being more in touch with horror and aiming the show towards an older audience. With this, the reign of Gene Wilder's Fourth Doctor begins!
