Birth Name: Jerry Silberman
Birthdate: June 11, 1933
Birthplace: Milwaukee, WI
Occupations: Actor, Director, Writer, Producer
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Claim to Fame: Played frantic Leo Bloom in Mel Brooks' The Producers (1967)
Significant Other(s):
Wife: Mary Mercier, playwright; divorced
Wife: Mary Joan Silberman (née Schutz); married October 27, 1967; divorced 1974
Wife: Gilda Radner, actress, comedienne; married September 18, 1984; died from cancer May 20, 1989
Wife: Karen Webb, hearing specialist; born 1950; married September 8, 1991
Family:
Father: William J. Silberman, bottle manufacturer; Russian immigrant; manufactured miniature beer and whiskey bottles
Mother: Jeanne Silberman (née Baer)
Daughter: Katharine Anastasia Silberman; mother, Mary Joan Schutz
Biography
Comedic actor Gene Wilder caught his first big break playing a small roll 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 Douglas), "The White House" (1964, with Helen Hayes), 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 Bancroft, who was dating Mel Brooks 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, Arthur Penn's "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.
Filmography
Alice in Wonderland (1999)
The Lady in Question (1999)
Murder in a Small Town (1999)
Another You (1991)
Funny About Love (1990)
See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
Haunted Honeymoon (1986)
The Woman in Red (1984)
Hanky Panky (1982)
Stir Crazy (1980)
Sunday Lovers (1980)
The Frisco Kid (1979)
The World's Greatest Lover (1977)
Silver Streak (1976)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
The Little Prince (1974)
Thursday's Game (1974)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Rhinoceros (1974)
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, But Were Afraid to Ask (1972)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Thursday's Game (1971)
Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx (1970)
Start the Revolution without Me (1970)
The Producers (1968)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Awards:
1962: Clarence Derwent Award: The Complaisant Lover
1975: Nebula Award: Best Dramatic Presentation, Young Frankenstein
Factoids:
Wilder enjoys watercolor painting in his spare time
Education:
Studied acting with Herman Gottlieb, 1946-51
University of Iowa, Iowa City; B.A., 1955
Bristol Old Vic Theater School, Bristol, England
Herbert Berghof Studio, New York, New York
Actors Studio, New York, New York
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