’Willy Wonka’ star Wilder dies at 83
Nephew: Actor succumbed to Alzheimer’s
GENE Wilder, who delighted audiences with his comic turns in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Mel Brooks classics including Blazing Saddles and The Producers, has died at age 83.
His nephew Jordan WalkerPearlman said the actor died of complications from Alzheimer’s, holding hands with family members and taking his last breath as Ella Fitzgerald’s Somewhere Over The Rainbow played on a speaker.
“It is with indescribable sadness and blues, but with spiritual gratitude for the life lived, that I announce the passing of a husband, parent and universal artiste Gene Wilder, at his home in Stamford, Connecticut,” WalkerPearlman said in a statement.
“It is almost unbearable for us to contemplate our life without him.”
Wilder, whose third wife Gilda Radner died of ovarian cancer, was treated for lymphoma in 2000 and had worked only sporadically since.
Wilder won the first of his two Oscar nominations for his portrayal of Leopold Bloom in the film – his first major role.
It was however his portrayal of eccentric candy impresario Willy Wonka in the 1971 musical fantasy based on Roald Dahl’s 1964 book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that turned him into a superstar.
Walker-Pearlman said Wilder’s Alzheimer’s, which he had kept private, “never stole his ability to recognise those that were closest to him, nor took command of his central-gentle-life affirming core personality”.
“He continued to enjoy art, music, and kissing with his leading lady of the last 25 years, Karen. He danced down a church aisle at a wedding as parent of the groom and ring bearer, held countless afternoon movie western marathons and delighted in the company of beloved ones,” he added. — AFP