Gene Wilder dies at 83

[the Scribe]

Nephew: Gene Wilder, star of Mel Brooks movies, dies at 83

www.yahoo.com/news/nephew-gene-wilder-star-mel-brooks-movies-dies-192526715.html

Gene Wilder, the star of such comedy classics as "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles," has died. He was 83.

Wilder's nephew said Monday that the actor and writer died late Sunday in Stamford, Connecticut from complications from Alzheimer's disease.

The frizzy-haired actor was a master at playing panicked characters caught up in schemes that only a madman such as Mel Brooks could devise, whether reviving a monster in "Young Frankenstein" or bilking Broadway in "The Producers."

But he also knew how to keep it cool as the boozy sheriff in "Blazing Saddles" and as the charming candy man in the children's favorite "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory."

[erik]

A bad year for entertainers dying on us just got worse.

Just as a sidenote, his first role (brief as it was) was as Eugene Grizzard, the undertaker, in Arthur Penn's 1967 classic BONNIE AND CLYDE.

[Dianna]

Very sad year. RIP Gene

[Deleted]

83, and giving enjoyment to millions is cause for celebration in my book.

[fabtastique]

great comedian, great man . . .

[nobody's nobody]

"It's not Frankenstein. It's pronounced Frankensteen!"

On an interesting L.R. side note, in the playboy video where Linda is singing "Walking Down the Line", I may be wrong, but I believe the African American gentleman in the background wearing green is Cleavon Little, the guy that played the sheriff in "Blazing Saddles" a good four years before the movie came out in 1974? An awesome video, including Barbie Benton's thousand yard stare at the beginning, LOL!

[sliderocker]

Aug 30, 2016 18:52:07 GMT -5 nobody's nobody said:

"It's not Frankenstein. It's pronounced Frankensteen!"

On an interesting L.R. side note, in the playboy video where Linda is singing "Walking Down the Line", I may be wrong, but I believe the African American gentleman in the background wearing green is Cleavon Little, the guy that played the sheriff in "Blazing Saddles" a good four years before the movie came out in 1974? An awesome video, including Barbie Benton's thousand yard stare at the beginning, LOL!

It's not Cleavon Little; at first I thought it was actor and singer Clifton Davis, who wrote the song "Never Can Say Goodbye," which was a hit for Michael Jackson. But, it's not him either. I've seen the guy in question but can't place him exactly as to what his claim to fame was. The irony about Cleavon Little in "Blazing Saddles" is that the movie was co-written by Richard Pryor, who wrote the role for himself. But, the movie studio executives wouldn't okay him for the role, even though he was partly responsible for the script!

Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor made a good comedy team and it's a shame there wasn't that many teamings of the two. Both were good comedians. There were a couple of things I didn't know about Gene: that he was battling Alzheimer's and that he was 83 years old. I didn't think he was that old. He managed to live a long time although his final years dealing with the Alzheimer's was no doubt tough on his family. It's a relief for family members to know their loved one is no longer suffering, but they still grieve. No one is ever ready for death. RIP.

[the Scribe]

Aug 30, 2016 19:35:17 GMT -5 sliderocker said:

Aug 30, 2016 18:52:07 GMT -5 nobody's nobody said:

"It's not Frankenstein. It's pronounced Frankensteen!"

On an interesting L.R. side note, in the playboy video where Linda is singing "Walking Down the Line", I may be wrong, but I believe the African American gentleman in the background wearing green is Cleavon Little, the guy that played the sheriff in "Blazing Saddles" a good four years before the movie came out in 1974? An awesome video, including Barbie Benton's thousand yard stare at the beginning, LOL!

It's not Cleavon Little; at first I thought it was actor and singer Clifton Davis, who wrote the song "Never Can Say Goodbye," which was a hit for Michael Jackson. But, it's not him either. I've seen the guy in question but can't place him exactly as to what his claim to fame was. The irony about Cleavon Little in "Blazing Saddles" is that the movie was co-written by Richard Pryor, who wrote the role for himself. But, the movie studio executives wouldn't okay him for the role, even though he was partly responsible for the script!

Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor made a good comedy team and it's a shame there wasn't that many teamings of the two. Both were good comedians. There were a couple of things I didn't know about Gene: that he was battling Alzheimer's and that he was 83 years old. I didn't think he was that old. He managed to live a long time although his final years dealing with the Alzheimer's was no doubt tough on his family. It's a relief for family members to know their loved one is no longer suffering, but they still grieve. No one is ever ready for death. RIP.

Not Cleavon Little. If you read down a bit you will see some dialog about him via me and Deca Cards52. It is Paul Mooney. They do look a like. The bionic woman Lindsay Wagner is sitting right upfront.

Paul may be the most famous stand up comedian and writer that you never heard of: www.avclub.com/article/paul-mooney-14071

AVC: What did you like about the circus?

PM: I liked the kids coming and all that. It just made the kids so happy.

AVC: Were there circus groupies?

PM: Oh, of course! They used to follow the circus around. Yeah, of course.

AVC: How did you make the transition from being a ringmaster to doing comedy?

PM: I was a ringmaster, and I was funny. I was doing comedy before. I just did that to make some money. I was a shoe salesman, I worked at Joseph Magnin's, an expensive store in Century City, and it was good money. Let me tell you something about Hollywood you may not know. Back in the day, we did everything we could to pay the rent. We didn't give a damn. There was a lot of us that did The Dating Game, we were married or we were with somebody, we still did it because it was scale, and we had to pay our phone bill and our rent. I also worked for Playboy for five years. I did Playboy After Dark.


AVC: Really? How was that?

PM: It was great. I know all the dirt. Barbi Benton, Hugh Hefner's girlfriend, she had just met me. Her daddy was a doctor. Janice Pennington, from The Price Is Right, and Lindsay Wagner, The Bionic Woman, we all come out of Playboy. Oh, it was great. We got to know everybody, we got to meet every star. Every star that there ever was came to the mansion. It was the place, it was the thing. The big thing was the Playboy Mansion and the Playboy Club, and Laugh-In, that was during that time. That was the big deal. Sinatra, everybody, came to the private clubs and to the Mansion.

AVC: Did you do stand-up comedy at Playboy After Dark?

PM: No, I wasn't doing comedy. I was one of the pretty people.

AVC: You were there just to stand around and look good?

PM: Yeah. We were there just for the party, to dance and all that stuff. We were like atmosphere. Hang out with Hef and go on the private jet with all the bunnies. That was back in the day. But I was still doing stand-up when I wasn't on the show. And I was writing for Richard.

AVC: What was your early stand-up like?

PM: I found myself at the clubs. What's the little Jewish lady's name? What's her name? I just saw her again, she's so funny, she was so funny back in the day. I'll think of her name in a minute, I'm getting old. It was at Ye Little Club, where we all used to go and perform. That's how I met Sandra Bernhard when she was 18 years old. And I told her she was a cigarette come to life. And that's before full lips were in. They used to call her "nigger lips." She had those big lips, and they were just jealous of her. That's why they used to put lipstick on those little tiny lips of theirs. I told her, before it's all said and done, big lips would be in. And my prediction came true. Joan Rivers! It was Joan Rivers. She used to come in all the time at the Ye Little Club. That's where she got her start. We all used to go in there and work out.

[nobody's nobody]

One more funny anomaly I noticed on the video, was the dude on the couch at 21-22 seconds. He's either stoned or doesn't give a rats rump about Hef, the bunnies, Linda, or the show! LOL You can see it better on the You Tube Widescreen