RIP Gene Wilder

As a kid, I couldn't wait to see Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. What's not to like about a factory full of chocolate??!!  What about those Oompa Loompas? What about those iconic roles in the Mel Brooks films, The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, which earned him numerous Oscar nominations.

Wilder_Young Frankenstien

YoungFrankensteing_Wilder

For me, it was his performances opposite comic genius Richard Pryor in Stir Crazy, Silver Streak and See No Evil - Hear No Evil and the many films he Co-Starred in with his wife and SNL Superstar - Gilda Radner that solidified my love of his humility driven comic genius.

Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor in Silver Streak, 1976.

Pryor and Wilder in Silver Streak

Born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee, Wilder began studying acting at the age of 12. After graduating  U. of Iowa in 1955, he enrolled in the Old Vic Theater school in Bristol, where he honed his  acting technique and fencing.

Wilder caught his first big break playing a small role 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' most celebrated actors.

With nominations for The Producers with Zero Mostel and Young Frankenstein, it seems Wilder's film career was unstoppable.. However, it was his collaboration with Richard Pryor that makes him unforgettable in my book.

His first association with Pryor had come on Blazing Saddles, when Richard Pryor (co-screenwriter) lost his bid for the Cleavon Little role. Pryor and Wilder first acted together in the commercially successful Silver Streakand  Stir Crazy , but their later efforts were mediocre.

Ironically, Hanky Panky, Wilder's first of three films with his late wife Gilda Radner, originally was written to pair him with Pryor again, but Richard Pryor's unavailability necessitated rewriting the part for Gilda.

Gilda and Wilder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ziyp1hW-Eg

Two years after Gilda's death, Wilder married Karen Boyer.

Mel Brooks spoke on the death of his longtime friend and movie collaborator, who famously worked with Wilder on a long list of films and  took to Twitter to remember the movie legend, who died today from Alzheimer’s disease at age 83.

“Gene Wilder-One of the truly great talents of our time. He blessed every film we did with his magic & he blessed me with his friendship,”

-Mel Brooks

Wilder and Brooks

For me, Gene Wilder will always be that unusually handsome, comic genius with the piercing blue eyes and a heart that seemed to be as golden as a ticket from the Willy Wonka Factory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVi3-PrQ0pY

Hope you, Gilda and Richard are having the best reunion ever!

Float Like A Butterfly - Sting Like A Bee - R.I.P Muhammad Ali

Back in St. Louis, Missouri, our house sat right in back of a drive-in movie theater.  We would hop over the fence, turn up the speakers that weren't being used, grab some lawn chairs, popcorn, snacks, blankets and watch the movie with our whole block sitting on the lawn. One of the films I remember vividly watching was "The Greatest" with Muhammad Ali.  Ali was bigger than life in generosity, kindness, boxing skills and personality.  He truly was "The Greatest of All Time".

Muhammad Ali lost his battle with Parkinson Disease.  Even after his organs failed, his heart continued to beat strongly for 30 minutes, which is so indicative of how strong-willed the spirit of this champ was for the decades.  He never gave up.  His sheer presence on this earth taught me personally that impossible is not a fact it's an opinion.

Ali denounced his “slave name” (Cassius Marcellus Clay, which was also his father’s name), the Christian religion and famously refused to serve in the Army stating “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong.”A life decision which was not popular, but when did Ali ever care about what was popular and what was not.  He lived his life on his terms...without regret.

Sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for his refusal to comply with the draft, Ali was fined $10,000.  With his boxing license revoked and not allowed to box in the very prime of his career, the State Department even took away his passport to restrict him from fighting outside the country.  Yet, Ali once again bounced back.

After a trilogy of infamous Frazier/Ali fights and a devastating final loss, to the much-younger Trevor Berbick, the champ retired in 1981 after 61 fights, with 56 wins.   Muhammad Ali was not the greatest "black boxer", but simply the greatest athlete to grace that sport.

His life has been documented on film several times, most famously in the bio pic Ali, which earned Will Smith a Oscar  nomination.  In my opinion, he was an OG rapper..  Check him out, spinning rhymes as only Muhammad Ali could do.

Check out these films, which illustrate the spirit and dogged determination of a man we came to know and love for decades as the "Greatest of All Time"  R.I.P. Muhammad Ali

Here are a few other flicks about the champ...

The Greatest...  Thus was the one time Ali attempted to act by portraying himself in a story of his very colorful life.  The song, "The Greatest Love of All", originally recorded by George Benson, but was immortalized by the late, great Whitney Houston.

There was a documentary released early this year on Ali, which features interviews and commentary from his daughter Laila Ali, Common, Sugar Ray Leonard and many more...

 RIP DEAR BROTHA' MUHAMMAD...You really ARE the GREATEST OF ALL TIME❤️