Born Jerome Silberman in 1933 his love for acting was evident. Jerome used the stage name Gene Wilder at the age of 26 after playwrights & novelists he admired namely one Thomas Wolfe's (1900-1937) character called Eugene Grant taken from the book "Look Homeward, Angel" and Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) surname, hence we have Gene Wilder. He featured in numerous films and guest starred in many TV series throughout his career. He collaborating with his fiend Mel Brooks & Richard Pryor in many hilarious films such as The Producers (1968) ,Young Frankenstein (1974), Blazing Saddles (1974), Silver Streak (1976) Stir Crazy (1980) & See no evil hear no evil (1989) but will be best remembered to all as the weird & wonderful Willy Wonka in the classic Roald Dahl Willy Wonker and the Chocolate factory (1971). RIP Gene.

