Tag: children
Gene Wilder Biography Author, Actor, Comedian (1933–)
Synopsis
Gene Wilder began his movie career in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde, but he became famous as a favorite of writer/director Mel Brooks. His wacky roles in films such as Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory made him an unforgettable comedy icon. In his later years, Wilder has become a serious novelist, writing a memoir and several novels.Early Life
Gene Wilder was born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 11, 1933, to a Jewish family. His father, William, had emigrated from Russia. His mother, Jeanne, was often ill from complications from rheumatic heart disease, and a doctor warned the 8-year-old Jerome, "Don't ever argue with your mother... you might kill her. Try to make her laugh." These circumstances began Wilder's lifelong calling to acting, as he made his mother laugh by putting on different accents. After a brief stint in a California military academy, Wilder moved back to Milwaukee and became involved with the local theater scene, making his stage debut as Balthasar in a production of Romeo and Juliet. After graduating from high school, Wilder studied communication and theater arts at the University of Iowa, following that with a year studying theater and fencing at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol, United Kingdom. He returned to the United States to study the Stanislavski method of acting but was promptly drafted into the U.S. Army for two years, during which time he worked as a medic in Pennsylvania. Next, Wilder moved to New York City, where he took a variety of odd jobs, including a position as a fencing teacher, to support himself while he studied acting.Early Career
At age 26, Wilder decided that he "couldn't quite see a marquee reading 'Jerry Silberman as Macbeth'" and took the stage name Gene Wilder. He took his new first name from a character in a Thomas Wolfe novel, and his last from the playwright Thornton Wilder. He started appearing with some regularity in off-Broadway and Broadway shows. In a 1963 production ofMother Courage and Her Children, he met Anne Bancroft, who introduced him to her boyfriend, Mel Brooks. Wilder and Brooks became fast friends, and Brooks decided he wanted to cast Wilder in a production of the screenplay he was writing, The Producers.
Film Career
Wilder made his film debut with a minor role in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde. He took on his first major role in The Producers, playing Leo Bloom against Zero Mostel's Max Bialystock. The film was a box office flop and received mixed reviews, but Wilder earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He quickly became an in-demand commodity in Hollywood, taking parts in several comedies, including the idiosyncratic title character inWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
Willy Wonka brought to life the weird and wild Roald Dahl book of the same name, and it thoroughly established Gene Wilder as a leading man who could hold his own in any comedic situation. As the enigmatic Wonka, Wilder chewed the scenery right into a Golden Glove nomination for best actor and became known to a legion of young film-goers.
Despite Wilder's personal success, though, none of his films of this period met with much commercial success. He finally broke that streak with a role in Woody Allen's 1972 film Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask). He then took a last-minute role in Mel Brooks' 1974 comedy Blazing Saddles, a decision that would help define his career.
Blazing Saddles was a western like no other, and it set out to offend every viewer equally. Now a cult classic, the movie set Wilder on a path through his other classic films, including four with Richard Pryor: Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) and Another You (1991).
Stir Crazy, in which Wilder and Pryor played prison inmates, was a notable hit, and like Blazing Saddles before it, the film helped to cement Wilder's reputation as a comedy legend.
Wilder began writing and starring in more films in 1974, starting with Young Frankenstein (in which he played Dr. Frederick Frankenstein). Like Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein set out to turn an established genre, this time horror, on its head. Starring Wilder as the infamous Dr. Frankenstein's grandson, the movie is unrelenting in its jokes and sight gags, and audiences have been connecting with it since the day it hit theaters.
Wilder also wrote, directed and starred in 1975's The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother and 1977's The World's Greatest Lover. WhileYoung Frankenstein was a hit and achieved a huge cult following, the others failed to gain positive critical response and were commercially unsuccessful.
Playlist: Sirius XM’s ‘Dark Wave’ — hosted by Slicing Up Eyeballs (4/26/15)
[tweetmeme]Tonight’s edition of “Dark Wave” — the Sunday night celebration of the “darker side of classic alternative” on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave — featured music by The Sisters of Mercy, This Mortal Coil, Dif Juz, Revolting Cocks, Shriekback, Nash the Slash, Sex Gang Children, The Sound, Siouxsie and the Banshees, PiL, Coil and more.
“Dark Wave,” hosted by Slicing Up Eyeballs founder/editor Matt Sebastian, airs every Sunday from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Eastern on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave (Channel 33). The most recent two episodes also are available as part of Sirius XM’s new On Demand service for online subscribers.
And if you’re not a subscriber, check out a free 30-day trial online.
Finally, if you’ve got requests for future shows, drop ’em in the comments below.
Playlist: “Dark Wave,” hosted by Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Matt Sebastian — 4/26/15
This Mortal Coil, “Drugs” Killing Joke, “A New Day” Front 242, “Circling Overhead” Peter Murphy, “Final Solution” The Cure, “Accuracy” The Chameleons, “Inside Out” Anne Clark, “Heaven” Douglas J. McCarthy, “Move On” Lords of Acid, “I Sit on Acid” Christian Death, “Dogs” Iron Curtain, “Shadow” Moev, “Yeah, Whatever” (12-Inch Version) The Smiths, “Headmaster Ritual” Abecedarians, “Misery of Cities”
The Jesus and Mary Chain, “Cherry Came Too” Throwing Muses, “Saving Grace” That Petrol Emotion, “It’s a Good Thing” Love and Rockets, “Waiting for the Flood” Leonard Cohen, “Everybody Knows” Dif Juz, “No Motion” Echo and the Bunnymen, “With a Hip” Coil, “The Snow (Answers Come in Dreams II)” Depeche Mode, “To Have and To Hold” Public Image Ltd., “The Order of Death” Revolting Cocks, “Crackin’ Up” Ministry, “Revenge” Nash the Slash, “Swing-Shift” Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Song From the Edge of the World” Flesh For Lulu, “Cat Burglar”
Joy Division, “The Only Mistake” Sex Gang Children, “Guy Wonder” Xmal Deutschland, “Incubus Succubus II” The Sisters of Mercy, “Black Planet” Passion Puppets, “Like Dust” The Psychedelic Furs, “Sister Europe” (Peel Session) The Mission, “Stay With Me” Bauhaus, “Fear of Dub” Gary Numan, “A Dream of Siam” Skinny Puppy, “Stairs and Flowers” The Sound, “Sense of Purpose” Shriekback, “Underwaterboys” Balam and the Angel, “On the Run” The Creatures, “Around the World”