‘As Funny as They Come': Friends, Fans Mourn Gene Wilder on Social Media
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Gene Wilder, star of comedy classics like "Young Frankenstein," "Blazing Saddles" and "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," died Monday at the age of 83 from complications of Alzheimer's disease.
Fans and friends of the star — including legendary comedy director Mel Brooks, who worked with Wilder on many of his films — took to social media to mourn the loss.
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.
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle in "Young Frankenstein" (1974).
Warner Bros.
Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka in "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" (1971): "A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men."
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Gene Wilder as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (pictured with Peter Boyle as the Monster) in "Young Frankenstein" (1974): "From that fateful day when stinking bits of slime first crawled from the sea and shouted to the cold stars, 'I am man,' our greatest dread has always been the knowledge of our mortality. But tonight, we shall hurl the gauntlet of science into the frightful face of death itself."
Warner Bros.
Gene Wilder as Jim (pictured with Cleavon Little as Bart) in "Blazing Saddles" (1974): "Nowhere special? I always wanted to go there."
Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (1971): "So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it. Thank you."
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Gene Wilder as Dr. Frankenstein in "Young Frankenstein" (1974): "I did read something of that incident when I was a student, but you have to remember that a worm... with very few exceptions... is not a human being."
From left: Teri Garr, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman and Peter Boyle, with Gene Wilder (center) as Dr. Frankenstein in "Young Frankenstein" (1974): "Tonight, we shall ascend into the heavens. We shall mock the earthquake. We shall command the thunders, and penetrate into the very womb of impervious nature herself."
Warner Bros.
Rudy Borgstaller, George Claydon, Malcolm Dixon, Rusty Goffe, Ismed Hassan, Norman McGlen, Angelo Muscat, Pepe Poupee, Marcus Powell and Albert Wilkinson, with Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka in "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" (1971): "We are the music makers... and we are the dreamers of dreams."
Gene Wilder (with, from left: Mel Brooks, Marty Feldman and Teri Garr) in "Young Frankenstein" (1974): "With such a specimen for a body, all we need now is an equally magnificent brain."
Gene Wilder (with, from left: Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman and Teri Garr) in "Young Frankenstein" (1974): "Please! Remain in your seats, I beg you! We are not children here, we are scientists! I assure you there is nothing to fear!"
Gene Wilder as Dr. Frankenstein, with Cloris Leachman, in "Young Frankenstein" (1974): "I am not a Frankenstein. I'm a Fronkensteen. Don't give me that. I don't believe in fate. And I won't say it."
