Gene Wilder dies

[Wee_Dingwall]

The Candyman could.

@GraunImagination

Gene Wilder, star of Willy Wonka and Mel Brooks comedies, is dead at 83, his family says.

Wilder’s nephew said on 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 favourite Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

theguardian.com/us-news/201 … oks-comedy

He took many, many people to a world of Pure Imagination.

R.I.P.

[Biggest_Pixar_Fan_Am]

I finished work last night and checked my phone and this was the first thing I saw across social media. I am devastated

[Wee_Dingwall]

Yeah. I’m guessing that there were loads of memes around, then…?

[The_Star_Swordsman]

There were. He was such a great actor, he wil be missed.

[evspixarfan2012]

Speaking of Gene Wilder and his role in the movie as Willy Wonka, has anyone watched that Pixar tribute video with the song “Pure Imagination” playing in the background? There’s also a popular Willy Wonka meme that’s been going around the Internet for quite some time now. Not that I’m trying to get us off-topic or anything, but I just wanted to point those out…okay?

[Wee_Dingwall]

Yeah, that’s cool.

[Bill]

Going to pop in the 40th anniversary edition of Young Frankenstein that’s in my Blu-ray collection later this weekend as tribute.

Here’s what turned out to be the last late-night talk show appearance by Wilder on Conan O’Brien’s Late Night:

slashfilm.com/gene-wilder-co … interview/