August 29, 2016

"I want... I want... I want everything I've ever seen in the movies!"



"I'll do it! By God, I'll do it! I'm Leo Bloom! I'm me! I can do whatever I want! It doesn't matter! I'm Leo Bloom!"

He was Gene Wilder.

25 comments:

mockturtle said...

Loved his films, especially those with Madeline Kahn.

Gahrie said...

R.I.P. Gene..thanks, you gave me many hours of laughter....you will be missed.

Even though I am a Deist, I hope that you and Gilda are laughing together somewhere.

tim in vermont said...

OMG. Part of me wants to text my daughter, but mostly I want her to go on living a little while longer believing he is alive.

Laslo Spatula said...

One of my favorite bits of Wilder trivia:

"In 1970, when originally offered the lead role in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory by director Mel Stuart, the great Gene Wilder accepted on one condition. "When I make my first entrance,” he explained, “I'd like to come out of the door carrying a cane and then walk toward the crowd with a limp. After the crowd sees Willy Wonka is a cripple, they all whisper to themselves and then become deathly quiet. As I walk toward them, my cane sinks into one of the cobblestones I'm walking on and stands straight up, by itself; but I keep on walking, until I realize that I no longer have my cane. I start to fall forward, and just before I hit the ground, I do a beautiful forward somersault and bounce back up, to great applause." Asked why, Wilder said, "Because from that time on, no one will know if I'm lying or telling the truth."

I am Laslo.

dreams said...

I always like him starting with Blazing Saddles. I probably didn't notice him in Bonnie and Clyde until after Blazing Saddles.

tim in vermont said...

The Frisco Kid was a great western too.

Rob said...

He was terrific, and you chose an iconic scene from a magnificent movie to honor him.

mockturtle said...

Young Frankenstein was my favorite.

David Begley said...

Agree with mock. Great performance. Legendary.

CStanley said...

No! Seems too soon, but I see he was 83, I guess I didn't realize.

But he and Gilda must be having a great laugh together about now.

Bay Area Guy said...

What Gahrie said -- Wilder gave me so many moments of laughter from Young Frankenstein to Blazing Saddles to Silver Streak, that I feel a debt of gratitude towards him.

A sweet gentle soul - May he rest in peace.



dreams said...

Puttin' on the Ritz.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1FLZPFI3jc

eddie willers said...

I probably didn't notice him in Bonnie and Clyde

It was that scene that made me sit up and take notice. Not much levity in that film, but he sure pulled it off.

DUSTER said...

Stampeding cattle.
Thats not much of a crime.
Through the Vatican?
Kinky.

Ann Althouse said...

From the linked obituary: "By his account, [Gilda] Radner was needy, obsessed with getting married and, once they married in 1984, obsessed with having a child, a project that ended in miscarriage just months before she learned she had ovarian cancer in 1986. Of their first year of living together, he wrote: 'We didn’t get along well, and that’s a fact. We just loved each other, and that’s a fact.' He left, only to find that he needed to go back.... Ms. Radner died in 1989. "I had one great blessing: I was so dumb, " Mr. Wilder once said of her last years. 'I believed even three weeks before she died she would make it.'"

Paul Snively said...

Well, crap.

Kathryn51 said...

Like so many, many classic movies, Blazing Saddles could not be made today.

In this hyper sick political year, I have abandoned Fox News and become an acolyte of Turner Classic Movies.

Unless NCIS is on - like right now on the USA channel. Monday is my day to do housework and pay the bills with NCIS on all 3 TVs throughout the house.

But I digress from acknowledging the greatness that is Gene Wilder.

Kate said...

@CStanley is right. Too soon, and yet he lived a full life. How can he be simultaneously old and young? Genius.

His Fox in "The Little Prince", an obscure film, is so lovely. Heartbroken.

Brent said...

"Now listen to me very carefully.
Don't put the candle back . . ."

Temujin said...

RIP Mr. Wilder. One of the greats. He made me laugh harder than I ever have- twice.

SukieTawdry said...

Loved his Mel Brooks films and the movies with Richard Pryor--what a great team. His and Peter Boyle's version of Puttin' On the Ritz is one of my favorites (Clark Gable, of all people, does a great version, too--look it up on YouTube--it's delightfully corny). RIP.

Jason said...

SPREAD YOUR WINGS, AND FLAP YOUR WAY TO GLORY!!!

MadisonMan said...

Sad. What a very watchable actor. He gave me so many laughs.

Guildofcannonballs said...

He always looked like a real grade A asshole to me.

"What a fucking jerk" I would think whenever I watched Gene Wilder.

Earth feels much cleaner, and larger, today.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Goc, I've been on the fence about you. Thanks for clearing that up.