# Gene Wilder has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 29, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426 "2016-08-29T19:32:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/21 "2016-08-29T20:14:15Z")
Des-ti-NEE Des-ti-NEE No es-cap-ing Death for He. RIP, Froderick. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/22 "2016-08-29T20:14:28Z")
I’ve missed him a lot in recent years. For such a gentle, funny man, he sure was handed a lot of pain in his life. Gilda’s waiting for him, though. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/23 "2016-08-29T20:16:28Z")
Hope he and Gilda (don’t) live happily ever after. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/24 "2016-08-29T20:16:46Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Thanks for all the laughter, Mr. Wilder. I’ve never laughed as hard as I did when I first saw _Blazing Saddles_. So true. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/25 "2016-08-29T20:17:22Z")
I can’t think of anything I’ve seen him in that I haven’t loved. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/26 "2016-08-29T20:23:13Z")
Very sad. I really enjoyed his work. _The Frisco Kid_ is still one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/27 "2016-08-29T20:25:00Z")
“Are you telling me that I put an “Ab Normal” brain. Into a 7 foot tall. 300 pound. GORILLA???” He’s reunited now with his first, truest love…[Fluffy the Sheep](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzr5Cubph9Y). RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/28 "2016-08-29T20:27:10Z")
One of my favorites was _The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother_. Orville: Are you Mister S., for Sigerson, Holmes? Sigerson Holmes: Perhaps. Orville: Do you have a brother whose first name is Sherlock? Sigerson Holmes: I do not. Orville: You do have a brother? Sigerson Holmes: I do. Orville: Might I inquire as to his first name? Sigerson Holmes: “Sheer luck.” ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/29 "2016-08-29T20:27:53Z")
Any Gen Xers remember The Adventures of Letterman on the original Electric Company? The man who was ‘Faster than a rolling O’ was Gene Wilder. Bonus: The narrator was Joan Rivers. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/30 "2016-08-29T20:29:33Z")
This thread is causing me to realize I’ve missed some movies, and I’ll need to make up for that. In the meanwhile, I’ve got “Puttin’ On The Ritz” stuck in my head. RIP. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/31 "2016-08-29T20:30:56Z")
Wilder had so many great works. I loved _Silver Streak_ and _Blazing Saddles_. In _Silver Streak_: > [@](#): > > I know what goes where, and why. In _Blazing Saddles_: > [@](#): > > What did you expect? “Welcome, sonny”? “Make yourself at home”? “Marry my daughter”? You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. > > You know… morons. R.I.P., Gene, and thank you for the pleasure and entertainment you gave to us. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/32 "2016-08-29T20:33:33Z")
I’m not surprised. I think for a few years now I’ve been more surprised to hear him spoken about as someone still alive. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/33 "2016-08-29T20:35:28Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > This thread is causing me to realize I’ve missed some movies, and I’ll need to make up for that. > > In the meanwhile, I’ve got “Puttin’ On The Ritz” stuck in my head. > > RIP. ☹ See if [“The Kangaroo Hop”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeK-Q1xoGxw) unsticks that for you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/34 "2016-08-29T20:40:30Z")
Oh, I should make a reference or something. I remember when he had a TV sitcom quite some years ago, and he was already looking a bit old for the part he was playing. It was all right, though. And he was the Fox in a musical version of The Little Prince. That was OK, but I think it’s hard to make a theatrical adaptation resonate half as much as the illustrated book. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/35 "2016-08-29T20:41:49Z")
Actually, the obscure Gene Wilder movie I love and haven’t seen since seeing it theatrically was “Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx” - he’s the title character, a guy in an Irish city who picks up horseshit and sells it to people with window boxes, and just happens to service all of the women on his route as well. It’s all about how he’s going to America to live with his cousin… until. Not sure if it’s available anywhere. I know I’ve looked in past eras and not found it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/36 "2016-08-29T20:42:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Damn! He was underappreciated. He wrote most of the screenplay for **Young Frankenstein** , and it was incredibly literate. Apparently the big disagreement between him and Mel Brooks was whether to keep the Puttin’ On The Ritz scene; Brooks is a legend, but Wilder was right. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/37 "2016-08-29T20:43:06Z")
I’m a macaroni! (Silver Streak) RIP ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/38 "2016-08-29T20:46:38Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Apparently the big disagreement between him and Mel Brooks was whether to keep the Puttin’ On The Ritz scene; Brooks is a legend, but Wilder was right. Brooks was wise enough to realize its brilliance once it was filmed, though. I definitely think it was a bad idea in principle, but there was no way to know how hilarious Peter Boyle would make the whole thing, along with Gene Wilder. It’s a little miracle scene that came out way better than anything in a script could indicate. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/39 "2016-08-29T20:50:15Z")
RIP, Gene. You were loved. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426/40 "2016-08-29T20:52:57Z")
Who’d have thought he would outlive Mel Brooks? Rest in peace, Gene, and thanks for so many laughs. > [@Don\_Draper](#): > > …He’s reunited now with his first, truest love…[Fluffy the Sheep](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzr5Cubph9Y)… No, it was… Daisy. :: wistful sigh :: _Daisy_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gene-wilder-has-died/764426.md?page=3)