It’s difficult, maybe impossible, to say which of Gene Wilder’s many performances is his best. He had the fastest hands in the West as Jim, aka the Waco Kid, in Blazing Saddles, he invited us into a world of pure imagination as the titular candyman from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and he accidentally created a not-so-politically-correct Broadway hit in The Producers.
How to eulogize Gene Wilder? I keep sitting here trying to find words worthy of the man who gave us Willy Wonka and Dr. Frederick Frankenstein and the Waco Kid. None do him justice. The most fitting tribute to Wilder came from Wilder himself, in a classic song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: When traveling in the world of his creation, what we saw defied explanation.
Wonka said if you
Gene Wilder, best known for his comedic roles in Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Producers, and Young Frankenstein has died at the age of 83.
The State Fair Community College Theatre Arts program will present the musical comedy “Young Frankenstein” April 23-27 in the Stauffacher Theatre on the Sedalia campus.