News / Society
Bristol Old Vic graduate Gene Wilder dies
Tributes are being paid to actor Gene Wilder, who has died at the age of 83.
Wilder came to Bristol in 1955 where he spent a year training as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
RIP Gene Wilder. BOVTS trained. Always remembered. ?? X
— BOVTS (@BOVTS) August 29, 2016
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Wilder was best known for his charismatic performance of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and for his four films with Richard Pryor, Silver Streak, Stir Crazy, See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Another You.
He also starred as the lead character in Young Frankenstein and played a recovering alcoholic gunslinger in satirical Western comedy Blazing Saddles, both directed by Mel Brooks.
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.
— Mel Brooks (@MelBrooks) August 29, 2016
He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Leopold Bloom in The Producers, and directed and wrote several of his own films including The Woman in Red.
The actor died on Sunday in Stamford, Connecticut, due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
“It is almost unbearable for us to contemplate our life without him,” his nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman told the BBC.
Ten years ago I trained at @BOVTS seeing this headshot of #GeneWilder each morning on the alumni board #inspiration pic.twitter.com/6S4usgBN0c
— Laurence Fuller (@LaurenceFuller) August 29, 2016
Bristol Old Vic Theatre’ trained, like me, RIP genius Gene Wilder… https://t.co/JHAtMZOxXh
— Elsa O’Toole (@MsEOToole) August 29, 2016
Main image: Hans Peters / Anefo (Nationaal Archief) [CC BY-SA 3.0 nl (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/nl/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons
Read more: Behind the scenes at Old Vic Theatre School
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