tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post4896236987054095049..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: R.I.P. Gene WilderBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-42196656595537281292016-09-02T09:06:21.624-07:002016-09-02T09:06:21.624-07:00Thank you so much for sharing such precious memori...Thank you so much for sharing such precious memories Mr. Straw.<br />Gene will forever be a part of a warm memory for me of just how much my Dad loved The Frisco Kid. It was the only movie he ever wanted to own. VCRs were new. We bought him one and a copy of that film. I never so him smile so brightly. I still love that movie.SharoneRosenhttp://www.sharonerosen.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-6483330765878009972016-08-31T13:16:56.058-07:002016-08-31T13:16:56.058-07:00That's a beautiful and enlightening remembranc...That's a beautiful and enlightening remembrance. Thank you so much for sharing. A great talent and it sounds like a lovely man.Ottohttp://www.theottofiles.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-54178825721061970242016-08-31T08:24:16.720-07:002016-08-31T08:24:16.720-07:00Gene and Gilda. Together again. Never to part.Gene and Gilda. Together again. Never to part.John Hammesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-86799824981287377412016-08-30T22:14:43.866-07:002016-08-30T22:14:43.866-07:00To this day, anytime I see windmills, I always hea...To this day, anytime I see windmills, I always hear him say, "Look out for the windmill, look out for the windmill!!Michael Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06961720152552357795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-16655864754499132612016-08-30T21:44:43.939-07:002016-08-30T21:44:43.939-07:00Thanks for your beautiful words, Tom.
So sorry f...Thanks for your beautiful words, Tom. <br /><br />So sorry for your loss.Janet Leahynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-86223004470331770152016-08-30T11:42:30.011-07:002016-08-30T11:42:30.011-07:00"What bothers me the most about this is somet..."What bothers me the most about this is something that affects everyone. No matter what your life was like, you are punished by old age."<br /><br /><br />Fiction was invented because every true story has a shitty ending.<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWXw8STaFlMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43791350049312862862016-08-30T10:19:22.409-07:002016-08-30T10:19:22.409-07:00I laughed out loud at the final mouse joke. Just ...I laughed out loud at the final mouse joke. Just like I did at a whole lot of other things I've heard him say, in his movies. Thanks for sharing this!Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04514127184704002111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-3429161816153458772016-08-30T10:14:06.492-07:002016-08-30T10:14:06.492-07:00What bothers me the most about this is something t...What bothers me the most about this is something that affects everyone. No matter what your life was like, you are punished by old age. Vincent Price didn't suffer from a terminal illness but he was very frail in his old age and hated every minute of it. His last role was in Edward Scissorhands and he wasn't well enough to film a couple more scenes which Tim Burton had planned so that what's there seems like an extended cameo. At one point Vincent Price was signing some pictures for Forry Ackerman and on one of them he wrote, "The last autograph" and that was his idea to write that. Gene Wilder deserved to always be as young a vital as he is in the clip you can find on Youtube of him singing "Pure Imagination."James Van Hisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06658381884799398658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-89706341046887306412016-08-30T09:05:40.174-07:002016-08-30T09:05:40.174-07:00This write up made me both laugh and cry simultane...This write up made me both laugh and cry simultaneously. It's clear that those who knew him truly loved him. His work has been part of my life for as long as I have memory. He will be missed. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17099334949652865815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-76993071376415052512016-08-30T08:16:24.305-07:002016-08-30T08:16:24.305-07:00D. McEwan said...
"The thing, I think, that m...D. McEwan said...<br />"The thing, I think, that makes Gene's death so painful is because it's not just Gene dying. Leo Bloom, Phillipe DeSissi, Willy Wonka, The Waco Kid, Froderick Fronkensteen, and Sigerson Holmes have all died at once, and it's too many to take in. We feel the loss of everyone of them."<br /><br /><br />Great observation. I hadn't thought of that, but it's true.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-37486952541922263672016-08-30T08:07:04.641-07:002016-08-30T08:07:04.641-07:00Wonderful tribute.Wonderful tribute.Kirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02155991693956178030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-82185158660592324592016-08-30T07:58:25.264-07:002016-08-30T07:58:25.264-07:00D. McEwan, you said it perfectly. So did Mr. Straw...D. McEwan, you said it perfectly. So did Mr. Straw. It's rare to watch someone on screen and say to yourself, I know that he's a lovely human being. So it was with Gene Wilder.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01998867386294693956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-41801687727436172992016-08-30T06:16:01.740-07:002016-08-30T06:16:01.740-07:00very sweet, thank you.very sweet, thank you.normadesmondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17325110017442011627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-33973783723340374092016-08-30T05:51:20.284-07:002016-08-30T05:51:20.284-07:00That's a beautiful tribute.
We've had a l...That's a beautiful tribute.<br /><br />We've had a lot of them this year.<br /><br />Carolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01202427531137840740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-92042532109706101632016-08-30T03:41:43.037-07:002016-08-30T03:41:43.037-07:00Thank you very much Mr. Straw for sharing your mem...Thank you very much Mr. Straw for sharing your memories of Gene Wilder. Barry Traylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14134880916215990198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-13484628270000866672016-08-30T02:16:28.415-07:002016-08-30T02:16:28.415-07:00It was reported last year that Steven Spielberg wa...It was reported last year that Steven Spielberg was going to meet with Gene Wilder with a view to casting him in Ready Player One. Now that we know Wilder had been battling Alzheimer's, he obviously wasn't able to do the movie, which is a great shame. I always held out hope we'd get one last great movie performance from him and it would have been wonderful if it could have been the Spielberg film, which instead has cast the odious Mark Rylance who's pals with a bunch of vile anti-Semites called, rather hilariously, Stop the War.Peternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-24714045585096544482016-08-30T02:12:54.357-07:002016-08-30T02:12:54.357-07:00A beautiful and moving tribute. Wilder sounds just...A beautiful and moving tribute. Wilder sounds just as I perceived him to be: sweet, funny, warm hearted and kind.Peternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-37752108815220131282016-08-30T01:55:48.861-07:002016-08-30T01:55:48.861-07:00R.I.P. He was great. And thanks, Tom, for your mem...R.I.P. He was great. And thanks, Tom, for your memories.<br /><br />wgWendy M. Grossmanhttp://www.pelicancrossing.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-65518078710218299722016-08-30T01:04:32.793-07:002016-08-30T01:04:32.793-07:00I'm ashamed to admit that I've never seen ...I'm ashamed to admit that I've never seen WWATCF, but I loved watching his other work every time I saw him on film or TV. And his work on behalf of cancer patients was incredibly kind and selfless. He will be greatly missed.<br /><br />Gene gave a wonderful answer in a 2013 interview by Time Out New York on whether he would consider returning to acting "if the right project came along": <br /><br />"I’m tired of watching the bombing, shooting, killing, swearing and 3-D. I get 52 movies a year sent to me, and maybe there are three good [ones]. That’s why I went into writing. It’s not that I wouldn’t act again. I’d say, “Give me the script. If it’s something wonderful, I’ll do it.” But I don’t get anything like that." (Copied from the original source, not Wikipedia.)<br /><br />RIP, Gene.Allan Vnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-45985878252657648882016-08-30T00:00:10.203-07:002016-08-30T00:00:10.203-07:00The thing, I think, that makes Gene's death so...The thing, I think, that makes Gene's death so painful is because it's not just Gene dying. Leo Bloom, Phillipe DeSissi, Willy Wonka, The Waco Kid, Froderick Fronkensteen, and Sigerson Holmes have all died at once, and it's too many to take in. We feel the loss of everyone of them.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-14456721289941158822016-08-29T23:52:47.773-07:002016-08-29T23:52:47.773-07:00I had great luck seeing Blazing Saddles the first ...I had great luck seeing <i>Blazing Saddles</i> the first time. Gene was there. So were Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. It was a preview in Westwood, and I got to meet and talk with all three of them after the movie.<br /><br />Later, I snuck onto the set when Mel was shooting the "Puttin' on the Ritz" scene for <i>Young Frankenstein</i> at the Mayfair Music Hall in Santa Monica, and watch Gene work. After a take of Peter Boyle being carried up the aisle, I turned to speak to the man watching the scene right behind me who had also been laughing, to say how funny it was, only it was Gene, one foot away. Since I had no business being there, my strategy was to call no attention to myself, so accidentally speaking to Gene made me stumble verbally. But he was quite nice, and did not ask the dreaded questions "Who are you?" or "Do you belong in here?"<br /><br />I met Gene one last time, after a preview of <i>YF</i>, which included some scenes subsequently cut before release. This time I got to tell Mel and Gene face-to-face just how much I adored it and them.<br /><br />There was no one like Gene Wilder. He was excessively brilliant. I am most sad today, and I'm watching <i>YF</i>.dD. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-514950182015320832016-08-29T21:48:25.083-07:002016-08-29T21:48:25.083-07:00Why is it that, as viewers and fans, we seem to be...Why is it that, as viewers and fans, we seem to be most touched by the passing of individuals who make us laugh? I guess I answered my own question. In our frightening world, we are desperate to be removed from all of the sad reality we live in ... and what better way then to just let loose a giant guffaw courtesy of the rare person who can deliver that? With the sad death of Robin Williams, and now Gene Wilder, I feel like I have lost dear family members. I had the joy and privilege of interviewing Robin many times, and once with Gene. But I treasure the time I spent with these gentle gifted giants of humor ... and think that although they are gone, we can still see and enjoy all of their work as long as humanity wants to have a giant guffaw!<br />Thank you Mr. Wilder for all of the positive endorphins!Mr. Hollywoodnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-55018394983416917732016-08-29T20:38:44.810-07:002016-08-29T20:38:44.810-07:00He could touch you. That's the secret of a gr...He could touch you. That's the secret of a great star!<br />Mike Barerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14447874605833321732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-64529758899631696702016-08-29T20:04:28.791-07:002016-08-29T20:04:28.791-07:00We've had a lot of deaths this year, but I'...We've had a lot of deaths this year, but I'm not ashamed to admit that THIS was the one that had me break down and cry. He will truly be missed.404https://www.blogger.com/profile/00064577649967514295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-73646892698080379742016-08-29T20:04:24.100-07:002016-08-29T20:04:24.100-07:002016 has not been a good year for celebrities. Not...2016 has not been a good year for celebrities. Not just Gene Wilder, but we've also lost David Bowie, Prince, Doris Roberts, Garry Marshall, and even more that aren't coming to mind at the moment.<br /><br />So Ken, I take it this is who you named the character Tom Straw after in yours and David's first M*A*S*H script, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind"?Joseph Scarbroughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com