History Creator / GeneWilder

** MelBrooks very much wanted to collaborate with Wilder again in ''Film/HighAnxiety'', in spite of their CreativeDifferences during the filming of ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'' straining their friendhsip, and offered him the lead role of the phobic Dr. Richard Thorndyke, but Wilder was already busy with producing, writing, directing, and acting in ''The World's Greatest Lover'', so he turned Brooks down. The duo never did collaborate again.

** MelBrooks very much wanted to collaborate with Wilder again in ''Film/HighAnxiety'', and offered him the lead role of the phobic Dr. Richard Thorndyke, but Wilder was already busy with producing, writing, directing, and acting in The World's Greatest Lover, so he turned Brooks down. The duo never did collaborate again.

** Also passed on the role of James Martin in ThePoseidonAdventure due to scheduling conflicts.

* ''Something Wilder'' (1993; TV Sitcom)

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[invoked]]. After semi-retiring from acting in 1999, he passed on many, many roles that had been conceived for him.

* LeslieNielsenSyndrome: Prior to ''Film/TheProducers'', Wilder worked in theater as a dramatic actor. He vented to Mel Brooks one night that everyone was laughing at his performances when they weren't meant to, to which Brooks replied "Look in the mirror and blame God."

* WagTheDirector: During filming of ''Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'', he had full control over nearly every aspect of his performance as the titular candyman, from the clothes he wore to the way he introduced himself at the start of the factory tour. By all accounts, his contributions were not so outlandish that it made production difficult and some of the film's most memorable moments were his ideas.

** Had Creator/GeneHackman not taken the role, he was Creator/WesAnderson's choice to play Royal in ''Film/TheRoyalTenenbaums''.

* RealMenWearPink: He had a love of romance novels and even wrote two himself, ''My French Whore'' and ''The Woman Who Wouldn't'' as well as a collection of short romantic stories called ''What Is This Thing Called Love?''

* ''Theatre/Rhinoceros'' (1969)

** By all accounts, he got along amazingly well with the child actors for ''Willy Wonka'', particularly Peter Ostrum, whom he shared most of his scenes with. When it came time to film his infamous outburst at the end of the film, Wilder heavily resisted the urge to tell him just ''how mad'' he was going to be. He didn't want to ruin his friendship with Peter, but also wanted to help capture authentic shock. Julie Dawn Cole and Denise Nickerson also adored working with him; in fact, the only one Wilder didn't get along with was Paris Themmen, the youngest and most immature of the child actors.

* StarDerailingRole: [[invoked]] ''Haunted Honeymoon''. Everything after that flop was bad news for Wilder until a minor comeback on television, which was also derailed by the above mentioned ExectuiveMeddling.

* StarDerailingRole: [[invoked]] ''Haunted Honeymoon''. Everything after that flop was bad news for Wilder until a minor comeback on television, which was also derailed.

* LeslieNielsenSyndrome: Prior to ''Film/TheProducers'', Wilder worked in theater as a dramatic actor. He vented to Mel Brooks one night that everyone was laughing at his performances when they weren't meant to, to which Brook replied "Look in the mirror and blame God."

* LeslieNielsenSyndrome: [[invoked]] Before starring in ''Film/TheProducers'', he considered himself a dramatic actor.

* WagTheDirector: During filming of ''Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'', he had full control over nearly every aspect of his performance as the titular candyman, from the clothes he wore to the way he introduced himself at the start of the factory tour.

Jerome Silberman, better known as Gene Wilder (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), was widely regarded as one of the greatest comedic actors ever, if not ''the'' greatest. He was best known for being the first actor to portray Film/{{Willy Wonka|AndTheChocolateFactory}} (see right), for his collaborations with Creator/MelBrooks, and for his four co-starring appearances with Creator/RichardPryor.

Jerome Silberman, better known as Gene Wilder (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), was widely regarded as one of the greatest comedic actors ever, if not ''the'' greatest. He was probably best known for being the first actor to portray Film/{{Willy Wonka|AndTheChocolateFactory}} (see right), for his collaborations with Creator/MelBrooks, and for his four co-starring appearances with Creator/RichardPryor.

* SuddenlyShouting: Had a tendency to get very loud at a moment's notice throughout many of his works. As Willy Wonka, he famously [[ThrowItIn didn't tell the other actors]] how loud he was going to get during the film's climax, leading to more [[EnforcedMethodActing genuinely shocked responses]].

* ''Series/TheElectricCompany'' (1971; in animated inserts, such as ''The Adventures of Letterman'')

* ''Series/SesameStreet'' (1971; in animated inserts, such as ''The Adventures of Letterman'')

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[invoked]]
** He was asked to voice a character in ''WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge'' for a possible return, but he turned down the role and the character was scrapped.
** Had Creator/GeneHackman not taken the role, he was Creator/WesAnderson's choice to play Royal in ''Film/TheRoyalTenenbaums''.
** Frequently passed on film roles that were written for him in the past 20 years.
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[[caption-width-right:283:"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dreams."]]

->''[[Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory "A little nonsense, now and then, is relished by the wisest men."]]''

Jerome Silberman, better known as [[StageNames Gene Wilder]] (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), was widely regarded as one of the greatest comedic actors ever, if not ''the'' greatest. He was probably best known for being the first actor to portray Film/{{Willy Wonka|And The Chocolate Factory}} (see right), for his collaborations with Creator/MelBrooks, and for his four co-starring appearances with Creator/RichardPryor.

!! Partial filmography :

!!This actor provides examples of:

%%* MessyHair
%%* QuirkyCurls
* RealMenWearPink: He had a love of romance novels and even wrote two himself, ''My French Whore'' and ''The Woman Who Wouldn't'' as well as a collection of short romantic stories called ''What is this Thing Called Love?''
%%* SadClown

* MessyHair / QuirkyCurls

* SadClown: Oh so much.

* TheCastShowOff: Any time he could sneak some swordplay into a film, rest assured, he would. Wilder was a champion fencer in college.
** He also sang in a number of films.

* MessyHair/QuirkyCurls