“You’re fooled by the applause into thinking that they love me, they really, really love me. Actors fall into this trap if they missed being loved for who they really were and not for what they could do.”
Since the passing of Gene Wilder on Sunday, I knew I wanted to dedicate a Whimsical Wednesday post to him. Here’s just a few of my favorite movie roles by him.
Leo Bloom ~ The Producers (1967)
Jim aka The Waco Kid ~ Blazing Saddles (1974)
Skip Donahue ~ Stir Crazy (1980)
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein ~ Young Frankenstein (1974)
And my personal favorite:
Willy Wonka ~ Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Thank you Mr. Wilder for adding some magic and whimsy to my childhood.
By Hook Or By Book 
Ooh, memories! I would love it if you did this for Neil Gaiman and Tim Burton.
(I was just thinking it would have been awesome if Tim and Gene had ever worked together.)
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That would have been incredible if Gene and Tim had teamed up! And I will definitely do Tim Burton and Neal Gaiman tributes at some point. They’re two of my favorites!🙋🏻
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Remember Neil Gaiman has the Americaon Gods show coming this Fall. I can’t wait!
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Oh God! I forgot about that. And I don’t get Starz.😕 It’s not fair! That’s one of my FAVORITE books of all time! Oh well. Maybe at some point it’ll be on dvd or one of the streaming services. You’ll have to let me know how it is. I’ve been meaning to tell you btw, now that Penny Dreadful is on Netflix I’ve been binging, and it’s every bit as good as you said it was! I’m about halfway through season 2 and season 3 is coming the middle of September so I’m a happy camper!
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Yes, I’ve been doing little binges 2-3 episodes a weekend of Penny Dreadful. Its a lovely show. (Lyle is a very sweet character.)
I will be sure to do reviews of American Gods with lots of spoilers, when it airs. I’m about 1/4 of the way through the book and hope to finish that by that time.
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I just watched the trailer (because I like to torture myself) and it looks great! Are you liking the book? It was the first book I ever read of Gaiman’s and I’ve since read everything of his I could get my hands on by him. Funny story: I was still a children’s librarian when I read American Gods for the first time, and I was coming back from lunch one day having spent my hour off thoroughly engrossed, and I was still reading it as I was walking back down to the children’s room. Because I wasn’t looking wear I was going, I walked right into the glass door leading into my office! Reading CAN be dangerous!
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LOL! I’ve done that, too!
So far, I’m liking it, especially Odin. I’m at the part where the meeting of the Old Gods is about to get started. Incidentally, I did read one book in the series and that was Anansi Boys. I really enjoyed that one, too.
But I keep getting sidetracked by exciting new books which is kind of annoying. What do they mean releasing all these good books at a time?
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I loved Anansi Boys also! And I feel your pain regarding so many good books!
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A strange and lovely and talented man.
BTW if you or anyone else is interested in receiving real live books in a book exchange, check out our twiter.
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First: Yay! WordPress didn’t send your comment to my spam folder! And, Gene was definitely the textbook definition of an icon.
And finally, I haven’t joined Twitter because I have my hands full just with the blogging, but I may have to reconsider now. Thanks a lot Jay! You’re an evil woman you know! LOL!🙋🏻
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People die every year. I get that. But I swear this year is taking the best.
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It really is strange. I mean as Carrie said as some of us are getting older, so too are our idols, but still. There just seems to be a preponderance this year and we still have a few months to go.😕
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Yeah, and honestly.. I’m not that old!!!!!
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I can’t believe Gene is dead. He was such a legend. He will always be the only Willy Wonka in my mind. I grew up with his movies. Such a funny actor. 🙂
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Sweet and funny!
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I just want 2016 to be over already. I will always remember him as Willy Wonka. ‘Hold your breath, Make a wish, Count to three’.
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I know!😕 I love that quote Vinnie!
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It sets the tone for the magical adventures that will take place.
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Lovely! Bringing a smile on my face before going to bed! 🙂 <— see?! 😉
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😊And now you’ve brought a smile to mine!😊
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Dear dreamer, he made the world a better place.
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Beautifully said!
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I love Blazing Saddles 🙂
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Right?!
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#hugs and #sassysisters!
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#alwaysandforever
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#forever
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#andever
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I’m going to cry!!!
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Sigh. It’s just not fair.😪
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What Gene Wilder said is akin to the quote about loving the creative person’s work, but not the creative person, or separating the creative work from that of the creator. We often like to separate the work from the creator when the creator did something terrible or is just plain not a nice person. But can we really do so? Gene Wilder insinuates with this quote that it’s the character they play that they love and to an extant that’s true. But would people love the character if they didn’t love an aspect about the actor? In this case, Gene Wilder’s acting was part of who he was, and a new character can’t be created without the actor/actress putting a little bit of him/herself into the character. So, that goes back to the question of how much can you really separate the two?
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“I must have killed more men than Cecil B. DeMille.”
Gene Wilder was one of my favorites, ever since I was a youngster back in the ’70s when Gene starred in a series of hit movies. Long may his memory live.
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He was a wonderful comedian.
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