Comic Performer Gene Wilder Kept His Serious Side Off Camera

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Revered as a comedic and storytelling genius by Hollywood's top entertainers, Gene Wilder was a humble man who downplayed his comic gifts, was a serious director and remained deferential to his longtime collaborator, Mel Brooks. Wilder died Sunday night of complications from Alzheimer's disease at age 83. Though Wilder started his acting career on the stage, millions knew him from his work in the movies, especially the ones he made with Brooks, such as The Producers, ''Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. The last film — with Wilder playing a California-born descendant of the mad scientist, insisting that his name is pronounced "Frahn-ken-SHTEEN" — was co-written by Brooks and Wilder and earned the pair an Oscar nod for adapted screenplay. With his unkempt hair and big, buggy eyes, Wilder was a master at playing panicked characters caught up in schemes that only a madman such as Brooks could devise, whether reviving a monster in "Young Frankenstein" or bilking Broadway in "The Producers." [...] he also knew how to keep it cool as the boozing gunslinger in "Blazing Saddles" or the charming candy man in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." A few years later, Brooks cast Wilder in "The Producers," for which Wilder was nominated for a supporting actor Academy Award. Wilder's desire to tell his stories well led him to pay special attention to directing himself.