It was the first in a series of collaborations with writer/director Mel Brooks, including Young Frankenstein, which Wilder co-wrote, garnering the pair an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

[5] When Jeanne Silberman felt that her son's potential was not being fully realized in Wisconsin, she sent him to Black-Foxe, a military institute in Hollywood, where he was bullied and sexually assaulted, primarily because he was the only Jewish boy in the school, according to his own account.

He was then given the opportunity to choose any open post; wanting to stay near New York City to attend acting classes at the HB Studio, he chose to serve as paramedic in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology at Valley Forge Army Hospital, in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

[citation needed] Wilder's first professional acting job was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he played the Second Officer in Herbert Berghof's production of Twelfth Night.

[14] After three years of study with Berghof and Uta Hagen at the HB Studio, Charles Grodin told Wilder about Lee Strasberg's method acting.

He also liked "Gene" because as a boy, he was impressed by a distant relative, a World War II bomber navigator who was "handsome and looked great in his leather flight jacket".

[19] One of Wilder's early stage credits was playing the socially awkward mental patient Billy Bibbit in the original 1963–64 Broadway adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest opposite star Kirk Douglas.

[20] A few months later, Brooks mentioned that he was working on a screenplay called Springtime for Hitler, for which he thought Wilder would be perfect in the role of Leo Bloom.

[26] In 1971, Wilder auditioned to play Willy Wonka in Mel Stuart's film adaptation of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

[27] Before Wilder was officially cast for the role, Fred Astaire, Joel Grey, Ron Moody, and Jon Pertwee were all considered.

[29] The film was not a big success on its opening weekend,[30] although it received positive reviews from critics such as Roger Ebert, who compared it to The Wizard of Oz.

"[32] The three films Wilder appeared in following The Producers were box office failures: Start the Revolution and Quackser seemed to audiences poor copies of Mel Brooks films, while Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was not a commercial success, although it later gained a cult following and an Oscar nomination for Best Score, as well as a Golden Globe award nomination for Wilder.

[25] When Woody Allen offered him a role in one segment of Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask), Wilder accepted, hoping this would be the hit to put an end to his series of flops.

[34] A few months later, Wilder received a call from his agent, Mike Medavoy, who asked if he had anything where he could include Peter Boyle and Marty Feldman, his two new clients.

Having just seen Feldman on television, Wilder was inspired to write a scene that takes place at Transylvania Station, where Igor and Frederick meet for the first time.

[20] While working on the Young Frankenstein script, Wilder was offered the part of the Fox in the musical film adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's classic book, The Little Prince.

Marty Feldman and Madeline Kahn agreed to participate in the project, and Wilder began writing what became his directorial début, 1975's The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother.

[38] While filming Silver Streak, Wilder began working on a script for The World's Greatest Lover, inspired by Fellini's The White Sheik.

Roger Ebert called it "a real dud";[43] the Deseret Morning News described the film as "stupid", with an "idiotic script" that had a "contrived story" and too many "juvenile gags",[44] while Vincent Canby called it "by far the most successful co-starring vehicle for Mr. Pryor and Mr. Wilder", also acknowledging that "this is not elegant movie making, and not all of the gags are equally clever".

The other two, Murder in a Small Town and The Lady in Question, were mystery movies for A&E TV that were cowritten by Wilder, in which he played a theater director turned amateur detective.

[citation needed] Three years later, Wilder guest-starred on two episodes of NBC's Will & Grace, winning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor on a Comedy Series for his role as Mr. Stein, Will Truman's boss.

[20][52] Wilder met Saturday Night Live actress Gilda Radner on August 13, 1981, while filming Sidney Poitier's Hanky Panky.

After experiencing severe fatigue and suffering from pain in her upper legs on the set of Haunted Honeymoon, Radner sought medical treatment.

[20] In 1998, Wilder collaborated on the book Gilda's Disease with oncologist Steven Piver, sharing personal experiences of Radner's struggle with ovarian cancer.

Wilder himself was hospitalized with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1999, but confirmed in March 2005 that the cancer was in complete remission following chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.

[20] In October 2001, he read from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as part of a special benefit performance held at the Westport Country Playhouse to aid families affected by the September 11 attacks.

[17] On March 1, 2005, Wilder released his highly personal memoir, Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art, an account of his life covering everything from his childhood up to Radner's death.

[61] When asked in a 2013 Time Out New York magazine interview whether he would act again if a suitable film project came his way, Wilder responded, "I'm tired of watching the bombing, shooting, killing, swearing and 3-D.

[1][3][66] Wilder's nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman said that this was done to not sadden fans of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, stating: The decision to wait until this time to disclose his condition wasn't vanity, but more so that the countless young children that would smile or call out to him 'there's Willy Wonka,' would not have to be then exposed to an adult referencing illness or trouble and causing delight to travel to worry, disappointment, or confusion.

"[70] Various celebrities posted tributes to Wilder on Twitter including Carl Reiner, Albert Brooks, Billy Crystal, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Russell Crowe.