As an actor, he appeared in films including Tumbleweed Trail (1946), When I Grow Up (1951), Singin' in the Rain (1952), The Pride of St. Louis (1952), Peter Pan (1953), Hold Back the Night (1956), and Five Guns to Tombstone (1960).

He appeared in minor roles in Singin' in the Rain and The Pride of St. Louis (1952),[4] and voiced the Raccoon Twins in Walt Disney Productions' Peter Pan (1953).

[5] In the mid-1950s, Wilder planned to abandon acting to pursue a baseball scholarship at the University of Southern California, but producer Ed Chevie persuaded him to appear in the film Rock, Pretty Baby (1956), which lead to roles in other films such as Hold Back the Night (1956), The Unguarded Moment (1956), Until They Sail (1957), and Imitation General (1958).

He began attending Santa Monica City College and later transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles.

[2] He wrote for The Streets of San Francisco in the 1970s, which earned him two nominations for the Outstanding Drama Series Primetime Emmy.