He was the son of New Jersey Attorney General David T. Wilentz, who prosecuted Bruno Hauptmann in the Lindbergh kidnapping trial, and the brother of New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Wilentz.
He also became a partner of the Woodbridge firm founded by his father, Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer.
[3] In 1966, Wilentz was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate to oppose Republican incumbent Clifford P. Case.
He was recruited after several other potential candidates, including former New Jersey Governor Robert Meyner, declined to run.
He received treatment at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange, New Jersey.