Silver Streak is a 1976 action-comedy-thriller film about murder on a Los Angeles-to-Chicago train journey. It stars Gene Wilder, Jill Clayburgh, Richard Pryor, Patrick McGoohan and Ned Beatty and is directed by Arthur Hiller. The film score is by Henry Mancini. This film marked the first pairing of Wilder and Pryor, who would be paired in three more films.^[2]

Plot[link]

Saying he "just wanted to be bored", book editor George Caldwell (Wilder) travels from Los Angeles to Chicago for his sister's wedding aboard a train called the Silver Streak. As the trip begins, George meets a vitamin salesman named Bob Sweet (Beatty) and has dinner and drinks with a woman named Hilly Burns (Clayburgh). Hilly works for Professor Schreiner, a well-known art historian who is on a publicity tour for his new book on Rembrandt. After dinner, George and Hilly go to her room for a night of romance.

Meanwhile, three men kill Schreiner. A few minutes later, George sees Schreiner's body hanging outside Hilly's window as it falls from the roof of the train, but George is drunk and Hilly insists it must be his imagination. In the morning, he sees Schreiner's photograph on the cover of his book, which Hilly has with her, and recognizes him as the dead man. George also finds an envelope inside the book.

The men who killed Schreiner are Johnson (Stefan Gierasch), who bears a resemblance to Schreiner, a crook named Edgar Whiney (Ray Walston), and a thug named Reace (Richard Kiel). When George goes to Schreiner's room, Whiney answers the door and has Reace throw George off the train. George walks to a farmhouse and meets an old lady, Rita Babtree, who flies him to the train's next stopping point in a biplane. Now back on the train, he sees Hilly dining with art dealer Roger Devereau (McGoohan), and he begins to suspect her when Devereau, Whiney, and Johnson enter her room, with Johnson impersonating Schreiner. Devereau apologizes to George for the misunderstanding involving Reace. Johnson (as the professor) mentions "the Rembrandt letters", then expresses his desire to return to his room for a glass of scotch to soothe his nerves. George, embarrassed, goes to the club-car and begins drinking heavily. Devereau then smacks Hilly in the face for all her trouble.

Later, a drunken George confides in Sweet about his misadventure. Sweet confirms George's suspicions about the professor's murder (the imposter had asked for scotch; the professor was a known advocate for healthy living and never drank) Sweet reveals to George that he is actually an undercover federal agent named Stevens and that Devereau is a wanted criminal who passes himself off as a wealthy art dealer and expert. Whiney, Reace, and Johnson are Devereau's henchmen. According to Schreiner's book, two paintings that Devereau authenticated as original Rembrandts are actually forgeries. Devereau plans to have the professor's imposter botch an upcoming lecture, thereby discrediting the book. George recalls the envelope he saw inside Schreiner's book, and the two men go to Hilly's room, where they find the envelope containing letters written by Rembrandt himself, proving Devereau's guilt.

Stevens is killed by Reace immediately after this discovery, and George is knocked off the train by an overhanging signal pole after killing Reace in a rooftop shootout with a speargun. (Incidentally, the overhanging signal pole shot is seen in the opening credits to The Fall Guy). Now on foot again, George tries to notify the local sheriff (Clifton James), but is instead accused of Sweet's murder. Forced to escape, he steals a patrol car in which he meets small-time thief Grover T. Muldoon (Pryor). Working as a team, George and Grover make their way to Kansas City to meet the train. Police are looking for George, so Grover disguises him as a flamboyant black man. The ruse works; they are able to avoid capture and board the train. Back on the train again, George and Grover separate to find and rescue Hilly. George is knocked unconscious by Whiney and taken to Devereau's room along with Hilly. Devereau plans to frame George for the murder of the professor, then have them both killed, but Grover enters the room disguised as a waiter and holds Devereau at gunpoint. After a shootout, George and Grover jump off the train and are arrested and taken to a small abandoned train station, where Federal agent Donaldson (Birman) explains that the police were only trying to protect George and that he planted the Sweet murder story. George tells Donaldson about Devereau's plan, and Donaldson orders his men to prepare for an attack on the train. He then contacts the railroad to have the Silver Streak make an emergency stop at a nearby rail junction for an routine investigation.

Meanwhile, Devereau burns the Rembrandt letters, and he and his henchmen prepare to escape. Once the train has stopped and the passengers have disembarked, a shootout ensues. George and Grover jump onto the train as Devereau orders an engineer to start it moving again. An agent shoots Whiney, George shoots Johnson, and Devereau shoots the engineer and places a toolbox on the dead man's brake pedal. Devereau is then shot by Donaldson and decapitated by an oncoming train.

With Devereau and his men gone, George, Hilly, and Grover think they will exit the train at the last stop, but because of the toolbox on the dead man's brake pedal, the train becomes a runaway. Devereau also had his men disconnect all of the Emergency Brakes cables, making it impossible to stop the train. George uncouples the passenger cars from the engine while the people at the Chicago train station are instructed to evacuate. The engine roars into the station, jumps the tracks and thunders through the terminal, destroying everything in its path as people flee, and the passenger cars gently coast to a stop behind it. Grover steals a sports car that was on display in the station lobby and drives away, and George and Hilly kiss and begin their relationship anew.

Cast[link]

• Gene Wilder as George Caldwell, a book editor
• Jill Clayburgh as Hildegarde "Hilly" Burns, secretary to Professor Schreiner
• Richard Pryor as Grover T. Muldoone, a small time thief
• Patrick McGoohan as Roger Devereau, an art dealer and criminal mastermind
• Ned Beatty as Bob Sweet (Stevens, a federal agent)
• Clifton James as Sheriff Oliver Chauncey
• Ray Walston as Edgar Whiney, Devereau's shady henchman
• Scatman Crothers as Porter Ralston
• Len Birman as Chief Donaldson, a federal agent who worked with Stevens
• Lucille Benson as Rita Babtree, a spunky old woman and biplane pilot
• Stefan Gierasch as Professor Schreiner and as Johnson, Devereau's henchman who looks like Professor Schreiner
• Valerie Curtin as Plain Jane, a romantically desperate train passenger
• Richard Kiel as Reace, Devereau's thuggish henchman
• Fred Willard as Jerry Jarvis, assistant manager of Union Station

Reception[link]

• The film grossed over $51,000,000 at the box office during its run and was well received by critics. Roger Ebert gave it a positive review, and it holds an 83 percent approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Awards and honors[link]

American Film Institute recognition

• 2000: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs #95

• Academy Award nomination: Best Sound (Donald O. Mitchell, Douglas O. Williams, Richard Tyler, Harold M. Etherington)^[3]
• Golden Globe nomination: best actor (musical/comedy) - Gene Wilder

Production[link]

The film was the first collaboration between Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. Pryor was a writer, and the original choice for "Black Bart" in the Mel Brooks film Blazing Saddles, which also starred Wilder. The two would later go on to make more films together: Stir Crazy, See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Another You.

Although set in the United States on the fictional railroad "AMRoad" (loosely based on Amtrak), Silver Streak was filmed primarily in Canada (with the exception of Union Station in Los Angeles). All exterior train shots were filmed on the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in Alberta and Toronto; Amtrak reportedly backed out of the project due to disapproval of the scenes in which Caldwell accidentally bursts into Burns' bedroom while she is dressing, and the film's ending with the out-of-control train crashing through the terminal wall in Chicago.

Scenes of Midwestern U.S. landscapes appear behind train layouts and many action shots (as the protagonist and allies battle the villains on and off the train, and get thrown off or jump on and off the moving trains) to add narrative integrity to the fictional location. Most of the interior station scenes set both in Kansas City and Chicago actually show Toronto's Union Station, except for a brief sequence immediately prior to the crash where the train is rapidly approaching a bumper at the end of the line. That sequence was filmed from a Hi-Rail truck, entering the Chicago and North Western Railway's downtown Chicago terminal.

The train set was so lightly disguised as the fictional "AMRoad" that the locomotives and cars still carried their original names and numbers, along with the easily-identifiable CPR red-striped paint scheme. At the start of the climactic shootout, a CPR GM switcher is seen calmly moving cars in the background. Most of the cars are still in revenue service on Via Rail. CP 4070, the lead locomotive, is in Quebec, though long out of service, but the second unit, CP 4067, has been scrapped.

Score and soundtrack[link]

Even though the film dates to 1976, Henry Mancini's score was never officially released as a soundtrack before his death in 1994. When Intrada Records released a compilation in 2002, 26 years after the film's release, it became one of the Top Special Releases of 2002.^[4] The songs are:

• "Main Title" (starts out with a repeated leitmotif, which sounds intentionally just like a locomotive rhythm) - Henry Mancini
• "Hilly's theme" (Jazz version) - Henry Mancini
• "Runaway train" As the train speeds out of control and approaches to the station, Mancini punctuates the action with propulsive rhythms and flurries of motion- Henry Mancini
• "This Is Terrific" - Henry Mancini
• "Something For Jill" (It doesn't appear in the film, recorded for an early segment of the movie) - Mancini
• "Bye Bye Professor Lie Down George" - Henry Mancini
• "On To Kansas (Hilly's Theme)" (instrumental version, Mancini presents a complete statement of ”Hilly’s Theme.“) - Henry Mancini
• "Scenic Route" Source music (untitled), perhaps intended for the scene when George rides in the dining car, drinking and stacking glasses - Henry Mancini
• "The Fun Of Flying" (variation of Main theme) - Henry Mancini
• "Club Car Rock" - Henry Mancini
• "Sneaky George" - Henry Mancini
• "I'll Try" - Henry Mancini
• "Gold Teeth" - Henry Mancini
• "Son Of This Is Terrific" - Henry Mancini
• "Pure Pussy" - Henry Mancini
• "Scenic Route" - Henry Mancini
• "Shoe Shine" - Henry Mancini
• "Men's Room Rock" - Henry Mancini
• "The Swirl Effect" (Both the main theme and Hilly’s theme play through this track) - Henry Mancini
• "End Title" (Main theme with organ and coda for full orchestra) - Henry Mancini

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Silver Streak

• Silver Streak (film) at the Internet Movie Database
• Silver Streak (film) at AllRovi
• Silver Streak (1976) at Rotten Tomatoes
• Silver Streak on Soundtrack.net

Silver Streak may refer to:

• Silver Streak (bus), a bus rapid transit system
• Silver Streak (comics), a comic book character
• Silver Streak (film), a 1976 comedy, action and mystery film
• Silver Streak (roller coaster), a roller coaster
• Silver Streak (ride), an amusement park and carnival ride
• Silver Streak (train), a diesel-powered railroad train
• The Silver Streak, a 1934 film
• Matchless Silver Streak, a British motorcycle
• LNER Class A4, nicknamed "silver streaks" by trainspotters for the original silver color scheme
• Short Silver Streak, the first aircraft with stressed skin construction.

See also[link]

• Blue Streak (disambiguation)
• Red Streak
• Silverstreak
• Yellow streak

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Gene Wilder
Wilder at a book signing, May 2007
Born	Jerome Silberman (1933-06-11) June 11, 1933 (age 79) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Washington High School
Alma mater	University of Iowa
Occupation	Actor, Director, Writer, Author, Activist
Years active	1961–2003
Spouse	Mary Mercier (m. 1960–1965, divorced) Mary Joan Schutz (m. 1967–1974, divorced) Gilda Radner (m. 1984–1989, her death) Karen Boyer (m. 1991–present)
Children	Daughter
Signature

Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman; June 11, 1933) is an American stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, author and activist.

Wilder began his career on stage, making his screen debut in the TV series Armstrong Circle Theatre in 1962. Although his first film role was portraying a hostage in the 1967 motion picture Bonnie and Clyde, Wilder's first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This was the first in a series of collaborations with writer/director Mel Brooks, including 1974's Young Frankenstein, a script which garnered the pair an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Wilder is known for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and for his four films with Richard Pryor: Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), and Another You (1991). Wilder has directed and written several of his films, including The Woman in Red (1984).

He was married to actress Gilda Radner. Her death from ovarian cancer led to his active involvement in promoting cancer awareness and treatment, helping found the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Center in Los Angeles and co-founding Gilda's Club.^[1]

Since his most recent contribution to acting in 2003, Wilder has turned his attention to writing, producing a memoir in 2005, Kiss Me Like A Stranger: My Search for Love and Art, and the novels My French Whore (2007), The Woman Who Wouldn't (2008), and What Is This Thing Called Love (2010).

Early life and education[link]

Born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 11, 1933, Gene Wilder is the son of William J. and Jeanne (Baer) Silberman. He adopted "Gene Wilder" for his professional name at the age of 26, later explaining, "I had always liked Gene because of Thomas Wolfe's character Eugene Gant in Look Homeward, Angel and Of Time and the River. And I was always a great admirer of Thornton Wilder."^[2][3] Wilder first became interested in acting when at age 8, his mother was diagnosed with rheumatic fever and the doctor told him to "try and make her laugh."^[4] 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 wrote that he was bullied and sexually assaulted, primarily because he was the only Jewish boy in the school.^[5] After an unsuccessful short stay at Black-Foxe, Wilder returned home and became increasingly involved with the local theatre community. At age fifteen, he performed for the first time in front of a paying audience, as Balthasar (Romeo's manservant) in a production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.^[6] Gene Wilder graduated from Washington High School located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1951.

Acting career[link]

Early starts: Old Vic and Army[link]

Wilder studied Communication and Theatre Arts at the University of Iowa, where he was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity.^[7] Following his 1955 graduation from Iowa, he was accepted at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol, England. After six months of studying fencing, Wilder became the first freshman to win the All-School Fencing Championship.^[8] Desiring to study Stanislavski's system, he returned to the U.S., living with his sister and her family in Queens. Wilder enrolled at the HB Studio.^[9]

Wilder was drafted into the Army on September 10, 1956. At the end of recruit training, he was assigned to the medical corps and sent to Fort Sam Houston for training. He was then given the opportunity to choose any post that was open, and 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.^[10] In November 1957, his mother died from ovarian cancer. He was discharged from the army a year later and returned to New York. A scholarship to the HB Studio allowed him to become a full-time student. At first living on unemployment insurance and some savings, he later supported himself with odd jobs such as a limousine driver and fencing instructor.. Wilder's first professional acting job was in Cambridge, England, where he played the Second Officer in Herbert Berghof's production of Twelfth Night. He also served as a fencing choreographer.^[11]

After three years of study with Berghof and Uta Hagen at the HB Studio, Charles Grodin told Wilder about Lee Strasberg's method acting. Grodin persuaded him to leave the Studio and begin studying with Strasberg in his private class. Several months later, Wilder was accepted into the Actors Studio. Feeling that "Jerry Silberman in Macbeth" did not have the right ring to it, he adopted a stage name.^[12] He chose "Wilder" because it reminded him of Our Town author Thornton Wilder, while "Gene" came from Thomas Wolfe's first novel, Look Homeward, Angel. 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."^[12][13] He later said that he couldn't see Gene Wilder playing Macbeth, either. After joining the Actors Studio, he slowly began to be noticed in the Off Broadway scene, thanks to performances in Sir Arnold Wesker's Roots and in Graham Greene's The Complaisant Lover, for which Wilder received the Clarence Derwent Award for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Nonfeatured Role."

Mel Brooks[link]

In 1963, Wilder was cast in a leading role in Mother Courage and Her Children, a production starring Anne Bancroft, who introduced Wilder to her boyfriend Mel Brooks.^[14] 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. Brooks elicited a promise from Wilder that he would check with him before making any long-term commitments.^[14] Months went by, and Wilder toured the country with different theatre productions, participated in a televised CBS presentation of Death of a Salesman, and was cast for his first role in a film—a minor role in Arthur Penn's 1967 Bonnie and Clyde. After three years of not hearing from Brooks, Wilder was called for a reading with Zero Mostel, who was to be the star of Springtime for Hitler and had approval of his co-star. Mostel approved, and Wilder was cast for his first leading role in a feature film, 1968's The Producers.^[15]

The Producers eventually became a cult comedy classic,^[16][17] with Mel Brooks winning an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Wilder being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Nevertheless, Mel Brooks' first directorial effort did not do well at the box office and was not well-received by all critics; New York Times critic Renata Adler reviewed the film and described it as "black college humor."^[18][19]

In 1969, Wilder relocated to Paris, accepting a leading role in Bud Yorkin's Start the Revolution Without Me, a comedy that took place during the French Revolution. After shooting ended, Wilder returned to New York, where he read the script for Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx and immediately called Sidney Glazier, who produced The Producers. Both men began searching for the perfect director for the film. Jean Renoir was the first candidate, but he would not be able to do the film for at least a year, so British-Indian director Waris Hussein was hired.^[20]

[edit] Willy Wonka, Young Frankenstein, and Richard Pryor

In 1971, Mel Stuart offered Wilder the lead role in his film adaptation of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Wilder was initially hesitant, but finally accepted the role under one condition:

When Stuart asked why, Wilder replied, "because from that time on, no one will know if I'm lying or telling the truth."^[21]

All three films Wilder did after 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 seemed, to many parents, a moral story "too cruel" for children to understand, thus failing to attract family audiences.^[19] After hearing that Wonka had been a commercial failure, Woody Allen offered Wilder 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. Everything... was a hit, grossing over $18 million in the United States alone against a $2-million budget.^[22]

Wilder in 1984

After Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask), Wilder began working on a script he called Young Frankenstein. After he wrote a two-page scenario, he called Mel Brooks, who told him that it seemed like a "cute" idea but showed little interest.^[23] A couple of 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. The scene was later included in the film almost verbatim. Medavoy liked the idea and called Brooks, asking him to direct. Brooks was not convinced, but having spent four years working on two box office failures, he decided to accept.^[14] While working on the Young Frankenstein script, Wilder was offered the part of the Fox in the musical film adaptation of Saint Exupéry's classic book, The Little Prince. When filming was about to begin in London, Wilder received an urgent call from Mel Brooks, who was filming Blazing Saddles, offering Wilder the role of the "Waco Kid" after Dan Dailey dropped out at the last minute, while Gig Young became too ill to continue. Wilder shot his scenes for Blazing Saddles and immediately afterwards filmed The Little Prince.^[14]

After Young Frankenstein was written, the rights were to be sold to Columbia Pictures, but after having trouble agreeing on the budget, Wilder, Brooks and producer Michael Gruskoff went with 20th Century Fox, where both Brooks and Wilder had to sign five-year contracts. Young Frankenstein was a commercial success, with Wilder and Brooks receiving Best Adapted Screenplay nominations at the 1975 Oscars,^[24] losing to Francis Coppola and Mario Puzo for their adaptation of The Godfather Part II.^[25] While filming Young Frankenstein, Wilder had an idea for a romantic musical comedy about a brother of Sherlock Holmes. 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.^[26]

In 1975, Wilder's agent sent him a script for a film called Super Chief. Wilder accepted, but told the film's producers that he thought the only person who could keep the film from being offensive was Richard Pryor. Pryor accepted the role in the film, which had been renamed Silver Streak, the first film to team Wilder and Pryor. While filming Silver Streak, Wilder began working on a script for The World's Greatest Lover, inspired by Fellini's The White Sheik. Wilder wrote, produced, and directed The World's Greatest Lover, which premièred in 1977 but was a commercial and critical failure.^[27] The Frisco Kid (1979) would be Wilder's next project. The film was to star John Wayne, but he dropped out when the Warner Brothers executives tried to dissuade him from charging the studio his usual $1-million fee. Harrison Ford, then an up-and-coming actor, was hired for the role.

Sidney Poitier and Gilda Radner[link]

In 1980, Sidney Poitier and producer Hannah Weinstein persuaded Wilder and Richard Pryor to do another film together. Bruce Jay Friedman wrote the script for Stir Crazy, with Poitier directing, for Columbia Pictures. Pryor was struggling with a severe cocaine addiction, and filming became difficult; but once the film premiered, it became an international success. New York magazine listed "Skip Donahue" (Wilder) and "Harry Monroe" (Pryor) # 9 on their 2007 list of "The Fifteen Most Dynamic Duos in Pop Culture History," and the film has often appeared in "best comedy" lists and rankings.^[28][29]

Poitier and Wilder became friends, with the pair working together on a script called Traces—which became 1982's Hanky Panky, the film where Wilder met comedienne Gilda Radner. Through the remainder of the decade, Wilder and Radner worked in several projects together. After Hanky Panky, Wilder directed his third film, 1984's The Woman in Red, which starred Wilder, Radner, and Kelly LeBrock. The Woman in Red was not well-received by the critics, nor was their next project, 1986's Haunted Honeymoon, which failed to attract audiences.

TriStar Pictures wanted to produce another film starring Wilder and Pryor, and Wilder agreed to do See No Evil, Hear No Evil only if he was allowed to rewrite the script. The studio agreed, and See No Evil, Hear No Evil premiered on May 1989 to mostly negative reviews. Many critics praised Wilder and Pryor, and even Kevin Spacey's performance, but they mostly all agreed that the script was terrible. Roger Ebert called it "a real dud";^[30] the Deseret Morning News described the film as "stupid," with an "idiotic script" that had a "contrived story" and too many "juvenile gags";^[31] 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."^[32]

1990s–2000s[link]

After starring as a political cartoon writer who falls in love in the 1990 flop Funny About Love, Wilder did one final film with Richard Pryor, the 1991 box office flop Another You, in which Pryor's physical deterioration from multiple sclerosis was clearly noticeable.^[33] The film marked both Pryor's last starring role in a film (he would appear in a few cameos until his death in 2005) and also marked Wilder's last appearance in a feature film. His remaining work consisted of television movies and guest appearances in TV shows.

In 1994, Wilder starred in the NBC sitcom Something Wilder.^[34] The show received poor reviews and lasted only one season. He went back to the small screen on 1999, appearing in three television movies, one of which was the NBC adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. The other two were mystery movies for A&E television in which Wilder played Larry "Cash" Carter, a theater director turned private eye (those two films were also co-written by Wilder). 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.^[35]

Personal life[link]

Relationships[link]

Wilder met his first wife, Mary Mercier, while studying at the HB Studio in New York. Although the couple had not been together long, they married on July 22, 1960. They spent long periods of time apart, eventually divorcing in 1965. A few months later, Wilder began dating Mary Joan Schutz, a friend of his sister. Schutz had a daughter, Katharine, from a previous marriage. When Katharine started calling Wilder "Dad," he decided to do what he felt was "the right thing to do,"^[36] marrying Schutz on October 27, 1967 and adopting Katharine that same year. Schutz and Wilder separated after seven years of marriage, with Schutz thinking that Wilder was having an affair with his Young Frankenstein co-star, Madeline Kahn. After the divorce, he briefly dated his other Frankenstein co-star, Teri Garr. Wilder would eventually become estranged from Katharine.^[14][37]

Wilder met Saturday Night Live actress Gilda Radner on August 13, 1981, while filming Sidney Poitier's Hanky Panky. Radner was married to G.E. Smith at the time, but she and Wilder became inseparable friends. When the filming of Hanky ended, Wilder found himself missing Radner, so he called her. The relationship grew, and Radner eventually divorced Smith in 1982. She moved in with Wilder, and the couple married on September 14, 1984, in the south of France. The couple wanted to have children, but Radner suffered miscarriages, and doctors could not determine the problem. After experiencing severe fatigue and suffering from pain in her upper legs on the set of Haunted Honeymoon, Radner sought medical treatment. Following a number of false diagnoses, it was determined that she had ovarian cancer in October 1986.^[38] Over the next year and a half, Radner battled the disease, receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments. The disease finally went into remission, giving the pair a respite, during which time Wilder filmed See No Evil, Hear No Evil.^[38] By May 1989, the cancer returned and had metastasized. Radner died on May 20, 1989.^[39] Wilder later stated, "I always thought she'd pull through."^[40]

Following Radner's death, Wilder became active in promoting cancer awareness and treatment, helping found the Gilda Radner Ovarian Cancer Detection Center in Los Angeles and co-founding Gilda's Club, a support group to raise awareness of cancer that began in New York City and now has branches throughout the country.^[7]

Semi-retirement and authorship[link]

Wilder at a book signing in May 2007

While preparing for his role as a deaf man in See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Wilder met Karen Webb (née Boyer), who was a clinical supervisor for the New York League for the Hard of Hearing. Webb coached him in lip reading. Following Gilda Radner's death, Wilder and Webb reconnected, and on September 8, 1991, they married.^[40] The two live in Stamford, Connecticut, in the 1734 Colonial home that he shared with Radner. The Wilders spend most of their time painting watercolors, writing, and participating in charitable efforts.^[14] 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.^[14][41] Also in 2001, Wilder donated a collection of scripts, correspondences, documents, photographs, and clipped images to the University of Iowa Libraries.^[2]

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.^[14]

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. Two years later, in March 2007, Wilder released his first novel, My French Whore, which is set during World War I.^[42] His second novel, The Woman Who Wouldn't, was released in March 2008.^[43] In 2010, he released a collection of stories called What is This Thing Called Love?.^[44]

In a 2008, Turner Classic Movies special Role Model: Gene Wilder, where Alec Baldwin interviewed Wilder about his career, Wilder said that he was basically retired from acting for good. "I don't like show business, I realized," he explained. "I like show, but I don't like the business."

An unauthorized biography of Wilder entitled Gene Wilder: Funny and Sad by Brian Scott Mednick was published in December 2010 by BearManor Media.

Work[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

• Voice for The Electric Company's segment The Adventures of Letterman (60 episodes, 1972–77)
• Something Wilder (1994–95)
• Will & Grace (2002) Episode "Boardroom and a Parked Place" (Guest Star – Mr. Stein)
• Will & Grace (2003) Episode "Sex, Losers & Videotape" (Guest Star – Mr. Stein)

Stage[link]

• The Complaisant Lover (Broadway, 1962)
• Mother Courage and Her Children (Broadway, 1963)
• Death Of A Salesman
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Broadway, 1963)
• The White House (Broadway, 1964)
• Luv (Broadway, 1966)
• The Scarecrow (Broadway, 1972)
• Rhinoceros (1974)
• Laughter on the 23rd Floor (London, 1996)

Publications[link]

• Piver, M. Steven and Gene Wilder. Gilda's Disease: Sharing Personal Experiences and a Medical Perspective on Ovarian Cancer. Broadway Books, 1998. ISBN 0-7679-0138-X.
• Wilder, Gene. Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art. St. Martin's Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-33706-X.
• Wilder, Gene. My French Whore. St. Martin's Press, 2007. ISBN 0-312-36057-6.
• Wilder, Gene. The Woman Who Wouldn't. St. Martin's Press, 2008. ISBN 0-312-37578-6.
• Wilder, Gene. What is this Thing Called Love?. St. Martin's Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-312-59890-7

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Piver, M. Steven and Gene Wilder. Gilda's Disease: Sharing Personal Experiences and a Medical Perspective On Ovarian Cancer. Broadway Books, 1998. ISBN 0-7679-0138-X.
• Radner, Gilda. It's Always Something. Simon and Shuster, 1989. ISBN 0-671-63868-8.
• Wilder, Gene. Kiss Me Like a Stranger: My Search for Love and Art. St. Martin's Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-33706-X.

External links[link]

• "The Films of Gene Wilder", video compilation of movie clips, 4 minutes
• Gene Wilder at the Internet Movie Database
• Gene Wilder at the Internet Broadway Database
• Gene Wilder at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Gene Wilder at the TCM Movie Database
• Gene Wilder at AllRovi

Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor, February 1986
Birth name	Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor
Born	(1940-12-01)December 1, 1940 Peoria, Illinois, United States
Died	December 10, 2005(2005-12-10) (aged 65) Encino, California, United States
Medium	Stand-up, Film, Television
Nationality	American
Years active	1958–1999
Genres	Satire, Observational comedy, Black comedy, Improvisational comedy, Character comedy
Subject(s)	Racism, Race relations, American politics, African-American culture, Human sexuality, Self-deprecation, Everyday life, Recreational drug use
Influences	Lenny Bruce,[1] Jack Benny, Jonathan Winters, Bill Cosby, Dick Gregory, Redd Foxx, Paul Mooney
Influenced	George Carlin,[2] Martin Lawrence,[3] George Lopez,[4] Denis Leary, Margaret Cho,[5] Eddie Izzard, Dave Chappelle,[6] Chris Rock,[7] Eddie Murphy,[7] Whoopi Goldberg,[8] Bill Hicks,[9] Robin Williams,[8] Lewis Black[10] Colin Quinn,[11] Bernie Mac,[7] Joe Rogan, Chris Tucker[12], Louis C.K.,[13] Patton Oswalt[14] Artie Lange,[15] Jon Stewart,[16]Richard Lewis,[17] and Jim Norton[18]
Spouse	Patricia Price (1960–1961; divorced) 1 child Shelley R. Bonis (1968–1969; divorced) 1 child Deborah McGuire (1977–1978; divorced) Jennifer Lee (1979–1982; divorced) Flynn Belaine (1986–1987; divorced) 2 children Flynn Belaine (1990–1991; divorced) Jennifer Lee (2001–2005; widow)
Notable works and roles	Himself in Richard Pryor: Live in Concert and Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip Daddy Rich in Car Wash Wally Karue in See No Evil, Hear No Evil Harry Monroe in Stir Crazy Gus Gorman in Superman III
Website	RichardPryor.com
Emmy Awards
Writing in Variety or Music 1974 Lily
Grammy Awards
Best Comedy Album 1975 That Nigger's Crazy 1976 ...Is It Something I Said? 1977 Bicentennial Nigger 1982 Rev. Du Rite 1983 Live on the Sunset Strip
American Comedy Awards
Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy 1993

Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer, and MC.^[19] Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of his era: Jerry Seinfeld called Pryor "The Picasso of our profession";^[20] Bob Newhart has called Pryor "the seminal comedian of the last 50 years.".^[21] This legacy can be attributed, in part, to the unusual degree of intimacy Pryor brought to bear on his comedy. As Bill Cosby reportedly once said, "Richard Pryor drew the line between comedy and tragedy as thin as one could possibly paint it."

His body of work includes the concert movies and recordings Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin' (1971), That Nigger's Crazy (1974), ...Is It Something I Said? (1975), Bicentennial Nigger (1976), Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979), Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982), and Richard Pryor: Here and Now (1983). He also starred in numerous films as an actor, such as Superman III (1983) but was usually in comedies such as Silver Streak (1976), and occasionally in dramatic roles, such as Paul Schrader's film Blue Collar (1978). He collaborated on many projects with actor Gene Wilder. Another frequent collaborator was actor/comedian/writer Paul Mooney.

Pryor won an Emmy Award (1973), and five Grammy Awards (1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, and 1982). In 1974, he also won two American Academy of Humor awards and the Writers Guild of America Award. The first ever Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor was presented to him in 1998. Pryor is listed at Number 1 on Comedy Central's list of all-time greatest stand-up comedians.

Early life[link]

Born in Peoria, Illinois, Pryor grew up in his grandmother's brothel, where his mother, Gertrude L. (Thomas), practiced prostitution. His father, LeRoy "Buck Carter" Pryor was a former bartender and boxer.^[22]

After his mother abandoned him when he was 10, he was raised primarily by his grandmother Marie Carter,^[23] a violent woman who would beat him for any of his eccentricities.^[24] Pryor was one of four children raised in his grandmother's brothel and was molested as a child.^[22][25]

He was expelled from school at the age of 14. His first professional performance was playing drums at a night club. Pryor served in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1960, but spent virtually the entire stint in an army prison. According to a 1999 profile about Pryor in The New Yorker, Pryor was incarcerated for an incident that occurred while stationed in Germany. Angered that a white soldier was a bit too amused at the racially charged sections of Douglas Sirk's movie Imitation of Life, Pryor and some other black soldiers beat and stabbed him, though not fatally.^[26] According to Live on the Sunset Strip, when he was 19, he worked at a Mafia-owned nightclub in Youngstown, Ohio, as the MC. On hearing that they would not pay a stripper friend of his, he attempted to hold up the owners with a cap pistol. The owners were greatly amused.

During this time, Pryor's girlfriend gave birth to a girl named Renee. Years later, however, he found out that she was not his child. In 1960, he married Patricia Price and they had one child together, Richard Jr. (his first child and first son). They divorced in 1961.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

In 1963, Pryor moved to New York City and began performing regularly in clubs alongside performers such as Bob Dylan and Woody Allen. On one of his first nights, he opened for singer and pianist Nina Simone at New York's Village Gate. Simone recalls Pryor's bout of performance anxiety:

Publicity photo of Richard Pryor for one of his Mister Kelly's appearances, 1968 - 1969.

Inspired by Bill Cosby, Pryor began as a middlebrow comic, with material far less controversial than what was to come. Soon, he began appearing regularly on television variety shows, such as The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show. His popularity led to success as a comic in Las Vegas. The first five tracks on the 2005 compilation CD Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years (1966–1974), recorded in 1966 and 1967, capture Pryor in this era.

In September 1967, Pryor had what he called in his autobiography Pryor Convictions an "epiphany" when he walked onto the stage at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas (with Dean Martin in the audience), looked at the sold-out crowd, exclaimed over the microphone "What the f@#k am I doing here!?", and walked off the stage. Afterward, Pryor began working profanity into his act, including "nigger". His first comedy recording, the eponymous 1968 debut release on the Dove/Reprise label, captures this particular period, tracking the evolution of Pryor's routine. Around this time, his parents died — his mother in 1967 and his father in 1968.

In 1967, his second child and first daughter, Elizabeth Ann, was born to his girlfriend Maxine Anderson. Later that year, he married Shelley Bonis. In 1969, his third child and second daughter, Rain Pryor, was born. Pryor and Bonis divorced later that year.

Mainstream success[link]

In 1969, Pryor moved to Berkeley, California, where he immersed himself in the counterculture and rubbed elbows with the likes of Huey P. Newton and Ishmael Reed. He signed with the comedy-oriented independent record label Laff Records in 1970, and in 1971 recorded his second album, Craps (After Hours). In 1973, the relatively unknown comedian appeared in the documentary Wattstax, where he riffed on the tragic-comic absurdities of race relations in Watts and the nation. Not long afterward, Pryor sought a deal with a larger label, and after some time, signed with Stax Records. His third, breakthrough album, That Nigger's Crazy, was released in 1974 and, Laff, who claimed ownership of Pryor's recording rights, almost succeeded in getting an injunction to prevent the album from being sold. Negotiations led to Pryor's release from his Laff contract. In return for this concession, Laff was enabled to release previously unissued material, recorded between 1968 and 1973, at will.

During the legal battle, Stax briefly closed its doors. At this time, Pryor returned to Reprise/Warner Bros. Records, which re-released That Nigger's Crazy, immediately after ...Is It Something I Said?, his first album with his new label. With every successful album Pryor recorded for Warner (or later, his concert films and his 1980 freebasing accident), Laff would quickly publish an album of older material to capitalize on Pryor's growing fame—a practice they continued until 1983. The covers of Laff albums tied in thematically with Pryor movies, such as The Wizard of Comedy for his appearance in The Wiz, Are You Serious? for Silver Streak, and Insane for Stir Crazy.

Pryor also performed in the Lilly Tomlin specials. He is seen here with Tomlin and Alan Alda in Tomlin's 1973 special.

In the 1970s, Pryor wrote for such television shows as Sanford and Son, The Flip Wilson Show and a Lily Tomlin special, for which he shared an Emmy Award^[28]. During this period, Pryor tried to break into mainstream television. He was a guest host on the first season of Saturday Night Live. Richard took long time girlfriend, actress-talk show host Kathrine McKee (sister of Lonette McKee) with him to New York, and she made a brief guest appearance with Pryor on SNL. He participated in a "racist word association" skit^[29] with Chevy Chase.

The Richard Pryor Show premiered on NBC in 1977, but was canceled after only four episodes. Television audiences did not respond to the show's controversial subject matter, and Pryor was unwilling to alter his material for network censors. During the short-lived series, he portrayed the first African-American President of the United States, spoofed the Star Wars cantina, took on gun violence, and in another skit, used costumes and visual distortion to appear nude.^[30]

In 1974, Pryor was arrested for income tax evasion and served 10 days in jail. He married actress Deborah McGuire in 1977, but they divorced in 1978. He soon began dating Jennifer Lee and they married in 1981. They divorced the following year.

In 1979, at the height of his success, Pryor visited Africa. Upon returning to the United States, Pryor swore he would never use the word "nigger" in his stand-up comedy routine again.^[31] (However, his favorite epithet, "motherf@#ker", remains a term of endearment on his official website.)

In the 1970s and 1980s, Pryor appeared in several popular films, including Lady Sings the Blues; The Mack; Uptown Saturday Night; Silver Streak; Which Way Is Up?; Car Wash; Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings; Greased Lightning; Blue Collar & Bustin' Loose. In 1982, Pryor co-starred with Jackie Gleason in The Toy.

Pryor in February 1986.

In 1983, Pryor signed a five-year contract with Columbia Pictures for $40,000,000.^[32] This resulted in the gentrification of Pryor's onscreen persona and softer, more formulaic films like Superman III, (which earned Pryor $4,000,000), Brewster's Millions, Stir Crazy, Moving, and See No Evil, Hear No Evil. The only film project from this period that recalled his rough roots was Pryor's semi-autobiographic debut as a writer-director, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling, which was not a major success. Though he made four films with Gene Wilder, the two comic actors were never as close as many thought, according to Wilder's autobiography. 

Pryor co-wrote Blazing Saddles, directed by Mel Brooks and starring Gene Wilder. Pryor was to play the lead role of Bart, but the film's production studio would not insure him, and Mel Brooks chose Cleavon Little instead. Before his infamous 1980 freebasing accident, Pryor was about to start filming Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part I, but was replaced at the last minute by Gregory Hines. Pryor was also originally considered for the role of Billy Ray Valentine on Trading Places, before Eddie Murphy won the part.

Despite a reputation for constantly using profanity on and off camera, Pryor briefly hosted a children's show on CBS in 1984 called Pryor's Place. Like Sesame Street, Pryor's Place featured a cast of puppets, hanging out and having fun in a surprisingly friendly inner-city environment along with several children and characters portrayed by Pryor himself. However, Pryor's Place frequently dealt with more sobering issues than Sesame Street. It was canceled shortly after its debut, despite the efforts of famed puppeteers Sid and Marty Krofft and a theme song by Ray Parker, Jr. of Ghostbusters fame.

Pryor co-hosted the Academy Awards twice, and was nominated for an Emmy for a guest role on the television series, Chicago Hope.

Pryor developed a reputation for being demanding and disrespectful on film sets, and for making selfish and difficult demands. In his autobiography Kiss Me Like a Stranger, co-star Gene Wilder says that Pryor was frequently late to the set during filming of Stir Crazy, and that he demanded, among other things, a helicopter to fly him to and from set because he was the star. Pryor was also accused of using allegations of on-set racism to force the hand of film producers into giving him more money. Also from Wilder's book:

In 1989, he appeared in Harlem Nights, a comedy-drama crime film starring Eddie Murphy. It was a financial success, grossing three times the amount it cost to make it (worldwide) and is well known for starring three generations of black comedians (Pryor, Eddie Murphy, and Redd Foxx).

Personal life[link]

Health problems[link]

Pryor suffered a mild heart attack in November 1977. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1986.^[33] In 1990, Pryor suffered a second and more severe heart attack and underwent triple heart bypass surgery. By the early 1990s, he was confined to using a wheelchair as well as a motor powered scooter for the remainder of his life to get around when his multiple sclerosis began to take its toll on his body.

The freebasing incident[link]

On June 9, 1980, during the making of the film Bustin' Loose, Pryor set himself on fire after freebasing cocaine while drinking 151-proof rum. He ran down Parthenia Street from his Northridge, California, home, on fire, until subdued by police. He was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for burns covering more than half of his body. Pryor spent six weeks in recovery at the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital. His daughter, Rain Pryor, stated that Pryor poured high-proof rum over his body and set himself on fire in a bout of drug-induced psychosis.^[34]

Pryor incorporated a description of the incident into his comedy show Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip in 1982. He joked that the event was caused by dunking a cookie into a glass of low-fat and pasteurized milk, causing an explosion. At the end of the bit, he poked fun at people who told jokes about it by waving a lit match and saying, "What's that? Richard Pryor running down the street."

After his "final performance", Pryor did not stay away from stand-up comedy long. In 1983, he filmed and released a new concert film and accompanying album, Richard Pryor: Here and Now, which he directed himself. In 1986, he wrote and directed a fictionalized account of his life, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling which revolved around the 1980 freebasing incident.

In 1984, his fourth child and second son, Steven, was born to his girlfriend Flynn Belaine. Pryor married Belaine in October 1986. They divorced in July 1987. Before their divorce was final, Belaine conceived Kelsey Pryor. Meanwhile, another of Pryor's girlfriends, Geraldine Mason, gave birth to Franklin Mason, his fifth child and third son, in April 1987. Six months later in October 1987, Belaine gave birth to Kelsey Pryor, Richard's sixth child and third daughter.

Marriages and relationships[link]

Pryor was married seven times to five different women:

1. Patricia Price (1960–1961, divorced) with one child named Richard Pryor Jr.
2. Shelly Bonis (1967–1969, divorced) with one child named Rain Pryor
3. Deborah McGuire (September 22, 1977 – 1979, divorced)
4. Jennifer Lee (August 1981 – October 1982, divorced)
5. Flynn Belaine (October 1986 – July 1987, divorced) with son Steven (born before the marriage) and daughter Kelsey (before divorce finalized)
6. Flynn Belaine (1 April 1990 – July 1991, divorced)
7. Jennifer Lee (June 29, 2001 – December 10, 2005, his death)

His marriages were characterized by accusations of domestic violence, except for his relationship with Belaine. Most of these allegations were connected to Pryor's drug use. The exception was Patricia Price, who was married to Pryor before his rise to stardom. During his relationship with Pam Grier, Pryor proposed to Deborah McGuire (1977).

He had six children: Richard Jr., Elizabeth, Rain, Steven, Franklin and Kelsey.

Pryor had a relationship with actress Margot Kidder.^[35]

Later life[link]

In his later years starting in the early 1990s, Richard Pryor used a power operated vehicle/scooter due to multiple sclerosis (M.S., which he said stood for "More S#!t"). He appears on the scooter in his last film appearance, a small role in David Lynch's Lost Highway (1997) playing an auto repair garage manager named Arnie.

In 1998, Pryor won the first Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. According to former Kennedy Center President Lawrence J. Wilker,

In 2000, Rhino Records remastered all of Pryor's Reprise and WB albums for inclusion in the box set ...And It's Deep Too! The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (1968–1992).

In early 2000, he appeared in the cold open of The Norm Show in the episode entitled "Norm vs. The Boxer". He played an elderly man in a wheelchair who lost the rights to in-home nursing when he kept attacking the nurses, before attacking Norm himself (using a body double).^[36]

In 2001, he remarried Jennifer Lee, who had also become his manager.

In 2002 a television documentary depicted Pryor's life and career. Broadcast in the UK as part of the Channel 4 series Kings of Black Comedy, it was produced, directed and narrated by David Upshal. It featured rare clips from Pryor's 1960s stand-up appearances and movies such as Silver Streak, Blue Collar, Stir Crazy, and Richard Pryor Live In Concert. Contributors included Whoopi Goldberg, Dave Chappelle, Lily Tomlin, George Carlin, Joan Rivers, Ice-T, and Paul Mooney. The show tracked down the two cops who rescued Pryor from his "freebasing incident", former managers and even school friends from Pryor's home town of Peoria, Illinois. In the US the show went out as part of the Heroes of Black Comedy series on Comedy Central, narrated by Don Cheadle.

In 2002, Pryor and his wife and manager, Jennifer Lee Pryor, won legal rights to all the Laff material, which amounted to almost 40 hours of reel-to-reel analog tape. After going through the tapes and getting Richard's blessing, Jennifer Lee Pryor gave access to the tapes to Rhino Records in 2004. These tapes, including the entire Craps album, form the basis of the double-CD release Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years (1966–1974).

A 2003 television documentary, Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!! consisted of archival footage of Pryor's performances and testimonials from fellow comedians, including Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Wanda Sykes, and Denis Leary, on Pryor's influence on comedy.