Mel Brooks shares fun times with Gene Wilder on "Blazing Saddles" and "The Producers"
On Aug. 29, the world lost another of its most iconic comedic actors, Gene Wilder, whose death was followed by plenty of nostalgic moments and surprising reveals. Mel Brooks, who starred on “Blazing Saddles” with Wilder, remembered him with fondness and some heartache.
In an appearance on “The Tonight Show,” Brooks admitted knowing that Wilder was sick. “I expected he would go,” the 90-year-old actor said. “But it’s still tremendous… I’m still reeling from the ‘No more Gene, I can’t call him.’”
When asked how he first met Wilder, Brooks smiled at the memory before sharing the story. It all started during the production of “Mother Courage,” where Brooks' late wife and Wilder were part of the cast, and the two became very good friends.
Brooks went on to share how the they worked on “The Producers” together, and how Wilder cried when he first found out it was becoming a reality.
A week before Wilder’s death, Brooks was interviewed by Rolling Stone. Even then, Brooks thought and spoke about Wilder with fondness. Particularly, Brooks discussed the passion and dedication that Wilder showed on set in “Blazing Saddles.”
For the film, Wilder was cast as the Waco Kid, who was an alcoholic, like he was. “He knew how to do it,” Brooks admitted. But on the first day of shooting, Wilder began throwing up on set, and Brooks sent him to the hospital. During his stay, Brooks called him up in tears.
“I heard him sigh over the phone,” Brooks recalled. "[Wilder said] ’I know, Mel, I'm the Waco Kid, you need me, I'll be there.’" The next day, Wilder shot a scene where he was hanging upside down next to Cleavon Little.
Brooks admitted that a lot of what made the film hilarious and successful was not the script itself. More than that, it was Wilder’s delivery of all his lines.
Wilder died of complications of Alzheimer's disease at the age of 83. He is most known for his role as Willy Wonka in the 1971 version of “Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.”
