I’m sorry I called you “Fat, fat, fat”.*

by chuckofish

Happy birthday, Jerome Silberman! Alias Gene Wilder (born June 11, 1933). Okay, I admit, I love Gene Wilder.

Gene_Wilder_1970

Maybe it is because he chose his stage name because he liked the character Eugene Gant in Look Homeward, Angel and he was always a great admirer of Thornton Wilder. Those are good reasons.

Maybe it is because he does such a great imitation of Kirk Douglas as Jim, the Waco Kid, in Blazing Saddles (1972), which is a movie I do not love. But Gene is perfect.

BlazingSaddles_12569828384_5

Anyway, I like him. Despite the fact that so many of his movies are take-offs and parodies, which is not a genre I love, I like him.

Oy. Will you toast Gene with me tonight? Happy 81st birthday, Jerome!

*Leo Bloom in The Producers