"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men." RIP Gene Wilder

There are so many films to remember Gene Wilder by. The Producers. Silver Streak. Blazing Saddles. Young Frankenstein. 

For many of us Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, adapted from the Roald Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by the author himself, remains a sentimental favorite, resonating with our inner child. All those bratty kids getting their come-uppance while Charlie, sweet Charlie, good, decent, endearing boy got what he had coming to him as well. All meted out with a devilish undercurrent by Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. If only life were really like that! The Violets of the world changed into big fat bursting blueberries. The Mikes reduced to ant-like pests and nothing more!

Gene Wilder couldn't have done it without a heartwrench performance from Peter Ostrum as Charlie and Jack Albertson as Grandpa Joe.

RIP Gene Wilder 

6/11/1933—8/29/2016

Thank you for bringing us a little nonsense now and then.

I've just learned that the cause of Gene Wilder's death yesterday was due to complications from Alzheimer's disease. The diagnosis was kept private, possibly because the disease stole the Gene Wilder we know from his friends and family long before his actual death. That's how Alzheimer's—the disease that took my mother over ten years before she actually died at age 86—works.