Inside Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner’s ‘Mythological’ Love Story During Her Cancer Journey

A new documentary about the life and career of Gene Wilder revisits the marriage of the legendary actor with Saturday night live star Gilda Radner.

Remembering Gene Wilder delves into Wilder’s childhood in Wisconsin and creative partnership with Mel Brooks. The documentary also shares insights into his relationship with Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989 at the age of 42. Sam Wilder died at the age of 83 in 2016.

“The day Gilda and I met, I was wearing makeup and a tuxedo when I went up to her to say hello,” Wilder says in the film, which uses narration from the actor’s 2006 memoir. Kiss me like a stranger. The couple met during the filming of the film in 1982 Hopa cupa with director Sidney Poitier. Screenwriter Alan Zweibel, a friend of both Wilder and Radner, recalls in the documentary that Radner was unhappily married to Saturday night live bandleader GE Smith at the time.

“When she told me she’d become friends with Gene Wilder — very friendly, all right — that was a euphemism for ‘I’m going to end up with Gene Wilder,'” he says.

From the PEOPLE archives: Gene Wilder bids a tearful farewell to wife Gilda Radner

Remembering Gene Wilder movie poster.

Lorber cinema

Radner and Wilder were married on September 18, 1984 in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France. As Robin and Alan Zweibel claim in the documentary, Wilder helped the actress recover from addiction and eating disorders after they began living together in Los Angeles. Brooks, 97, recalls that he and his wife, Anne Bancroft, often dined with Wilder and Radner, saying, “We were the best of friends, it was wonderful.”

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Gilda Radner and Gene Wilder during an interview in 1984.

Ted Dully/The Boston Globe via Getty

“Gilda was the most generous, compassionate and genuine person I have ever met,” Wilder says in the documentary’s narration. “Gilda was wonderful to be with, most of the time. She was so strong-willed, yet so fragile.”

As Robin recalls in the documentary, some time after her and Wilder’s wedding, Radner experienced an ectopic pregnancy, which she described as “devastating” for the couple. A few months later, the actress was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

“There’s something mythological about someone going through all this, finding the love of their life and then God saying, ‘Ha! You’re not going to enjoy this,'” says Alan. He also recalls that Wilder “was great” in helping Radner through her illness.

Inside Gene Wilder’s love story with Gilda Radner

Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner.

Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

The documentary shows footage of Wilder at a 2006 event at 92NY, saying he never thought she would die of cancer. “I was stupid, because everyone else seemed to know, but I didn’t,” he remarked.

Radner died on May 20, 1989. Wilder “buried her in front of a tall white ash tree three miles from her home in Connecticut,” as she recounts in the documentary.

“All my early life I worried about whether I would be good enough to please God. Gilda didn’t think about those things; she was just naturally good,” he adds. “I don’t want to be a better person than Gilda – she was only human. And that’s all I want to be – only human.”

Remembering Gene Wilder is now playing in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, and will soon expand to screens across the country.

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Source: HIS Education