Gene Wilder's Widow Remembers Actor's Sweet Last Words in New Documentary

Karen Boyer, Gene Wilder’s widow, remembers her late husband’s last words before his death in August 2016.
A new documentary “Remembering Gene Wilder” focuses on the actor’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis and his final days.
In the film, Boyer recalls listening to Ella Fitzgerald’s legendary hit, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” with Gene before speaking for the last time.
“Music was playing in the background. Ella Fitzgerald was singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow,’ and I was lying next to him, and he sat up in bed and he said, ‘I trust you.'” , she said, according to People. review.
“And then he said, ‘I love you.’ That’s the last thing he said.
Wilder died on August 29, 2016 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 83 years old.
Boyer remembers the first time she realized Wilder was having memory problems when he couldn’t remember the title of “Young Frankenstein,” which she said was “his favorite movie.”
“He never really accepted that he had Alzheimer’s, and maybe by the time we found out that that’s what it was, his hippocampus wouldn’t allow him to remember it,” she said in the film.
“So I’m not sure he ever knew. When I saw him walk away from me, my stomach hurt, but I had to keep smiling and tell him everything was okay.
Boyer added: “Gene was wonderful; I think he was the best husband anyone could ask for. To love and be loved is the greatest gift anyone could ask for, and we got it.
Wilder was married four times. His third marriage to comedian Gilda Radner, an original cast member of “Saturday Night Live,” lasted from 1984 to 1989, when she died of ovarian cancer.
The former couple met on the set of the Sydney Poitier-directed film “Hanky Panky.”
He married Karen Webb (Boyer) in 1991, a supervisor for the New York League for the Hard of Hearing who was an expert on his 1989 film, “See No Evil, Hear No Evil.”
Brian Scott Mednick, who published a biography about the Hollywood icon called “Gene Wilder: Funny and Sad,” remembers that Wilder was completely in love with Karen.
“Gene called Karen the great love of his life,” Mednick told Woman’s World in 2018. “It was his fourth marriage and longest; he died shortly before their 25th wedding anniversary.
Gene admitted to being very unhappy with Gilda for a long time. He didn’t think he would remarry and he said he didn’t believe in destiny.
“And he almost cried while telling an interviewer how passionate his love for Karen was. He said he always felt like you make your life and then call it destiny, but Karen made him believe in destiny. Like any marriage, it was not without its problems, but it was a very strong and loving marriage. He simply idolized her.

Categories: Music