Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner in Their Own Words

By Madeline Boardman
Updated August 29, 2016 at 09:38 PM EDT

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Gilda and Gene on Gilda and Gene

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Gene Wilder died at the age of 83 on Aug. 28, 2016, 26 years after the death of his then-wife, Gilda Radner. The two late stars were married for five years in the 1980s, leading a beloved love story until Radner's death from ovarian cancer in 1989. Wilder remarried Karen Boyer, whom he called the "love of [his] life," two years later, and was with her until his death. Read words from Wilder and Radner on one another, ahead.

 

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Gilda and Gene on Gilda and Gene

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"I had been a workaholic. I'd taken on job after another for ten years. But just looking at Gene made me want to stop... made me want to cook... made me want to start a garden... to have a family and settle down." — Gilda Radner in It's Always Something

 

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Gilda and Gene on Gilda and Gene

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"When Gilda arrived, I thought she looked radiant. She was calm, cheerful, sensitive." — Gene Wilder in Kiss Me Like A Stranger: My Search for Love and Art

 

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Gilda and Gene on Gilda and Gene

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"I had one brave contribution to make to Gilda. I was so incredibly dumb, it was hard to believe, because I thought she was going to pull through until three weeks before she died. Two-and-three-quarters years, I thought that she would make it. And I would say that to her, and she said, 'Really?' And I said, I'll find -- 'Right now, I'll exchange life spans with you.' The irony is that I meant it." — Gene Wilder to Larry King in 2002

 

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Gilda and Gene on Gilda and Gene

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"I ordered stationery that said 'Gilda Wilder' and 'Mr. and Mrs. G. Wilder.' I was uneasy for a while trying to figure out when to be Gilda Radner, the TV star, when to be Gilda Wilder, a brand-new person, when to be Mrs. Gene Wilder, the wife of the international movie star, and when to be Mrs. G. Wilder, just another blushing bride. I decided I could be them all. — Gilda Radner in It's Always Something

 

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Gilda and Gene on Gilda and Gene

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"I had been a fan of Gene Wilder's for many years, but the first time I saw him in person, my heart fluttered — I was hooked. It felt like my life went from black and white to Technicolor. Gene was funny and athletic and handsome, and he smelled good. I was bitten with love." — Gilda Radner in It's Always Something

 

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Gilda and Gene on Gilda and Gene

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"She learned the stuff of life that would help you to lead a happy life, except, unfortunately, she didn't live long enough to enjoy it... The truth is, it was fun. It was fun. It was the best years of my life, truly." — Gene Wilder to Connie Chung in 1990.

 

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Gilda and Gene on Gilda and Gene

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"The essence of her, her spirit free from pain, the Gilda that's free from pain, that Gilda is with me. In that sense, I'm happier now than when I saw her writhing in pain." — Gene Wilder to Connie Chung in 1990.

 

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Gilda and Gene on Gilda and Gene

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"I'm lucky I'm with a man who isn't superficial. I think he was really put to the test. But he loves and cares about what's inside me — who I am, rather than if I have hair." — Gilda Radner to Glamour magazine in 1989.

 

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By Madeline Boardman