Gene Wilder Quotes

Leslie Nielsen was my favorite growing up; getting to work with him was amazing.

Harpo Marx looks like a musical comedy.

I think of Mike Myers as the Buster Keaton of today. I think he's brought us something so special.

I have gotten a couple of letters meant for Mr. Bean aka Rowan Atkinson. These letters would say things like, 'You're so funny, you make me laugh, with your big rubbery face,' and I would say, 'You can't mean me!'

I'm a huge film star... but you have to hurry to the movies, because I usually die in the first 15 f--ing minutes. I'm the only guy I know who died in a f--ing Muppet movie.

Gene Wilder characters wanted to be calm, but to the great delight of audiences, they rarely succeeded.

Working with Robin Williams, what can you say? He's the best of the best. What I really liked watching was, not only is he incredible funny, probably the funniest person on Earth which is a tough award to give out, but to see what it really takes to be a huge star is way beyond a good partner being extremely funny.

In comedy timing is everything, but Betty White is the rarest of comics who seems to have mastered time itself.

Michael Pitt is amazing. His physical comedy is extraordinary; he's so committed and so willing to play within the scenes. It makes you feel very free to also explore.

Over the past 50 years Bob Hope employed 88 joke writers who supplied him with more than one million gags, and he still couldn't make me laugh.

I'd love for someone to ask me about comedic technique and choices.

I wanted to be John Cleese. It took me some time to realise that the job was taken.

George Lopez does so much mugging, I'm surprised he's not up on charges.

Jerry Lewis played on the very first season of Mad About You, and he played basically himself, but he was called some other name. He said he's never done it; he'd never done a half-hour of [sitcom] television. This was 1992 or '93. And I said, "Well how is that?" And he goes, "Nobody ever asked me." It's like the pretty girl at the dance; everybody's too afraid to ask.

The broad comedy thing is really hard to do on film.

I wasn't a class clown, I never developed this comedic flair as a kid. Even when I decided to become an actor, it was just to be an actor, not necessarily a comedic actor. I wasn't that guy who struck out with women so he became really funny, and that's when the women started to like him.

I used to think that looking across a pillow into the fabulous face of Buster Keaton would be a more thrilling destiny than any screen career.

Adam Sandler is a really funny guy in real life. Separate from all of the movies, that is a funny man.

I wrote three years for Lucille Ball. She taught me everything I know about physical comedy...

I would love to work with Bill Murray. I've always been such a big fan. I think he's obviously a great comedic actor but a really interesting actor.

Comedy is much harder, it's a lot more exacting. You can't just be real and you can't just use the same kind of techniques you use to fill up a regular scene.

I just devoured all of his [Buster Keaton’s] films because his sense of comic timing was amazing. He’s the closest a human being has ever come to a cartoon character. And I was just amazed at his sense of character and timing, the humor. It's all just so…sophisticated, even when you watch it today.

I don't think I'm predominantly thought of as being a comedic actor.

Joan Crawford is a movie star. I am an actress.

Bob Hope was an entertainment colossus, shrewd and influential well beyond show business. Richard Zoglin's biography captures it all--the public and private Hope.