--- ---  # How Gene Wilder Channeled His 'Hysteria' Into Success  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Aug 29, 2016 8:06 PM UTC  Gene Wilder as Ernie in "The Office Sharers," 1972 Gene Wilder as Ernie in "The Office Sharers," 1972NBC / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Aug 29, 2016 8:06 PM UTC Gene Wilder, the [_Blazing Saddles_](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,944788,00.html) star whose death at 83 was [announced](http://time.com/4471438/gene-wilder-death-willy-wonka-blazing-saddles/) on Monday, knew that his fame was tied to a certain frenetic energy that, in his wake, can only be described as, well, Gene Wilder-esque. In 1970, on the occasion of the release of his movie _Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in The Bronx_, he told TIME that he had worried about being typecast until that latest film had come along. “There was always a reservoir of hysteria in me that I could call upon as an actor,” he said at the time. “As I grew out of it, I became more and more dissatisfied with the parts I was playing. But Hollywood, of course, couldn’t keep up with my psychological advancement. So I played hysterical accountants \[[_The Producers_](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,837773,00.html)\], nervous undertakers \[_Bonnie and Clyde_\], and mad aristocrats \[_Start the Revolution Without Me_\].” But even though he didn’t want to get pigeonholed, that “reservoir of hysteria” was hard-won, through personal troubles and firsthand research: --- > “” --- Eventually, however, as agitation brought his success on screen, he was able to try to relax in real life—to look for happiness in the face of anxiety. “My quiet exterior used to be a mask for hysteria,” he said in 1970\. “After seven years of analysis, it just became a habit.” [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) **_Read the full profile, here in the TIME Vault:_** [The Happy Peasant](http://time.com/vault/issue/1970-07-20/page/46/) Gene Wilder: How the Actor Made 'Hysteria' Into Success ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4471442/gene-wilder-dead-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4471442/gene-wilder-dead-history/"},"headline":"How Gene Wilder Channeled His 'Hysteria' Into Success","datePublished":"2016-08-29T20:06:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:16:06.105Z","description":"The late actor turned a wide range of experiences into fodder for his characters","url":"https://time.com/4471442/gene-wilder-dead-history/","keywords":["remembrance","movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b9de97007a890c3/6988a41ae20a872fcda9232e/wilder.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b9de97007a890c3/6988a41ae20a872fcda9232e/wilder.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Gene Wilder","caption":"The Bell System Family Theatre","creditText":"NBC / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4471442/gene-wilder-dead-history/","name":"How Gene Wilder Channeled His 'Hysteria' Into Success"}}]}] ```