I'm sure Gene just didn't want to pay the money.

Sort of. Gene didn't like that Pryor was unpredictable and he would often get upset that Pryor would just leave everyone on the set waiting. He liked Pryor before the drugs. For example Pryor was supposed to play the Sheriff in Blazing Saddles but on filming day called in to say he was in some other city - and had no idea why! so they hired Cleavon Little instead. First and foremost Gene was a serious actor and I've heard more than a few times he and Pryor were not really friends - because of stuff like this.

What's funny is Gene never thought he was funny. He thought the lines he got to perform and the stuff he got to do was funny but he never though he himself was a very funny person. Weird how everyone can tell you that you're funny but you still don't believe it in yourself.

How could you have missed Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein? To me, those are comedy must-sees.

Wilder was in a short-lived sitcom on NBC, Something Wilder. I can't recall much about it.
Ran sporadically October 1994-June 1995. 18 episodes produced and three remain unaired.

RIP Gene

I think I'll check out The Woman in Red today. Not his best, but I have it on hand.

One of the last things I saw from Wilder was just a few years ago where he did an interview with Alec Baldwin. The intro to the interview was a Baldwin voiceover discussing who he was going to interview. As the voiceover is going, the camera is panning down a large backyard and it passes by Wilder as he's just standing there. The simple act of him just standing there and looking at the camera was hilarious!

To be honest, I didn't know he was still alive for some reason. Very sad news indeed. He will be sorely missed.

I've always insisted if you removed Robert Vaughn from Superman III and recast him with Gene Wilder, Superman III would finally be great.

Whats more, Peter Sellers who I brought up as one of Wilders only true contemporaries, while he played many different vibrant characters (some even in the same film) thought he never had a real personality of his own.

I don't think Pryor liked Wilder that much either. I seem to recall a video floating around of Richard high as a kite being interviewed on a set and making homophobic slurs and accusations towards Gene.