Gene Wilder Gene Wilder Jerome Silberman (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, singer-songwriter and author. Wilder began his career on stage, and made his screen debut in an episode of the TV series "The Play of the Week" in 1961. Although his first film role was portraying a hostage in the 1967 motion picture "Bonnie and Clyde", Wilder's first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1967 film "The Producers" for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This was the first in
Jerome Preston Bates Derek Frye on the ABC soap opera, "All My Children", the third actor to play that character. Jerome Preston Bates Jerome Preston Bates (born July 20, 1954) is an American theater, film and television actor, director and playwright. Bates was born in Augusta, Georgia. The family moved to the New York/New Jersey area when he was six but returned to Georgia when Bates began high school. August Wilson's "Jitney," Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Manhattan Theater Club, Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play), "Stick Fly", Directed by Kenny Leon (Lyceum Theatre); August Wilson's "Seven Guitars", Directed by Lloyd Richards