Gene Wilder listening to one of his favorite songs, a rendition of "Over the Rainbow" sung by Ella Fitzgerald. 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
David Silberman David Silberman David Silberman (Preiļi, Latvia in 1934) is a writer, researcher and a Jewish activist who, having escaped death when the Germans invaded Latvia, gathered and published facts, testimony and documents from survivors of the Holocaust living in Latvia in the 1960s. He had several works published on that theme. Silberman lives in New York, is a US citizen and works as a consultant engineer. Silberman (Zilberman prior to immigration to USA) was born in Preili, Latvia on February 10, 1934. The Silberman family fled the German invasion of their home-town at the end of June 1941 and spent