LOS ANGELES -- When Gene Wilder died Monday of complications from Alzheimer's, he was just a week away from a 25th wedding anniversary with Karen Webb, whom his nephew described as his "leading lady," a clinical supervisor who helped him learn to read lips for his role in the 1991 comedy。 See No Evil, Hear no Evil。See No Evil, Hear no Evil 。
.。 Webb was Wilder's fourth wife. But before they were married, Wilder grieved for his third, Gilda Radner, the original 。Saturday Night Live。
cast member to whom he was married from 1984 until her death from ovarian cancer in 1989.。SEE ALSO:Gene Wilder's humanity always shined through 。
'Love at first sight' 。 'Love at first sight' 。Back in 1980, Wilder worked with Sidney Poitier on。 Stir Crazy 。, and re-teamed with the director on the film。 Traces。, which was re-titled 。
Hanky Panky。 , in 1982.。It was there that Wilder, twice divorced, met Radner, who had already been on。
SNL。for five years — and was still married to guitarist G.E. Smith.。
Sidney Poitier with Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner on the set of "Traces" August 26, 1981.Credit: AP Photo/Bill Polo 。 Gilda Radner, left, and Gene Wilder are shown in a scene from "Hanky Panky" on Aug. 27, 1981.Credit: AP Photo/Bill Polo。Gilda Radner and Gene Wilder in New York City in June 1982..Credit: AP Photo 。
Radner had a smaller part in。The Woman in Red。 , which Wilder directed in 1984. They were married later that year in Saint-Tropez.。Gilda Radner and Gene Wilder's wedding, 1984.Credit: AP Images。"She was always funny and she loved doing what she was doing," Wilder said in a 2013 interview with 。92nd Street Y。
, perhaps one of his last public appearances. "She made fun of me because I didn't know who [ 。SNL character 。
] Roseanne Roseannadanna, and she laughed. 'You never saw my ... ?' And then she made me see every one of the ones she'd done." 。 Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner during an interview with The Boston Globe at the Ritz Carlton in Boston, Mass., Aug. 7, 1984.Credit: Boston Globe via Getty Images。"She was wonderful," Wilder continued. "And then ... she got sick."。
"She was wonderful," Wilder continued. "And then ... she got sick." 。Radner began suffering symptoms on the set of 。
Haunted Honeymoon 。in 1985. It took doctors more than a year to discover that she had late-stage ovarian cancer. 。Gene Wilder, Dom DeLuise and Gilda Radner in a scene from the film "Haunted Honeymoon" in 1986.Credit: Orion/Getty Images 。"We got married in 1984," Wilder said. "And she died in 1989. But she tried hard in those first three years. And then couldn't go. She was ... pain, operations. She kept thinking, "I'll get better after this one. Oh, I'll get better after this one. And then it didn't work." 。
Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner at the premiere of "Hannah And Her Sisters" in 1986.Credit: Fotos International/Getty Images。
Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner in 1987.Credit: Kypros/Getty Images。Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner in 1987.Credit: Kypros/Getty Images。
Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner.Credit: Ron Galella/WireImage。Though she was told her cancer had gone into remission in 1988, three months later, it returned. The following year, given a sedative to undergo a CT scan at a Los Angeles hospital, Radner went into a coma and did not regain consciousness. She died on May 20, 1989, with Wilder at her side. 。In the years that followed, Wilder became an advocate for cancer awareness and treatment, testifying before Congress.。Gene Wilder testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee on Capitol Hill concerning the death of his wife, Gilda Radner, on May 9, 1991.Credit: AP Photo/Ron Edmonds 。To this day, Gilda's Club branches in New York City and all around the country provide support to cancer patients, survivors, and their families.。Gene Wilder at the opening of Gilda's Club in the West Village in 1989.Credit: AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler 。