Gene Wilder was a movie star, director and arguably one of the funniest people who ever lived.
During an interview, he gave this account of his start in comedy:
“I was 8 or 9 years old when my mother had a heart attack. When she came home, the doctor said, ‘Don’t ever get into an argument with your mother because you might kill her.’”
No pressure there, right?
“And the second thing he said was, ‘Try to make her laugh.’”
“I had never...