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Gene Wilder's Nephew Reveals His Uncle's Touching Final Moments

Gene Wilder’s nephew has spoken about his uncle’s final touching moments as he passed away, due to complications relating to his Alzheimer’s Disease.

Jordan Walker-Pearlman spoke of the family’s ‘indescribable sadness‘ but also their ‘spiritual gratitude for the life lived’ by Wilder, one of the most gifted comic actors of all time.

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“It is almost unbearable for us to contemplate our life without him,” he added.

Walker-Pearlman, who is also a movie director and the son of Wilder’s sister Corinne, also spoke of his final moments.

“He was eighty three, and passed holding our hands with the same tenderness and love he exhibited as long as I can remember,” he said.

“As our hands clutched and he performed one last breath the music speaker, which was set to random, began to blare out one of his favourites: Ella Fitzgerald.

“There is a picture of he and Ella meeting at a London bistro some years ago that are among each or cherished possessions. She was singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow as he was taken away.”

Wilder had sought to keep the diagnosis of his Alzheimer’s Disease private due to his concern over how it would be received by fans, especially young ones.

“The decision to wait until this time to disclose his condition wasn’t vanity, but more so that the countless young children that would smile or call out to him ‘there’s Willy Wonka,’ would not have to be then exposed to an adult referencing illness or trouble and causing delight to travel to worry, disappointment or confusion,” Walker-Pearlman said.

“He simply couldn’t bear the idea of one less smile in the world.”

However, he added that the disease never took his ability to ‘recognize those that were closest to him’.

“It took enough, but not that,” he went on.

Wilder’s friend Mel Brooks has been among those leading the tributes to Wilder, star of movies like ‘Blazing Saddles’, ‘The Producers’ and ‘Stir Crazy’.

“Gene Wilder, one of the truly great talents of our time, is gone. He blessed every film we did together with his special magic and he blessed my life with his friendship. He will be so missed,” he wrote in a statement.

Scores of others took to Twitter to voice their sadness.

As well as Walker-Pearlman, Wilder is also survived by his wife, Karen, and daughter Katharine.

Image credits: Yahoo File/AP