The widow of the legendary comedian Gene Wilder shared intimate details of Wilder’s final moments before passing in a documentary released in theaters on March 15.
Karen Boyer revealed the last words Wilder spoke to her in a new documentary “Remembering Gene Wilder,” according to People. “The music was playing in the background — Ella Fitzgerald was singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and I was lying next to him and he sat up in bed and he said, ‘I trust you,’ ” she reportedly said. “And then he said, ‘I love you.’ That’s the last thing he said.”
Gene Wilder’s Widow Karen Boyer Recalls His Touching Last Words in New Documentary https://t.co/OBQZhDTrQh
— People (@people) March 17, 2024
Boyer also revealed a touching story of the actor’s life after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, leading up to his last moments. She was married to Wilder from 1991 until his passing in 2016 at the age of 83, People reported. “He hadn’t walked alone [in a long time] and it was just a few days before he died, and I looked up and he was walking across the kitchen and then he said, ‘I want to go swimming,’” Boyer recounted. (RELATED: UPDATE: NIH Allegedly Investigating After Study Says ‘Transmissible’ Alzheimer’s Detected In Certain Hormone Therapy Patients)
“He dove into the pool like he used to — I saw his little tush in the air — and I was awestruck,” the widow added. “And he took two strokes, he stood up, shook his head the way he always did to get the water out of his ear, and said, ‘That’s good.’ Went back to bed, and I think he just wanted to get in the pool one more time.”
Wilder was known for his work in movies like “Bonnie and Clyde,” “The Producers,” and “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” He met Boyer, a speech consultant, while working on the movie “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” in 1989, and they started dating after some time, according to PEOPLE. This came after the passing of his third wife, Gilda Radner, from ovarian cancer in 1989.