Nearly eight years after Gene Wilder died at the age of 83, his widow, Karen Boyer, reveals the actor’s heartbreaking last words.
In the new documentary Remembering Gene Wilder, Boyer talks about the years between the actor’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis and his final days.
“He had not walked alone [in a long time] and it was just a few days before he died,” he recalled. “And I looked up and he was walking through the kitchen and then he said, ‘I want to go swimming.’”
Next, Gene Wilder’s wife talked about her last swim. She “she dived into the pool like she used to do; I saw his little butt in the air and I was amazed.”
“And he took two strokes, stood up, shook his head like he always did to get the water out of his ear and said, ‘That’s good.’ He went back to bed and I think he just wanted to get in the pool one more time.”
Boyer went on to say that the last words she heard her husband say occurred while the couple was listening to the Ella Fitzgerald song. Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
“I was lying next to him and he sat on the bed and said, ‘I trust you,’” Boyer recalled. “And then he said, ‘I love you.’ That’s the last thing he said.”
Gene Wilder and Karen Boyer met in 1989 after the death of Gilda Radner
PEOPLE reports that Gene Wilder met Karen Boyer while researching his 1989 film. I see no evil I hear no evil. However, the couple didn’t go on their first date for over a year.
The relationship arose after his third wife, Gilda Radner, died at the age of 42 due to ovarian cancer.
Boyer goes on to describe Gene Wilder as the best husband. “Gene was wonderful; He was the best husband I think anyone could ask for. “To love and be loved is the best gift anyone could ask for, and we had it.”
In addition to reflecting on her husband’s final days, Boyer talked about when she first noticed Wilder’s memory loss issues. She said that she had trouble remembering the title of Young Frankenstein.
“He never really accepted that he had Alzheimer’s,” Boyer said. “And maybe when we found out what that was, his hippocampus didn’t let him remember.”
“So I’m not sure he ever knew. When I saw him walk further away from me, my stomach hurt, but I had to keep smiling and tell him everything was okay.”
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn