For the Love of Gilda: Gene Wilder’s Amazing Cancer Legacy
As co-founder of Gilda’s Club, Gene Wilder turned his grief over the death of his third wife, comedian Gilda Radner, into action around ovarian cancer, and helping those affected by cancer in all its forms.
TIM TEEMAN
08.29.16 10:14 PM ET
Lily Safani, the CEO of Gilda’s Club New York City, did not know that Gene Wilder was ill and was shocked to hear of his death, aged 83, on Monday from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. “This man is so much an integral part of Gilda’s Club, to think that he’s gone is very hard,” Safani told The Daily Beast.
Wilder co-founded the organization in 1991, two years after his third wife, the comedian Gilda Radner—most famous as one of the founding cast members of Saturday Night Live—died from ovarian cancer at the age of 42. “He helped raise money for Gilda’s Club, so we could have a house on West Houston Street,” Safani said of the group’s central meeting place, which opened in 1995. “The legacy of Gilda Radner is really also his legacy, so he is very dear to us at Gilda’s Club.”
In the last 20-plus years, “Gilda’s Clubs” have become places for anyone with cancer and their loved ones, and those whose loved ones have died of the disease, to come together to share their experiences, memories, and so much more.
“Everybody at the clubhouse is talking about this. I’m sure everyone is sitting around remembering Gene,” said Safani. “Now both he and Gilda have gone.”
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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/29/for-the-love-of-gilda-gene-wilder-s-amazing-cancer-legacy.html
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