'Willy Wonka' Star Gene Wilder Dead at 83

Hollywood star Gene Wilder, who delighted audiences with his comic turns in "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" and several Mel Brooks classics including "Blazing Saddles" and "The Producers," died Monday at age 83, Variety magazine reported.

The weekly trade journal quoted his nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman as saying the actor died of complications from Alzheimer's disease at his home in Connecticut. 

His agent told AFP he could not immediately confirm the report.