Original Willy Wonka star Gene Wilder has died aged 83.

The comedic actor – who starred in The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein – passed away yesterday at his home in Stamford, Connecticut.

His nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman said Gene died of complications related to Alzheimer’s disease, Variety has reported.

In a statement Jordan said that the family were “among the lucky ones” as Gene’s condition “never stole his ability to recognise those that were closest to him, nor took control of his central gentle life-affirming core personality”.

Today the two time Oscar nominee is being remembered online for his role as famed chocolate entrepreneur Willy Wonka in the 1971 movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.