From the time I was a little kid to today, it's entirely possible that I have seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory well over 100 times. It's always been one of my favorite movies. In fact, my mom and Uncle went to the same high school and knew the star, the late Gene Wilder (fun fact: his real name was Jerry Silberman and his mom's name was Gene).
This week marks the 50th since the release of the film in 1971 and while of course Gene Wilder has passed away, WGN in Chicago gathered the kids from the film for a great virtual reunion. Turns out that the kid who played Charlie Bucket never acted again and became a veterinarian in Upstate New York and the kid who played Augustus Gloop went on to become a tax accountant in Munich, Germany and says that the film was never all that famous there, so most of his clients don't even know he was in the movie.
Photo: Getty