Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little

 Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little quickly formed a friendship on the set of Blazing Saddles. With Little's background as a Broadway actor, Wilder often provided him with tips for acting in front of the cameras.

There was a real chemistry between the pair as a result. Mel Brooks recalled in an interview: “One of my favorite lines in the whole movie is when Cleavon asks him, ‘What do you do for fun?’ Gene goes, ‘Screw, and play chess.’ And Cleavon says, ‘Let’s play chess.’ It’s all in Gene’s delivery. That’s why it’s so funny.”

The bit in which Wilder says “you know, morons”, Little was not warned about the punchline. His laughter was genuine.

Interestingly, Gene Wilder was not the first choice for The Waco Kid. Production began with Gig Young cast in the role. On the first day of filming the scene where the drunken Waco Kid hangs from a bunk, Young, who had struggled with alcoholism for years, revealed he was actually drunk and collapsed on set.

Brooks halted production for a day, and Gene Wilder flew cross-country to take over the role. “On Monday morning, eight o’clock, he was hanging upside down,” Brooks said of Wilder.

“We only lost a half a day, because I’d covered with Cleavon the other half of that first day – his close-ups, his entrance. Gene just hooked his boots, hung down and said, ‘Are we black?’

“He saved my life, because he’s not only a genius actor, but he’s a good friend. And he never said, ‘I told you so.’ He was magnificent.”