Biography for
Mel Brooks More at IMDb Pro »

Date of Birth

28 June 1926, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Birth Name

Melvin Kaminsky

Height

5' 5" (1.65 m)

Spouse

Anne Bancroft	(5 August 1964 - 6 June 2005) (her death) 1 child
Florence Baum	(1951 - 1961) (divorced) 3 children

Trade Mark

Has frequently cast himself, Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman, Rudy De Luca, the late Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Dom DeLuise, Ron Carey, the late Marty Feldman, and Kenneth Mars.

Almost always uses music by John Morris.

Frequently uses the line: "we have much to do and less time to do it in"

His films usually contain many Jewish references and jokes.

Always features one scene in his movies in which the main character is seated and staring blankly, wondering what went wrong, while friends console him.

The main bad guy in his films is usually someone wearing a moustache or a beard.

Always features a scene where one character is explaining a plan to another, and the latter character repeats everything the former says, including something outrageous. After realizing this, the latter exclaims "what?"

Lead character in his films is always a male.

Known for parodying several films.

His films often contain references to the film's sequel, which never come to pass. Good examples of this are History of the World: Part I (1981), Spaceballs (1987) and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993).

Is known for including in his movies a "walk this way" gag; one character says "Walk this way!" (as in "Follow me!"), and another character(s) copies the way he/she is walking. Examples include History of the World: Part I (1981), Young Frankenstein (1974) and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993).

Frequently has a bust of his head on the poster of video/DVD cover of his movies.

All of his movies feature a wacky song-and-dance number.

Trivia

Served as a corporal in the US army in North Africa during World War II.

Part of his duties in WWII was defusing landmines in areas before the infantry moved in.

His stage name is an adaptation of his mother's maiden name, Brookman.

His film The Producers (1968) was the inspiration for the title of U2's album "Achtung Baby".

He produced and wrote the music, lyrics, and book for the Broadway musical version of "The Producers" (2001), a musical version of his earlier movie The Producers (1968). The hit musical then lead to the hit movie The Producers (2005).

One of the few people to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy and a Tony. He won an Oscar for the screenplay of The Producers (1968); 3 Emmys in a row (1997-1999) for his guest appearance as Uncle Phil in "Mad About You" (1992); 3 Tonys for The Producers- Best Musical, Original Music Score and Book (musical); and 3 Grammys- Best Spoken Comedy Album for "The 2000 Year Old Man In The Year 2000" (1998, with Carl Reiner) and two for The Producers (2001): Best Musical Show Album (as composer/lyricist) and Best Long Form Music Video (as artist).

Son Eddie Brooks manages a band called "Early Edison".

Named one of E!'s "Top 20 entertainers of 2001.".

Calls his late wife Anne Bancroft his Obi-Wan Kenobi since she encouraged him to turn his movie The Producers (1968) into a Broadway musical.

Named one of People Magazine's "25 Most Intriguing People of 2001".

According to his 1975 Playboy interview, Mel's favorite candy is Raisinets.

At the opening of the Brodway version of "The Producers", he was asked by a reporter if he was nervious about the play's reception, since it cost $40 million to produce. Brooks joked, "If it flops, I'll take the other sixty million and fly to Rio." He didn't have to worry, since the play was both a critical and financial success.

He and Anne Bancroft met on the set of a TV talk show, and Mel later paid a woman who worked on the show to tell him which restaurant Bancroft was going to eat at that night so he could "accidentally" bump into her again and strike up a conversation.

He and Bancroft married at New York City Hall, where a passer-by served as their witness.

Children from his first marriage: Stefanie Brooks, Nicholas Brooks and Eddie Brooks. Son, Max Brooks, with Anne Bancroft was born in 1972.

In 1966, he was about to co-star in a movie called "Easy Come, Easy Go" with Jan Berry and Dean Torrence in the leading roles. What would have been his on-screen debut, was canceled due to a car wreck during shooting, in which Berry suffered a severe brain damage and paralysis. On the casting list was also British comedy star Terry-Thomas.

Won 3 Tonys in 2001 for "The Producers" - Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Musical Score.

Performed a rap song for the soundtrack of History of the World: Part I (1981) called "It's Good To Be The King". It was a surprisingly successful hip-hop/dance hit in 1981. He followed it up with "Hitler Rap" for To Be or Not to Be (1983). The song was not as successful. But the lyric "Don't be stupid, be a smarty/Come and join the Nazi Party" was originally used in the original movie version of The Producers (1968), then later reused in Brooks' Broadway version of "The Producers".

The 1944 edition of the Eastern District High School (Brooklyn, N.Y.) yearbook featured the future Mel Brooks (born Melvin Kaminsky) stating that his goal was to become President of the United States; forty-three years later, in 1987, his ambition was to be fulfilled, if only in fiction and in part -- in the movie Spaceballs (1987), he portrayed Spaceball leader "President Skroob".

His favorite song is "Yankee Doodle Dandy" by George M. Cohan.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy", by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 63-66. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985." Pages 162-167. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.

He is a close friend of Italian TV star Ezio Greggio, whose movies he inspired. Brooks is often a guest in Greggio's shows, and Brooks offered Greggio a small part in his Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), due to this friendship.

In 2001, won three Tony Awards for "The Producers": as a co-producer of the Best Musical winner; as Best Book (Musical), with collaborator Thomas Meehan; and as Best Original Musical Score, both lyrics and music.

Grandson Henry Michael Brooks (Max's son) born April 2005.

In the original film version of The Producers (1968), Brooks' voice can be heard singing the line "Don't be stupid/Be a schmarty/Come and join the Nazi Party" during the "Springtime for Hitler" number. For the Broadway musical version, he repeats this task, with the live actor lip-synching to a recording of Brooks.

Has cited his favorite films as Ladri di biciclette (1948) (aka The Bicycle Thief) and Grande illusion, La (1937).

Though Blazing Saddles (1974) and Young Frankenstein (1974) are often cited as his best and most popular films as a director, his biggest video sales are Spaceballs (1987) and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993).

Is an avid fan of Russian literature, occasionally making references to works and writers in his films.

His running "walk this way" gag is also the inspiration for the song "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith. The gag was copied from William Powell's ad-lib in After the Thin Man (1936).

Would much rather write than direct.

He, Anne Bancroft and their son Max Brooks have all won Emmys.

Has directed two performers to Oscar-nominations: Gene Wilder (for The Producers (1968)) and Madeline Kahn (for Blazing Saddles (1974)).

Worked with son Nicholas Brooks at Brooksfilm. Nicholas was a story editor on The Fly (1986), The Fly II (1989) and Spaceballs (1987).

Godfather of Alan Yentob's children.

He attended film director Alfred Hitchcock's funeral.

On NPR interview, mentioned that he attended Virginia Military Institute - was a "Brother Rat".

Was considered for the role of Dr. Sam Loomis in Halloween (1978).

Personal Quotes

"Why should I indulge myself and do a David Lean-ish kind of film? I could do my little Jewish Brief Encounter (1945) and disguise it - shorten the noses. But it wouldn't be as much fun as delivering my dish of insanity".

I cut my finger. That's tragedy. A man walks into an open sewer and dies. That's comedy.

My movies rise below vulgarity.

Critics can't even make music by rubbing their back legs together.

Oh, I'm not a true genius. I'm a near genius. I would say I'm a short genius. I'd rather be tall and normal than a short genius.

I'm the only Jew who ever made a buck offa 'Hitler'!

On Zero Mostel: "He could be wicked and cruel, and he could be almost sweet, loving, kind, generous. The great thing about Zero was that he was uniquely gifted. He was really, truly talented, more talented than any actor except for Sid Caesar that I have ever worked with."

Look at Jewish history. Unrelieved lamenting would be intolerable. So, for every ten Jews beating their breasts, God designated one to be crazy and amuse the breast-beaters. By the time I was five I knew I was that one.

Humor is just another defense against the universe.

On his late Blazing Saddles (1974) star, Cleavon Little: "My rule was not to eat with actors, but I enjoyed him so much that I begged him to eat with me."

"As long as the world is turning and spinning, we're gonna be dizzy and we're gonna make mistakes." quoted in Woman's World (3-22-05 issue)

You're young forever when you write. Alfred Hitchcock directed until the day he died. As long as you don't have any dementia or Alzheimer's, if you have your All-Bran every day and clear yourself out, I think your brains are gonna be all right.

[on Woody Allen] Woody Allen is a genius. His films are wonderful.

[on Anne Bancroft] I'm married to a beautiful and talented woman who can lift your spirits just by looking at you.

[on the CIA] They don't know right from wrong. That's what makes a satire of these government bureaus [Get Smart (2008)] really funny.

Where Are They Now

(April 2004) Opening the Australian production of "The Producers" in Melbourne.

(August 2004) Currently working on turning his 1974 comedy film hit, Young Frankenstein (1974), into his next Broadway musical, with a possible opening in 2005.

(April 2007) Producing the stage musical adaptation of his hit 1974 film, Young Frankenstein (1974). The musical is slated to open Halloween night, Oct. 31st, 2007, at the St. James Theatre on Broadway after a summer try-out at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle.

(August 2007) The stage musical adaptation of Brooks' hit 1974 film, Young Frankenstein (1974), opens to rave reviews in Seattle.

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