Overview (3)

Mini Bio (1)

Spouse (2)

Trade Mark (22)



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 villain wears 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?"



The lead character in his films is always a male



[Parody] Nearly all of Brooks' films parody a genre or a single film



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





Frequently makes fun of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany

Visual or verbal gags where the characters break the fourth wall and reference the fact that they're in a movie.



His main characters often stop and sarcastically direct a line to the camera/audience



His films often make numerous references to previous films whether a poster or cassette or an actual line spoken



Despite being known for directing comedies, many of the films he acts as a producer on are heavy, serious dramas



Energetic raspy voice with Brooklyn accent



Over the top acting style



Name Correction: Frequently has a character whose name is continuously mispronounced by others and a correction has to be issued.



Trivia (67)

Served as a corporal with the United States Army in North Africa during World War II, where one of his duties was defusing land mines before the infantry moved in.



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





His film The Producers (1967) was the inspiration for the title of the album "Achtung Baby" (1991) by the rock band U2



He produced and wrote the music, lyrics, and book for the Broadway musical "The Producers" (2001), the musical version of his earlier movie The Producers (1967). The Broadway hit musical then lead to the musical movie The Producers (2005).





Thus he is one of only 15 "EGOT"s, meaning those who have received at least one of all of the four major entertainment awards: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony, competitively. The other recipients are Richard Rodgers, Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch, Jonathan Tunick, Mike Nichols, Whoopi Goldberg, Scott Rudin, Robert Lopez, John Legend, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

Brooks won an Oscar for the screenplay of The Producers (1967); three Emmys in a row (1997-1999) for his guest appearance as Uncle Phil in Mad About You (1992); three Tonys for "The Producers" - Best Musical, Original Music Score and Book (musical); and three 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).Thus he is one of only 15 "EGOT"s, meaning those who have received at least one of all of the four major entertainment awards: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony, competitively. The other recipients are Richard Rodgers, Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch, Jonathan Tunick, Mike Nichols, Whoopi Goldberg, Scott Rudin, Robert Lopez, John Legend, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.



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

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





Called his late wife, Anne Bancroft , his Obi-Wan Kenobi as she had encouraged him to turn his movie The Producers (1967) into a Broadway musical.

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



At the opening of the Broadway version of "The Producers", he was asked by a reporter if he was nervous 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 did not have to worry, since the play was both a critical and financial success.





Brooks introduced himself to Anne Bancroft in 1961 while she was making her first appearance on The Perry Como Show (1948) (she would later return to appear on that show on various occasions over several years). Brooks bribed a woman who worked on the show to tell him at which restaurant Bancroft was going to dine so he could "accidentally" bump into her again and strike up a conversation. It worked. The two fell in love and eventually married at New York City's municipal Marriage Bureau in Lower Manhattan, where a passerby served as witness.



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



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" (an anagram of "Brooks").



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.





Is close friends with Italian television star Ezio Greggio , whose movies he inspired. Brooks is often a guest on Greggio's shows, and offered Greggio a small role in his movie Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), due to this friendship.



In 2001, he 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.

Has one grandson: Henry Michael Brooks (Max's son) (born April 2005).





In the original film version of The Producers (1967), 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.

His parents, Kate (nee Brookman) and Aharon Mordechai "Max" Kaminsky, were Jewish emigrants. His father was born in Tilsit, then in Prussia (now Russia), with ancestors from the area which is present-day Belarus. His mother was born in Kiev, Russian Empire (now Ukraine). Brooks is an avid fan of Russian literature, occasionally making references to works and writers in his films.



In an NPR interview, he mentioned that he attended Virginia Military Institute and thus, in reference to the 1938 film's setting, was a "Brother Rat".





Was considered for the role of Dr. Sam Loomis in the horror film Halloween (1978), which went to Donald Pleasence

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on April 23, 2010.



His father died when Mel was age two and his impoverished childhood has been called 'Dickensian'.



Often ate dinner at the Pritikin Longevity Center in Santa Monica, California, with his wife Anne Bancroft.





Was presented, by Martin Scorsese , the 41st Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, California on June 6, 2013.



Produced the stage musical adaptation of his movie Young Frankenstein (1974). The musical opened on Halloween night, October 31, 2007, at the St. James Theatre on Broadway after a summer try-out at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle. [April 2007]



Best friends with Carl Reiner . Both of them widowers, they hang out and watch movies together every night.

His musical, "Young Frankenstein", at the Drury Lane Productions in Chicago, was nominated for a 2014 Joseph Jefferson Equity Award for Large Musical Production.



In 1962, the year that his divorce from his first wife was finalized, Brooks wrote an original screenplay entitled "Marriage is a Dirty Rotten Fraud". It was never filmed.



His musical, "The Producers", at the Marriott Theatre in Chicago, was nominated for a 2008 Joseph Jefferson Equity Award for Large Musical Production.



Brooks has stated that he includes so many jokes about Hitler and the Nazis in his movies because he wants to make them both seem so ridiculous that their beliefs never became popular again. However, he added that he absolutely refuses to include any jokes about the Holocaust or other atrocities.



He learned how to play drums from legendary Jazz drummer Buddy Rich and began making money with them at age fourteen.



His musical, "The Producers", at the Mercury Theater in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for a 2016 Joseph Jefferson (Equity) Award for Midsize Musical Production.





Is a huge fan of the original Star Trek (1966) series.

Lived at 365 South Third Street Apt 5B in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, and attended PS 19. The family then relocated to Coney Island, where Brooks attended Abraham Lincoln High School. When his family moved back to Williamsburg, where they settled in at 111 Lee Avenue, he finished high school at Eastern District High School.



During high school was good friends with Mickey Rich, younger brother of the drummer Buddy Rich who taught Brooks basic drumming skills.



Began his theater work in 1947 with a Red Bank, New Jersey theatre troupe, which included comedian/impressionist Will Jordan.





When separated from his first wife Florence he roomed with his friend Irving "Speed" Vogel. Their time together was the inspiration for Neil Simon 's The Odd Couple.

Trained to be a combat engineer as part of the 1104 Engineer Combat Battalion of the 78th Division when he enlisted in the Army Reserve Specialized Training Program during World War II.



Attended Brooklyn College on the G.I. Bill before dropping out.





Based the character of Max Bialystock in The Producers (1967) on a former boss who was a seedy theater impresario named Benjamin Kutcher.



Claims the most flattering thing to happen to him during his long show business career was when Hedy Lamarr sued the producers of Blazing Saddles (1974) over the similar-sounding name of one of the lead characters ("Hedley Lamarr", who is mistakenly addressed as "Hedy", to his annoyance) because Brooks believes it is unusual for a "big name" actor to pay so much attention to such details. The suit was settled out of court.



Gene Wilder asked him to direct The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975). He declined, stating that he would find it difficult to direct a screenplay that wasn't his own conception. Brooks did say though that Wilder should go off and make this film, could call upon him day or night, and after making this movie, he better "come back home as soon as you're done!" Brooks did cameo as the voice of departing assassin after choosing the "lady" door over the "tiger" door, only to discover they're both tiger doors.

Mel Brooks is one of the few entertainment industry elites to receive the combination of awards known as the "EGOT": at least one competitive Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony each. He won his first Emmy in 1967 for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Variety Programming for the "Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special." His first Grammys (both won in 1999) were for Best Spoken Comedy Album for "The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000" and Best Musical Theater Album for "The Producers." In 1969 he won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar (aka Academy Award) for "The Producers." In 2001 he won Tonys for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score for "The Producers.".





Brooks' wife, actress Anne Bancroft , was responsible for helping to name his parody Western film Blazing Saddles (1974). According to Brooks, for much of the production, the film was entitled "Tex X", a reference to the fact that Sheriff Bart ( Cleavon Little )'s character was purportedly partly inspired by Malcolm X. One morning, while taking a shower, the words "Blazing Saddles" came into Mel's mind. He was so excited that he jumped out of the shower and tried the title out on Bancroft, who loved it. So Brooks officially renamed the film.

Despite being an accomplished and prolific songwriter, he is completely musically illiterate and his only experience with musical instruments was as a drummer. He hums all of his music into a tape recorder and then has an arranger transcribe it.



His musical, "The Producers" at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, Illinois was nominated for a 2019 Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Large Musical Production.





His respective characters in Blazing Saddles (1974) & The Muppet Movie (1979) wore their names on the back of their jackets.

Personal Quotes (31)



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 the late 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 the late 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.





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.



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.



[on Buster Keaton ] I don't think he was a genius. Einstein was a genius; Buster Keaton was astonishing. I've never seen any human being able to perform as brilliantly and gracefully with such unusually gifted timing. There was only one Keaton. His eyes shone with a certain intensity, fire and love. His face had little expression, but his eyes were always dynamically alive. His eyes spoke more than any script could speak.



Dom DeLuise was a big man in every way. He was big in size and created big laughter and joy. He will be missed in a very big way.



I said to Slim Pickens you've made a hundred movies. Do you have any advice? He said, "Mel, whenever you get the chance. Sit down." Sit down? I felt like I was asking Orson Welles how you make Citizen Kane (1941) he says sit down? But Slim was right because it can get very tiring.

I love spaghetti and sex, sometimes together. My dream of heaven is walking naked through fields of pasta fazool.



Immortality is a by-product of good work. Masterpieces are not for artists, they're for critics. Critics can't even make music by rubbing their back legs together. My message to the world is "Let's swing, sing, shout, make noise! Let's not mimic death before our time comes! Let's be wet and noisy!".





[on the famous campfire scene in Blazing Saddles (1974)] I only break wind on the prairie.



[on Richard Pryor in Blazing Saddles (1974)] I knew how bright he was. I hired him because I was going to do a lot of black jokes. I said, "I'm not going to take the heat for these. I want somebody there to give me the okay, see if I cross the line, what's in good taste, what's in bad taste." Strangely enough, Pryor wrote very little of the black stuff. I wound up doing that.

I thank my lucky stars that I was born and that my brother Irving was so kind and good to me. He gave me... a tricycle, trying to make up for the loss of - I didn't realize it, but trying to make up for the loss of our father.



I had the best childhood. I loved life. I thought life was the most wonderful thing ever created.



I'm not such a comedy giant. I'm five-six. There are guys not as funny, but they're bigger. And I think that counts.



I've always been a huge admirer of my own work. I'm one of the funniest and most entertaining writers I know.



The musical blows the dust off your soul.





I'm grateful to the army. Grateful to Hitler too. The Producers (1967) made me the first Jew in history to make a buck out of Hitler.

That's my whole method of working as a director in a nutshell. Find the fourth wall, then smash the hell out of it.

