BROOKS, MEL

BROOKS, MEL (Melvin Kaminsky; 1926– ), U.S. comedian, actor, director. Born in New York, Brooks began working as a stand-up comedian in a string of resorts in the Catskill Mountains. He was known for his odd antics, including performing impromptu monologues and routines, pretending to insult both his co-workers and the guests. After years of stand-up, he began writing jokes for Sid Caesar's TV program Your Show of Shows until the mid-1950s. Turning to Broadway, Brooks wrote the material for All American (1962), Shinbone Alley (1957), and Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1952 (1953). In the 1960s he teamed up with fellow writer Carl Reiner on a number of comedy albums based on Brooks' character The 2,000 Year Old Man, which led to a best-selling album, a Grammy award, and numerous television appearances. He then teamed up with Buck Henry to develop Get Smart, a successful satirical spy sitcom (1965–70). Turning to yet another medium, Brooks wrote and played the title role in the four-minute animated short The Critic (1963). It won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Cartoon. Brooks broke into feature films by writing and directing the critical success (but commercial failure) The Producers (1968), for which he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Brooks' second film, The Twelve Chairs (1970), met a similar fate. But his third effort, Blazing Saddles, (1974), was a box-office hit. It was followed by many other films, including Young Frankenstein (1974); Silent Movie (1976); High Anxiety (1977); History of the World, Part I (1981); a remake of the 1942 wartime comedy/drama To Be or Not To Be (1983) in which Brooks co-starred with his wife, Anne Bancroft; Spaceballs   (1987); Life Stinks (1991); Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993); and Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995). Mel Brooks' production company, Brooksfilms, has produced a wide variety of formidable films. In addition to Brooks' films, the company produced the movies of other filmmakers, such as David Lynch's The Elephant Man (1980); David Cronenberg's The Fly (1986); Graeme Clifford's Frances (1982); Richard Benjamin's My Favorite Year (1982); and David Hugh Jones' 84 Charing Cross Road (1986), for which Anne Bancroft received the BAFTA Film Award for Best Actress. In 2001 Brooks parlayed The Producers into a Broadway show. He produced it and wrote the music, lyrics, and book for the musical version. It won three Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score. After more than 1,500 performances, it was still going strong in 2004. He also won three successive Emmys as Outstanding Guest Actor for his role of Uncle Phil on the TV sitcom Mad about You (1997, 1998, and 1999). In addition, Brooks received three Grammy awards, for Best Musical Show Album (The Producers); Best Long Form Music Video for Recording (The Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks); and Best Spoken Word Album (Comedy for The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000). Thus Mel Brooks was one of a select few to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Tony. Brooks was named one of People magazine's 25 Most Intriguing People of 2001 and was listed as one of E\!'s Top 20 Entertainers of 2001. Brooks also wrote a number of books: Get Smart (with Buck Henry 1967); Mel Brooks History of the World (1981); The 2000 Year Old Man (1984); The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000: The Book (with Carl Reiner, 1998); and The Producers: The Book, Lyrics, and Story Behind the Biggest Hit in Broadway History (with Tom Meehan, 2001) -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: B. Adler and J. Feinman, Mel Brooks the Irreverent Funnyman (1976); W. Holtzman, Seesaw, a Dual Biography of Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks (1979); M. Yacowar, Method in Madness: The Art of Mel Brooks (1981); idem, The Comic Art of Mel Brooks (1982); N. Smurthwaite and P. Gelder, Mel Brooks and the Spoof Movie (1982); and R.A. Crick, The Big Screen Comedies of Mel Brooks (2002) (Jonathan Licht / Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)