Mel Brooks is 100. He’s been entertaining professionally since just after WWII.
A few days ago AFI announced changes to the top comedy list and Blazing Saddles is now #1.
He is one of the rare EGOT winners.
Wow, how time moves on! I hope he’s doing well as he’s contributed so much joy to the world. He may be indelibly associated with Blazing Saddles, but there’s so much else! Young Frankenstein has such a completely different vibe that I keep forgetting that this is Mel Brooks, too. And so much else – History of the World Part 1, High Anxiety, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and on and on! Happy Birthday, Mel!
Not to mention co-creating Get Smart and of course Spaceballs.
Can’t forget The Producers (the original movie from 1967). The first 25 minutes are as funny as anything Brooks did. It’s mostly Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder coming up with the plan to produce an intentional flop. Mostel romancing the elderly ladies is pretty good too.
“I’m hysterical and I’m wet!”
I think The Producers has one of the best comic premises of any film or story. Lesser writing would have the characters simply be slapstick morons. But Bialystock and Bloom had a plausible reason to find the world’s worst play, which drives the story organically. It’s a beautiful piece of comedy.
Mel Brooks has been a part of my life since… well, I can’t remember when he wasn’t. I grew up on him and Monty Python. Happy birthday, Mr. Brooks! And thank you!
I haven’t read this article, but I like the title:
It’s a good thing The Rory isn’t real. That would make a very awkward acronym.
Brooks’ career has one of the oddest in the business. He was over 40 when he made The Producers, which, as everybody today forgets, was a complete and utter flop commercially, though he won the Oscar for best screenplay. His second movie was The Twelve Chairs, an interesting redo of a Russian novel that nobody saw. Blazing Saddles was released a full seven years after The Producers. He became not just an overnight success but an overnight genius. He has remained a genius even though he hasn’t had any flashes of true genius in decades.
Wishing you 1900 more years, Mel.
Which is on TCM this afternoon (June 28).
Happy Birthday, Mel!
In fact, he’s still working: the Spaceballs sequel is in post-production; Mel appears in it as Yogurt and President Skroob, and is one of the producers.
Indeed, here is our thread on this:
I’m looking forward to it.
His History of the World Part II TV series was solid, not as great as Part 1, but solid.
This is me, too. Perfectly said. I’m delighted Mel made a century!
Still tickling my funny bone over all the years. Sure, some bits don’t get the yuks for me, but that’s true of all comedies, but he never fails to at least raise a smile even in some of his lesser efforts (looking at you Men In Tights!).
If you ever get a chance, try to find some of the old 2000 year old man bits he did with best friend Carl Reiner. They’ve held up pretty well.
Success!
Hey, I loved that movie as a teenager. I don’t know how I’d feel about it if I were to re-watch it as an adult.
The “tight tights” bit in the song and dance number still always makes me laugh when I see a clip of it, though.
A late start, but he was surely acquiring life experiences that contributed to his later work.
He was drafted in 1944 and his high test scores got him sent to training, where he became a combat engineer:
Lots of great photos and information here:
https://www.war.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/article/2882521/actor-comedian-mel-brooks-served-in-army-in-world-war-ii/
Not to mention being part of the greatest Comedy writing team of all time for Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows:
Writers for the series included Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Danny Simon, Mel Tolkin, Lucille Kallen, Selma Diamond, Joseph Stein, Michael Stewart, Tony Webster (the only Gentile among the show’s writers), and Carl Reiner.
This is where he became good friends with Carl Reiner.
Yes, a seat in that writers’ room provided the best comedy training that anyone could possibly find (at least in English!)
Zero Mostel could do more with facial expressions than most actors with lines.