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Background[]
Mel Brooks ( b. 28 June 1926 ) is an American writer, comedian, composer, playwright, director, and producer. He has appeared in live action stage theater, television, and cinematic roles; and voice acting performances.
Brooks began his career as a comedian and part-time musician who branched out into writing comedic skits, plays, and screenplays both by himself and collaborating with other writers. He is credited as co-creating the spy satire Get Smart Franchise with Buck Henry.
In addition to these, he often has worked in producing, directing, and appearing in his own film projects in small cameo roles as well.
Brooks is most famous for directing and writing The Producers for which he won an Academy Award and was subsequently selected for preservation by the National Film Registry. The film was so popular that it was subsequently adapted into a stage musical and a film remake.
His other notable works include Blazing Saddles; Young Frankenstein; History of the World: Part I; and Spaceballs for which he personally wrote or co-wrote, produced, directed, and co-starred in.
He is also known for collaborating with a number of comedians and actors such as Carl Reiner; Dom DeLuise; Gene Wilder; and Madeline Kahn on a number of his projects.
Biography[]
Personal Life[]
Filmography[]
Actor[]
- The New Steve Allen Show (1961) 2 episodes
- The Critic (1963)
- The Producers (1967)
- The Twelve Chairs (1970)
- The Electric Company (1971-77) series regular
- Blazing Saddles (1974)
- Free to Be... You & Me (1974)
- Young Frankenstein (1974)
- The 2000 Year Old Man (1975)
- When Things Were Rotten (1975) 1 episode
- The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)
- Silent Movie (1976)
- High Anxiety (1977)
- Mickey's 50 (1978)
- The Muppet Movie (1979)
- History of the World: Part I (1981)
- To Be or Not to Be (1983)
- Spaceballs (1987)
- The Tracey Ullman Show (1990) 1 episode
- Look Who's Talking Too (1990)
- Life Stinks (1991)
- Mickey's Audition (1992)
- Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
- Frasier (1993) 1 episode
- The Silence of the Hams (1994)
- The Little Rascals (1994)
- The Simpsons (1995) 1 episode
- Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)
- Mad About You (1996-99) 4 episodes
- The Prince of Egypt (1998)
- Screw Loose (1999)
- The Kids from Room 402 (2000) 1 episode
- Up at the Villa (2000)
- Sex, Lies and Video Violence (2000)
- It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)
- The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2003) 1 episode
- Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks (2003-07) 47 episodes
- Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004) 4 episodes
- Robots (2005)
- The Producers (2005)
- Spaceballs: The Animated Series (2008-09) series regular
- Ruby's Studio: The Feelings Show (2010)
- Glenn Martin DDS (2010) 1 episode
- Special Agent Oso (2011) 1 episode
- The Paul Reiser Show (2011) 1 episode
- Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014)
- Dora the Explorer (2014) 1 episode
- The Comedians (2015) 1 episode
- Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)
- The Guardian Brothers (2016)
- Blazing Samurai (2017)
- Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017)
- Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018)
Producer[]
- When Things Were Rotten (1975) 1 episode
- High Anxiety (1977)
- The Elephant Man (1980)
- History of the World: Part I (1981)
- My Favorite Year (1982)
- Frances (1982)
- To Be or Not to Be (1983)
- The Doctor and the Devils (1985)
- Solarbabies (1986)
- 84 Charing Cross Road (1987)
- Spaceballs (1987)
- The Nutt House (1989)
- Life Stinks (1991)
- The Vagrant (1992)
- Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
- Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)
- The Producers (2005)
- Spaceballs: The Animated Series (2008-09)
- Mel Brooks Strikes Back! (2012)
- Mel Brooks Live at the Geffen (2015)
- Sam (2015)
- Leap! (2016)
- Blazing Samurai (2017)
Trivia[]
- Despite being a highly accomplished songwriter, he is completely musically illiterate. He hums his compositions into a tape recorder and has someone transcribe them into sheet music afterwards.
- Is one of the very few and rare EGOT entertainment elites; meaning that he has separately won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award. Among his fellow EGOT winners are such legendary figures as Audrey Hepburn, Elton John, John Legend, and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Quotes[]
- "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."
- "It's talent. Either you got it or you ain't."
- "Humor is just another defense against the universe."
- "As long as the world is turning and spinning, we're gonna be dizzy and we're gonna make mistakes."
- "I don't believe in this business of being behind, better to be in front."