9.3
9.3
Free to Be... a Family
1988
as Self
Mel Brooks
Also known as: Melvin Brooks, Melvin Kaminsky
Acting
Born:June 28, 1926(age 100)
Birthplace:Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Nationality:United States
Education:Abraham Lincoln High School, Virginia Military Institute, Brooklyn College
N/A
CommunityBiography
Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. A recipient of numerous accolades, he is one of 21 entertainers to win the EGOT (which includes an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony). He received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2009, a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2010, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2013, a British Film Institute Fellowship in 2015, a National Medal of Arts in 2016, a BAFTA Fellowship in 2017, and the Honorary Academy Award in 2024. Brooks began his career as a comic and a writer for Sid Caesar's variety show Your Show of Shows(1950–1954). There, he worked with Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Larry Gelbart, and Carl Reiner. With Reiner, he co-created the comedy sketch The 2000 Year Old Man. He released several comedy albums, starting with 2000 Year Old Man in 1960. Brooks received five nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album, finally winning in 1999. With Buck Henry, he created the hit satirical spy comedy series Get Smart (1965–1970) on NBC television. Brooks won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for The Producers (1967). He then rose to prominence by directing a string of successful comedy films such as The Twelve Chairs (1970), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), Silent Movie (1976), and High Anxiety (1977). Later, Brooks made History of the World, Part I (1981), Spaceballs (1987), Life Stinks (1991), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), and Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995). A musical adaptation of his first film, The Producers, ran on Broadway from 2001 to 2007 and earned Brooks three Tony Awards. The project was remade into a musical film in 2005. He wrote and produced the Hulu series History of the World, Part II (2023). Brooks was married to actress Anne Bancroft from 1964 until she died in 2005. Their son, Max Brooks, is an actor and author known for his novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (2006). In 2021, Mel Brooks published his memoir titled All About Me!. Three of his films are included on the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 comedy films of the past 100 years (1900–2000), all of which were ranked in the top 15: Blazing Saddles at number 6, The Producers at number 11, and Young Frankenstein at number 13.
Notable Works
The ProducersThe Twelve ChairsBlazing SaddlesYoung FrankensteinSilent MovieHigh AnxietyHistory of the World, Part ISpaceballsLife StinksRobin Hood: Men in TightsDracula: Dead and Loving It
Filmography (111 movies)
9.0
9.0
Recording the Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks
2001
as Self / Host
9.0
9.0
Mel Brooks: The Genius Entertainer
TBA
as Himself
8.5
8.5
It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein
1994
as Self
8.2
8.2
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise
2013
as Self
8.0
8.0
The Elephant Man
1980
Producer
7.9
7.9
Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again
2011
as Self
7.9
7.9
Young Frankenstein
1974
Screenplay
7.8
7.8
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
2023
as Self
7.8
7.8
John Candy: I Like Me
2025
as Self
7.7
7.7
Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century
1998
as Self (archive footage)
7.5
7.5
The Making of 'The Producers'
2002
as Self
7.4
7.4
The Fly
1986
Producer
7.2
7.2
The Muppet Movie
1979
as Professor Max Krassman
7.2
7.2
Blazing Saddles
1974
Screenplay
7.2
7.2
Remembering Gene Wilder
2024
as Self
7.2
7.2
The Great Buster: A Celebration
2018
as Self
7.2
7.2
Ballerina
2016
as Mustachioed Creep (voice)
7.2
7.2
84 Charing Cross Road
1987
Executive Producer
7.1
7.1
If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast
2017
as Self
7.1
7.1
Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You
2016
as Self
7.1
7.1
The Producers
1968
Writer
7.0
7.0
Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch
1997
as Self
7.0
7.0
Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic
2013
as Self
7.0
7.0
The Automat
2021
as Self
6.9
6.9
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
2018
as Self
6.9
6.9
The Last Laugh
2016
as Self
6.9
6.9
Spaceballs
1987
Producer
6.8
6.8
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
2018
as Vlad (voice)
6.8
6.8
Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story
2017
as Self
6.8
6.8
Mel Brooks: Live at the Geffen
2015
Executive Producer
6.8
6.8
The Little Rascals
1994
as Mr. Welling
6.8
6.8
Hotel Transylvania 2
2015
as Vlad (voice)
6.8
6.8
History of the World: Part I
1981
Screenplay
6.7
6.7
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank
2022
Executive Producer
6.7
6.7
Free to Be… You and Me
1974
as Baby Boy (voice)
6.7
6.7
A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers
2009
as Self
6.7
6.7
To Be or Not to Be
1983
Producer
6.6
6.6
Robin Hood: Men in Tights
1993
Producer
6.5
6.5
Mel Brooks Strikes Back!
2012
as Self
6.5
6.5
An Audience with Mel Brooks
1984
Writer
6.5
6.5
Silent Movie
1976
Director
6.5
6.5
The 2000 Year Old Man
1975
Writer
6.5
6.5
The Critic
1963
Writer
6.5
6.5
Robots
2005
as Bigweld (voice)
6.4
6.4
High Anxiety
1977
Writer
6.4
6.4
Mel Brooks: Unwrapped
2018
as Self
6.3
6.3
The Twelve Chairs
1970
Screenplay
6.3
6.3
Forky Asks a Question: What Is Love?
2019
as Melephant Brooks (voice)
6.3
6.3
The Ladies Man
1961
Writer
6.2
6.2
The Doctor and the Devils
1985
Executive Producer
6.2
6.2
The Producers
2005
Producer
6.1
6.1
Dracula: Dead and Loving It
1995
Director
6.0
6.0
The Terrible Elephant Man Revealed
2001
as Self
6.0
6.0
Back in the Saddle
2001
as Self
6.0
6.0
The Great Dictator: The Clown Turns Prophet
2011
as Self (archive footage)
6.0
6.0
Spaceballs: In Conversation - Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
2005
as Self
6.0
6.0
John Candy: Comic Spirit
2005
as Self
6.0
6.0
'Robin Hood: Men in Tights' – The Legend Had It Coming
1993
as Self
5.9
5.9
Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love
2023
as Announcer (voice)
5.9
5.9
Shinbone Alley
1970
Writer
5.8
5.8
The Vagrant
1992
Executive Producer
5.7
5.7
The Fly II
1989
Producer
5.7
5.7
Fatso
1980
Producer
5.6
5.6
Life Stinks
1991
Director
5.5
5.5
It's Always About the Story: Conversations with Alan Ladd, Jr.
2016
as Himself
5.5
5.5
New Faces
1954
Writer
5.5
5.5
Look Who's Talking Too
1990
as Mr. Toilet Man (voice)
5.4
5.4
Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies
2017
as Self
5.3
5.3
Solarbabies
1986
Producer
5.2
5.2
Sam
2015
Executive Producer
5.1
5.1
Sex, Lies and Video Violence
2000
as Stressed old man
5.0
5.0
Hitler: The Comedy Years
2007
as Singer in 'Springtime for Hitler' (archive footage) (uncredited)
4.9
4.9
The Silence of the Hams
1994
as Checkout Guest (uncredited)
4.5
4.5
Life Stinks: Does Life Really Stink?
2003
as Self
4.0
4.0
Mickey's Audition
1992
as Movie Director
4.0
4.0
Mel Brooks: Seriously... Well, Almost
2024
as Self
4.0
4.0
Peeping Times
1978
as Adolf Hitler
4.0
4.0
Screw Loose
1999
as Jake Gordon
3.7
3.7
Loose Shoes
1978
Producer
Silent Laughter: The Reel Inspirations of 'Silent Movie'
2009
as Self
Cutting Edge Comedians of the '60s & '70s
2007
as Self (archive footage)
Caesar's Writers
1996
as Self
Spaceballs: The Documentary
2005
as Self
Sunset People
1984
as Self
Flower of the Dawn
TBA
as Bürgermeister (voice)
Spaceballs 2
TBA
Producer
Spaceballs: The Totally Warped Animated Adventures
2008
as President Skroob/Yogurt
Blaze of Glory: Mel Brooks' Wild, Wild West
2014
as Self (archive footage)
Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words
2025
as Self
Enormous
TBA
as Bernie (voice)
The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld
2025
The Dick Cavett Show with Mel Brooks
2006
as Self
David Lynch: The Idea Dictates Everything
TBA
as Mel Brooks
Hitchcock and Mel: Spoofing the Master of Suspense
2009
as Self
Hollywood Singing & Dancing: A Musical History - 1980s, 1990s and 2000s
2009
as Self (archive)
The Land of Sometimes
TBA
as The Postman (voice)
The Sid Caesar Collection: Inside the Writer's Room
2000
as Himself
The Sid Caesar Collection: Creating the Comedy
2000
as Himself
Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man
1970
Writer
Sid Caesar Collection: Buried Treasures - The Legend of Sid Caesar
2003
as Himself
Making History: Mel Brooks on Creating the World
2009
as Self
Musical Mel: Inventing The Inquisition
2009
as Self
Mickey's 50
1978
as Self
Ruby's Studio: the Feelings Show
2010
as Sally Simon Simmons Narrator
In the Beginning: The Caesar Years
2012
as Self
Untitled Lani Pixels Project
TBA
as Gatekeeper (voice)
Excavating the 2000 Year Old Man
2012
as Self
Get Smart: A Man Called Smart
1967
Writer
The Producers
2019
Writer
Inside Danny Baker
1963
Writer
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