Mel Brooks
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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.
Known for
Credits
Toy Story 4 (2019)
as Melephant Brooks (voice)
Spaceballs (1987)
as President Skroob / Yogurt
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018)
as Vlad (voice)
Robots (2005)
as Bigweld (voice)
Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014)
as Albert Einstein (voice)
Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)
as Vlad (voice)
Ballerina (2016)
as Luteau (US version)
The Little Rascals (1994)
as Mr. Welling
Blazing Saddles (1974)
as Governor William J. Le Petomane / Indian Chief
Young Frankenstein (1974)
as Werewolf / Cat / Victor Frankenstein (voice) (uncredited)
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
as Rabbi Tuckman
The Producers (1968)
as Singer in "Springtime for Hitler" (voice) (uncredited)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
as Professor Max Krassman
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (2022)
as Shogun (voice)
The Producers (2005)
as Hilda the Pigeon / Tom the Cat (voice)
Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)
as Prof. Abraham Van Helsing
John Candy: I Like Me (2025)
as Self - Director, Spaceballs
High Anxiety (1977)
as Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke
The Land of Sometimes (2026)
as The Postman (voice)
History of the World: Part I (1981)
as Moses / Comicus / Torquemada / Jacques / King Louis XVI
Life Stinks (1991)
as Goddard Bolt
Silent Movie (1976)
as Mel Funn
Spaceballs: The New One (2027)
as President Skroob / Yogurt
Look Who's Talking Too (1990)
as Mr. Toilet Man (voice)
The Twelve Chairs (1970)
as Tikon
To Be or Not to Be (1983)
as Dr. Frederick Bronski
The Great Buster: A Celebration (2018)
as Self
The Silence of the Hams (1994)
as Checkout Guest (uncredited)
Making History: Mel Brooks on Creating the World (2009)
as Self
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)
as Joe Snow (voice)
Mickey's 50 (1978)
as Self
The Last Laugh (2016)
as Self
Remembering Gene Wilder (2024)
as Self
From Darkness to Light (2025)
as Self (archive footage)
The Automat (2021)
as Self
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2018)
as Self
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)
as Lion victim (voice)
Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You (2016)
as Self
Untitled Lani Pixels Project (—)
as Gatekeeper (voice)
The Muppets Go Hollywood (1979)
as Self
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic (2023)
as Self
Free to Be… You and Me (1974)
as Baby Boy (voice)
Flower of the Dawn (2025)
as Bürgermeister (voice)
Enormous (—)
as Bernie (voice)
Sex, Lies and Video Violence (2000)
as Stressed old man
Free to Be... a Family (1988)
as Self
Hitler: The Comedy Years (2007)
as Singer in 'Springtime for Hitler' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Cutting Edge Comedians of the '60s & '70s (2007)
as Self (archive footage)
Peeping Times (1978)
as Adolf Hitler
Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic (2013)
as Self
The Critic (1963)
as Narrator (voice)
Forky Asks a Question: What Is Love? (2019)
as Melephant Brooks (voice)
Screw Loose (1999)
as Jake Gordon
Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words (2025)
as Self
Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies (2017)
as Self
Hollywood Singing & Dancing: A Musical History - 1980s, 1990s and 2000s (2009)
as Self (archive)
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise (2013)
as Self
Mickey's Audition (1992)
as Movie Director
'Robin Hood: Men in Tights' – The Legend Had It Coming (1993)
as Self
Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch (1997)
as Self
Caesar's Writers (1996)
as Self
Mel Brooks: The Genius Entertainer (2017)
as Himself
If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast (2017)
as Self
An Audience with Mel Brooks (1984)
as Self
Spaceballs: The Totally Warped Animated Adventures (2008)
as President Skroob/Yogurt
John Candy: Comic Spirit (2005)
as Self
Mel Brooks: Unwrapped (2018)
as Self
Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story (2017)
as Self
The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld (2025)
Actor
Sid Caesar Collection: Buried Treasures - The Legend of Sid Caesar (2003)
as Himself
It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein (1994)
as Self
Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man (1970)
as Himself
Mel Brooks: Live at the Geffen (2015)
as Self
Mel Brooks Strikes Back! (2012)
as Self
Hitchcock and Mel: Spoofing the Master of Suspense (2009)
as Self
Musical Mel: Inventing The Inquisition (2009)
as Self
The Sid Caesar Collection: Creating the Comedy (2000)
as Himself
Excavating the 2000 Year Old Man (2012)
as Self
Spaceballs: The Documentary (2005)
as Self
Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love (2023)
as Self - Announcer (voice)
A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009)
as Self
Blaze of Glory: Mel Brooks' Wild, Wild West (2014)
as Self (archive footage)
Recording the Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks (2001)
as Self / Host
Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again (2011)
as Self
The Making of 'The Producers' (2002)
as Self
Untitled Nathan Lane Documentary (—)
as Self
Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century (1998)
as Self (archive footage)
The Great Dictator: The Clown Turns Prophet (2011)
as Self (archive footage)
Back in the Saddle (2001)
as Self
In the Beginning: The Caesar Years (2012)
as Self
The Dick Cavett Show with Mel Brooks (2006)
as Self
The Terrible Elephant Man Revealed (2001)
as Self
David Lynch: The Idea Dictates Everything (2021)
as Mel Brooks
Silent Laughter: The Reel Inspirations of 'Silent Movie' (2009)
as Self
Sunset People (1984)
as Self
The 2000 Year Old Man (1975)
as 2000 Year Old Man (voice)
The Sid Caesar Collection: Inside the Writer's Room (2000)
as Himself
Life Stinks: Does Life Really Stink? (2003)
as Self
It's Always About the Story: Conversations with Alan Ladd, Jr. (2016)
as Himself
Spaceballs: In Conversation - Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan (2005)
as Self
Ruby's Studio: the Feelings Show (2010)
as Sally Simon Simmons Narrator
Mel Brooks: Seriously... Well, Almost (2024)
as Self