Mel Brooks is a popular American comedian, actor, writer, director and producer who is best known for creating comic parodies and broad film farces. Brooks began his career as a comedy writer working Sid Caeser. He gained recognition for his work with fellow comedian Carl Reiner with whom he created the routine ‘The 2000-Year-Old Man’. Brooks also created, the hit TV series ‘Get Smart’ with Buck Henry that aired from 1965 to 1970.

Brooks is also an acclaimed producer and director having made several hit films like ‘The Producers’, ‘Blazing Saddles’, ‘Young Frankenstein’, ‘High Anxiety’, and the TV shows ‘Spaceballs’ and ‘Robin Hood: Men in Tights’. He is one of the few artists to have joined the EGOT list of winners, having won an Emmy, a Grammy, and Oscar and a Tony Award.

Early Life and Education

Brooks was born as Melvin Kaminsky on 28 June 1926 in Brooklyn, New York in a Jewish family to Kate Kaminsky and James Brooks. He was raised in the city of his birth along with his older siblings, brothers named Irving, Lenny and Bernie. Brooks lost his father to kidney disease when he was just 2 years old.

As a youngster, Brooks suffered bullying owing to his small built. He was educated at Abraham Lincoln High School and Eastern District High School where he learnt to play drums. He studied psychology at Brooklyn College before he was drafted into the army. He attended Virginia Military Institute’s Specialized Training Program, serving as a corporal in the US Army during World War II.

Career Rise

Brooks began his entertainment career as a comedy writer and worked for Sid Caesar on his shows ‘The Admiral Broadway Revue’ and ‘Your Show of Shows’, ‘Caesar’s Hour’. He wrote his first Broadway music ‘Shinbone Alley’ in 1954. During the late 1950’s Brooks and Carl Reiner worked on comedy routines and created the ‘2000-Year-Old Man’ routine which became a cult success in New York. The duo took the routine to Hollywood and performed it on ‘The Steve Allen Show’, later releasing the comedy album ‘2000 Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks’. Brooks wrote the 1962 Broadway musical ‘All American’ which won 2 Tony Awards. He wrote the animated film ‘The Critic’ which won an Oscar Award.

Between 1955-1970 Brooks and Buck Henry created the ‘Get Smart’ comedy series which won 7 Emmys. Brooks made his directorial debut with the Academy award winning musical ‘The Proposals’ which was also developed for stage and won 12 Tonys. During the 1970’s Brooks worked on films like ‘The Twelve Chairs’, ‘Blazing Saddles’, ‘Young Frankenstein’, ‘High Anxiety’ etc which were all well received. Brooks’ work in the 1980’s included ‘The Elephant Man’, produced by his own production house, ‘Brooksfilms’, ‘History of the World Part I’, ‘To Be or Not to Be’. He directed the sitcoms ‘Spaceballs’ and ‘The Nut House’. His later work include the films ‘Life Stinks’, and ‘Robin Hood: Men in Tights’. He has also appeared in cameo roles on TV in ‘The Simpsons’, ‘Mad About You’, ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ etc.

Mel Brooks – Young Pictures   

Personal Life

Brooks has been married twice. Brooks was first married to Florence Baum in 1953 with whom he has three children, a daughter Stephanie and sons Nicky and Edie. The couple divorced in 1962.

Brooks met actress Anne Bancroft in 1961 and married her in 1964. The couple became parents to a son named Max Brooks in 1972. They remained together until Bancroft’s death in 2005.

Mel Brooks – Net Worth

Brooks has an estimated net worth of approximately $85 Million.