Mel Brooks

He might come off as goofy, but he is one of the smartest, classiest, and most sophisticated men ever in show business. His genuine love of wine, Russian literature, Beethoven, and Anne Bancroft are just a few examples.

Of course, he would never describe himself as such.

I love him

Oh. Wow. Cool.

One of the funniest & best writers there was.

Love his work.

He has never said anything bad about anyone. A true class act

He's Jewish?

He used to play in my Grandfather’s poker game.

[quote]or serious dramas like The Elephant Man and My Favorite Year.

Huh?

R8 he produced those films

A conversation with Mel Brooks and Ben Mankiewicz

[quote] He has never said anything bad about anyone. A true class act

Not even HITLER?

He made 1983’s To Be or Not to Be in which he recited Hamlet’s famous speech. Just three years earlier Eric Porter played Polonius in a BBC television production of Hamlet.

He is Mel Brooks!

Mel Brooks on Desert Island Discs. Roy Plomley is in stitches the entire time.

[quote][R8] he produced those films

I'm aware of that, r9, but I've never considered My Favorite Year a "serious drama".

[quote] Imogene Cocoa

Oh, dear.

R11 No, Brooks says that laughing at them is better

r6 Rose, are you sure you're not Homer Simpson?

[quote] He got his start writing for Your Show of Shows alongside Sid Caesar, Imogene Cocoa, Neil Simon, Selma Diamond, and Carl Reiner.

Imogene COCA was never a writer.

As a Warner Bros employee, I saw Blazing Saddles before it was released along with a bunch of other employees from accounting.

Mel Brooks work really amazed me. I loved that movie.

Springtime for Hitler is one of the funniest songs of all time.

Putting on the Ritz!

Longer Version

Stick Out Your Tush!

To Be or Not to Be

Brooks says he is restoration comedy and no different than Wycherley

I can see that, r26.

He was close friends with my husband's parents. They once came by (Bancroft and him) in a limo and picked up Rob's parents for McDonalds before a movie.

How could you post that literal violence, R24? You brute, you brute, you brute, you vicious brute! 😉🤣

I saw the Broadway version of The Producers with the original cast. I had already memorized the score by listening to the CD. What an absolutely delightful evening.

After 20 years, the score is, for me, okay; there are some real clunkers in the lyrics. But the exuberance of what Brooks' wrote, the 100% of the entire cast? Yea, I still smile and often laugh at what's playing.

He's a treasure.

Love him and his work.

His son Max is attractive too

Max wrote World War Z

Has anyone else watched The History of the World Part 2 on HBO? We just finished watching the first series and it is really funny. Mel Brooks produced, with a lot of recognizable comedic faces playing historic characters. There were a bunch of laugh out loud moments.

Why do we never hear about History of the World Part 1? If there's a part 2, there's gotta be a part 1.

tights

An absolute inspiration and hero of mine!!

My family has more private Mel Brooks-written jokes than I could count because we kids grew up in the 70s and my parents loved him, too: my 84-year old dad wears his “Sedagive?” tee all the time and has Young Frankenstein action figures in his office and at my mom’s memorial service, we played “Blazing Saddles”' which is absolutely what she would have wanted. Brooks’s wit and silliness are absolutely unmatched and I’m grateful to be old enough to have seen his biggest movies in the theatre with other fans.

You already missed it R36

There are very few people who actually qualify as National Treasures -but Mel Brooks is one of them.

I hope he know just how much he is beloved by all of us.

Mensch

You knew Brooks and Bancroft really and genuinely love each other.

There is just something so wholesome and honest about being hilarious and successful, but also married to the same woman for 50 years years.

Mel Brooks is an angel from heaven. Love how he’s more unhinged than Jiminy Glick in that clip above.

Love him

It seems we’ve identified another celebrity who is universally beloved on DL.

R45 Wrong. I actually hate him. Terrible person. And he is..... *Jewish*

Aaaaaaaand blocked.

A friend met him in the 1970s, when we were in high school. She and her mother had stumbled over a location shoot for "High Anxiety", and she said that Mel noticed them standing there gawking. He came up and introduced himself, showed them around for 10-15 minutes, and was unbelievably nice.

Now my friend was a pretty blonde girl of 17 or so, but no, he didn't do anything inappropriate. He was just being nice, because he was a nice person.

R48 that's sweet. Yeah he is just a good person. End of story.

He is on a list of people I inspire to be. War, witty, and comforting, but also intelligent and successful.

It is a fine line, but Brooks pulls it off almost effortlessly.