Mel Brooks Biography

Mel Brooks is that short, funny Jewish guy who is known to moviegoers as the man behind The Producers (1968), Blazing Saddles (1974) and Young Frankenstein (1974). Throughout the 1950s Brooks wrote comedy for TV star Sid Caesar (Your Show of Shows), and worked with Carl Reiner, his partner in the hugely successful comedy recording, “The 2,000 Year-Old Man” (1960). In the 1960s Brooks became a big star. He won an Oscar for a cartoon short, The Critic (1963), created the hit TV show Get Smart (1965-70) and wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for his directorial debut, The Producers (1968). Brooks has worked frequently with actor Gene Wilder, and together they made some of the most popular comedies of the 1970s, including Blazing Saddles (1974) and Young Frankenstein. In recent years Brooks has had enormous success with the play adaptation of The Producers, a Broadway smash since 2001. His other films include Silent Movie (1976), History of the World Part One (1981) and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993).