Mel Brooks is an actor, comedian, and filmmaker of the stage, television, and screen. He started his work as a comedy writer, actor, and then director of 11 feature films including The Producers (1967), Young Frankenstein (1974), and Blazing Saddles (1974). He is also known for his work on Broadway including, The Producers (2001).
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1954 | New Faces | No | Yes | No | Credited as "Melvin Brooks" |
1967 | The Producers | Yes | Yes | No | Directorial debut |
1970 | The Twelve Chairs | Yes | Yes | No | |
1974 | Blazing Saddles | Yes | Yes | No | |
Young Frankenstein | Yes | Yes | No | ||
1976 | Silent Movie | Yes | Yes | No | |
1977 | High Anxiety | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
1981 | History of the World, Part I | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
1987 | Spaceballs | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
1991 | Life Stinks | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
1993 | Robin Hood: Men in Tights | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
1995 | Dracula: Dead and Loving It | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2005 | The Producers [1] | No | Yes | Yes | |
2022 | Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank [1] | No | Yes | Executive | |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1963 | The Critic | Narrator | Short film |
1967 | The Producers | Singer in "Springtime for Hitler" | Voice, uncredited |
1970 | The Twelve Chairs | Tikon | |
1974 | Blazing Saddles | Governor William Le Petomane / Indian Chief / Aviator Applicant / Back-Up German Singer (voice) / Grouchy Moviegoer (voice) | |
Young Frankenstein | Werewolf / Cat Hit by Dart / Victor Frankenstein | Voice, uncredited | |
1976 | Silent Movie | Mel Funn | |
1977 | High Anxiety | Richard H. Thorndyke | |
1979 | The Muppet Movie | Professor Max Krassman | |
1981 | History of the World, Part I | Moses / Comicus / Torquemada / Jacques / King Louis XVI | |
1983 | To Be or Not to Be | Dr. Frederick Bronski | |
1987 | Spaceballs | Yogurt / President Skroob | |
1990 | Look Who's Talking Too [1] | Mr. Toilet Man | Voice |
1991 | Life Stinks | Goddard Bolt | |
1992 | Mickey's Audition | Film director | Short film |
1993 | Robin Hood: Men in Tights | Rabbi Tuckman | |
1994 | The Little Rascals | Mr. Welling | |
1995 | Dracula: Dead and Loving It | Dr. Abraham Van Helsing | |
1999 | Screw Loose | Jake Gordon | |
2000 | Sex, Lies and Video Violence | Stressed old man | |
2005 | Robots [1] | Bigweld | Voice |
The Producers [1] | Himself / Hilda the Pigeon (voice) / Tom the Cat (voice) / German Soldier (voice) | ||
2010 | Ruby's Studio: The Feelings Show | Sally Simon Simmons / Narrator | Voice |
2014 | Mr. Peabody & Sherman [1] | Albert Einstein | Voice, cameo |
2015 | Underdogs | The Agent | Voice, U.S. dub |
Hotel Transylvania 2 [1] | Vlad Dracula | Voice | |
2017 | Leap! [1] | M. Luteau | Voice, U.S. dub |
The Guardian Brothers | Mr. Rogman | ||
2018 | Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation [1] | Vlad | Voice |
2019 | Toy Story 4 [2] | Melephant Brooks | |
2022 | Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank | Shogun Toshi |
Year | Film | Director | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1980 | The Elephant Man | David Lynch | Uncredited | |
Fatso | Anne Bancroft | |||
1982 | My Favorite Year | Richard Benjamin | ||
Frances | Graeme Clifford | Uncredited | ||
1983 | To Be or Not to Be | Alan Johnson | ||
1986 | The Fly | David Cronenberg | ||
1986 | Solarbabies | Alan Johnson | ||
2017 | Sam | Nicholas Brooks | Executive producer |
Year | Title | Writer | Creator | Executive Producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1949 | Admiral Broadway Revue | Yes | No | No | |
1950–54 | Your Show of Shows | Yes | No | No | |
1954–57 | Caesar's Hour | Yes | No | No | |
1958 | Sid Caesar Invites You | Yes | No | No | |
1965–70 | Get Smart | Yes | Yes | No | Also character developer |
1975 | The 2000 Year Old Man [1] | Yes | No | No | TV special |
When Things Were Rotten | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 episode | |
1989 | The Nutt House | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 episode |
2008–09 | Spaceballs: The Animated Series | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also composer |
2023 | History of the World, Part II | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1961 | The New Steve Allen Show | 2000 Year Old Man | 2 episodes |
1962–92 | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Guest / Himself | 19 episodes |
1967 | The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special | Himself | TV special |
1968–78 | The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) | Himself / Panelist | 15 episodes |
1971–77 | The Electric Company | Blond-Haired Cartoon Man (voice) | 780 episodes |
1974 | Free to Be... You and Me | Baby Boy (voice) | Television film |
1975 | The 2000 Year Old Man [1] | 2000 Year Old Man (voice) | TV special |
1983 | An Audience with Mel Brooks | Himself | TV special |
1990 | The Tracey Ullman Show | Buzz Schlanger | Episode: "Due Diligence" |
1993 | Frasier | Tom (voice) | Episode: "Miracle on Third or Fourth Street" |
1995 | The Simpsons | Himself (voice) | Episode: "Homer vs. Patty and Selma" |
1996–99 | Mad About You | Uncle Phil | 4 episodes |
2000 | The Kids from Room 402 | Mr. Miller (voice) | Episode: "Squeezed Out" |
2002 | It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie | Joe Snow (voice) | Television film |
2003 | The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius [1] | Santa Claus (voice) | Episode: "Holly Jolly Jimmy" |
2003–07 | Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks | Wiley the Sheep (voice) | 47 episodes |
2004 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Himself | 4 episodes |
2008–09 | Spaceballs: The Animated Series | President Skroob, Yogurt (voice) | 13 episodes |
2010 | Glenn Martin, DDS | Canine (voice) | Episode: "A Very Martin Christmas" |
2011 | Special Agent Oso | Grandpa Mel (voice) | Episode: "On Old MacDonald's Special Song/Snapfingers" |
The Paul Reiser Show | The Angry Cat (voice) | Episode: "The Playdate" | |
Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again | Himself | TV special | |
2012 | Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee | Episode: "I Want Sandwiches, I Want Chicken" | |
Mel Brooks Strikes Back | TV special | ||
2014 | Jeopardy! | Video Clue Presenter | Episode #30.131 |
Dora the Explorer | Mad Hatter (voice) | Episode: "Dora in Wonderland" | |
2015 | Mel Brooks: Live at the Geffen | Himself | Stand-up TV special |
The Comedians | Episode: "Celebrity Guest" | ||
2018 | To Tell the Truth | Season 3, episode 2 | |
2019 | Forky Asks A Question | Melephant Brooks (voice) | Episode: "What Is Love?" |
2022 | Little Demon | Millipede (voice) | Episode: "Village of the Found" |
2023 | History of the World, Part II | Narrator | 8 episodes |
Only Murders in the Building | Himself | Episode: "CoBro" | |
TBA | Fairy Tale Forest | Burgermeister | TV movie, Completed |
Year | Title | Notes | Venue | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1952 | New Faces of 1952 | Writer | Royale Theatre | [3] |
1957 | Shinbone Alley | Writer | Broadway Theater | |
1962 | All American | Writer | Winter Garden Theater | |
2001 | The Producers | Composer, lyricist, writer, producer | St. James Theatre | |
2007 | Young Frankenstein | Composer, lyricist, writer, producer | Hilton Theatre | |
2019 | Mel Brooks on Broadway | Performer | Lunt-Fontanne Theatre | |
Year | Title | Position | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Mel Brooks: To Be or Not to Be - The Hitler Rap | Composer, lyricist | Short |
2001 | Great Performances | Composer | 1 episode |
2008 | Get Smart | Consultant | |
2015 | Sam | Executive producer | |
2020 | Grandma for President | Actor (voice of Ernie Blanders) | Podcast series |
Brooks cast certain actors in more than one of his films. His most frequent collaborators were Rudy De Luca (7 films), Dom DeLuise (6 films), Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Charlie Callas, Carol Arthur, and Robert Ridgely (4 films each).
Blazing Saddles is a 1974 American satirical postmodernist Western black comedy film directed by Mel Brooks, who co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg and Alan Uger, based on a story treatment by Bergman. The film stars Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder. Brooks appears in two supporting roles: Governor William J. Le Petomane, and a Yiddish-speaking Indian chief; he also dubs lines for one of Lili Von Shtupp's backing troupe and a cranky moviegoer. The supporting cast includes Slim Pickens, Alex Karras and David Huddleston, as well as Brooks regulars Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn and Harvey Korman. Bandleader Count Basie has a cameo as himself, appearing with his orchestra.
Melvin James Brooks is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. 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 Award, a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award. 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.
Walter Matthau was an American screen and stage actor, known for his "hangdog face" and for playing world-weary characters. He starred in 10 films alongside his real-life friend Jack Lemmon, including The Odd Couple (1968) and Grumpy Old Men (1993). The New York Times called this "one of Hollywood's most successful pairings". Among other accolades, he was an Academy Award, a two-time BAFTA Award, and two-time Tony Award winner.
Spaceballs is a 1987 American satirical space opera comedy film co-written, produced and directed by Mel Brooks. It is a parody primarily of the original Star Wars trilogy, but also of other popular franchises such as Star Trek, Alien, The Wizard of Oz, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Planet of the Apes, and Transformers. The film stars Bill Pullman, John Candy, and Rick Moranis, with the supporting cast including Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, George Wyner, Lorene Yarnell, and the voice of Joan Rivers. In addition to Brooks playing a dual role, the film also features Brooks regulars Dom DeLuise and Rudy De Luca in cameo appearances.
The Producers is a 1967 American satirical black comedy film. It was written and directed by Mel Brooks, and stars Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn, and Kenneth Mars. The film is about a con artist theater producer and his accountant who scheme to get rich by fraudulently overselling interests in a stage musical designed to fail. To this end, they find a playscript celebrating Adolf Hitler and the Nazis and bring it to the stage. Because of this theme, The Producers was controversial from the start, and received mixed reviews. It became a cult film, and found a more positive critical reception later.
Carl Reiner was an American actor, author, comedian, director and screenwriter whose career spanned seven decades. He was the recipient of many awards and honors, including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999.
Anne Bancroft was an American actress and director. Respected for her acting prowess and versatility, Bancroft received an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Tony Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Cannes Film Festival Award. She is one of 24 thespians to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting.
Silent Movie is a 1976 American satirical silent comedy film co-written, directed by and starring Mel Brooks, released by 20th Century Fox in summer 1976. The ensemble cast includes Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman, Bernadette Peters. and Sid Caesar, with cameos by Anne Bancroft, Liza Minnelli, Burt Reynolds, James Caan, Marcel Marceau, and Paul Newman as themselves, and character cameos by Harry Ritz of the Ritz Brothers, Charlie Callas, and Henny Youngman. The film was produced in the manner of an early-20th-century silent film, with intertitles instead of spoken dialogue; the soundtrack consists almost entirely of orchestral accompaniment and sound effects. It is an affectionate parody of slapstick comedies, including those of Charlie Chaplin, Mack Sennett, and Buster Keaton. The film satirizes the film industry, presenting the story of a film producer trying to obtain studio support to make a silent film in the 1970s.
Irwin Lawrence "Paul" Mazursky was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor. Known for his dramatic comedies that often dealt with modern social issues, he was nominated for five Academy Awards for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), An Unmarried Woman (1978), Harry and Tonto (1974), and Enemies, A Love Story (1989). He is also known for directing such films as Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976), Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Moon over Parador (1988), and Scenes from a Mall (1991).
Gene Wilder was an American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. He was mainly known for his comedic roles, but also for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). He collaborated with Mel Brooks on the films The Producers (1967), Blazing Saddles (1974) and Young Frankenstein (1974), and with Richard Pryor in the films Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) and Another You (1991).
Young Frankenstein is a 1974 American comedy horror film directed by Mel Brooks. The screenplay was co-written by Brooks and Gene Wilder. Wilder also starred in the lead role as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Peter Boyle portrayed the monster. The film co-stars Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Richard Haydn, and Gene Hackman.
Peter Lawrence Boyle was an American actor. He is known for his character actor roles in film and television and received several awards including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Dominick DeLuise was an American actor, comedian, director, chef, and author. Known primarily for comedy roles, he rose to fame in the 1970s as a frequent guest on television variety shows. He is widely recognized for his performances in the films of Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder, as well as a series of collaborations and a double act with Burt Reynolds. Beginning in the 1980s, his popularity expanded to younger audiences from voicing characters in several major animated productions, particularly those of Don Bluth.
Harvey Herschel Korman was an American actor and comedian who performed in television and film productions. He is best remembered as a main cast member alongside Carol Burnett, Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrence on the CBS sketch comedy series The Carol Burnett Show (1967–1977) for which he won four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award.
Kenneth Mars was an American actor. He appeared in two Mel Brooks films: as the deranged Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in The Producers (1967) and Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friedrich Kemp in Young Frankenstein (1974). He also appeared in Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up Doc? (1972) as well as Woody Allen's Radio Days (1987) and Shadows and Fog (1991).
Dick Shawn was an American actor. He played a wide variety of supporting roles and was a prolific character actor. During the 1960s, he played small roles in madcap comedies, usually portraying caricatures of counterculture personalities, such as the hedonistic but mother-obsessed Sylvester Marcus in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), and the hippie actor Lorenzo Saint DuBois ("L.S.D.") in The Producers (1967). Besides his film work, he appeared in numerous television shows from the 1960s through the 1980s.
The Twelve Chairs is a 1970 American comedy film directed and written by Mel Brooks, and starring Frank Langella, Ron Moody and Dom DeLuise. The film is one of at least eighteen film adaptations of the Soviet 1928 novel The Twelve Chairs by Ilf and Petrov.
The Producers is a 2005 American musical comedy film directed by Susan Stroman and written by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan based on the eponymous 2001 Broadway musical, which in turn was based on Brooks's 1967 film of the same name. The film stars an ensemble cast led by Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Will Ferrell, Gary Beach, Roger Bart, and Jon Lovitz. Creature effects were provided by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
Ron Clark is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for several plays that he co-wrote with Sam Bobrick and for co-writing the screenplays for the films Silent Movie, High Anxiety, and Life Stinks with Mel Brooks.
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