Mel Brooks

Biography

Mel Brooks was born Melvin Kaminsky on June 28, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York. He served in WWII, and afterwards got a job playing the drums at nightclubs in the Catskills. Brooks eventually started a comedy act and also worked in radio and as Master Entertainer at Grossinger’s Resort before going to television. He was a writer for, Your Show of Shows (1950) Caesar’s Hour (1954) and wrote the Broadway show Shinbone Alley. He also worked in the creation of The 2000 Year Old Man (1975) and Mini-Max oder die unglaublichen Abenteuer des Maxwell Smart (1965) before embarking on a highly successful film career in writing, acting, producing and directing. Brooks is famous for the spoofs of different film genres that he made such as Der wilde wilde Westen (1974), Mel Brooks – Die verrückte Geschichte der Welt (1981), Mel Brooks letzte Verrücktheit – Silent Movie (1976), Frankenstein Junior (1974), Robin Hood – Helden in Strumpfhosen (1993), Mel Brooks Höhenkoller (1977), Dracula – Tot aber glücklich (1995), and Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs (1987).