Mel Brooks
Known for: Acting
Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. 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, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony). 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. Brooks began his career as a comic and a writer for Sid Caesar's variety show Your Show of Shows(1950–1954). There, he worked with Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Larry Gelbart, and Carl Reiner. With Reiner, he co-created the comedy sketch The 2000 Year Old Man. He released several comedy albums, starting with 2000 Year Old Man in 1960. Brooks received five nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album, finally winning in 1999. With Buck Henry, he created the hit satirical spy comedy series Get Smart (1965–1970) on NBC television. Brooks won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for The Producers (1967). He then rose to prominence by directing a string of successful comedy films such as The Twelve Chairs (1970), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), Silent Movie (1976), and High Anxiety (1977). Later, Brooks made History of the World, Part I (1981), Spaceballs (1987), Life Stinks (1991), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), and Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995). A musical adaptation of his first film, The Producers, ran on Broadway from 2001 to 2007 and earned Brooks three Tony Awards. The project was remade into a musical film in 2005. He wrote and produced the Hulu series History of the World, Part II (2023). Brooks was married to actress Anne Bancroft from 1964 until she died in 2005. Their son, Max Brooks, is an actor and author known for his novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (2006). In 2021, Mel Brooks published his memoir titled All About Me!. Three of his films are included on the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 comedy films of the past 100 years (1900–2000), all of which were ranked in the top 15: Blazing Saddles at number 6, The Producers at number 11, and Young Frankenstein at number 13.
Filmography
Series
The Simpsons
Mel Brooks (voice)
1989
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1962
Series
Frasier
Tom (voice)
1993
Series
Real Time with Bill Maher
Self
2003
Series
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
1961
Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Mel Brooks
2000
Series
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self - Guest
2003
Series
Only Murders in the Building
Mel Brooks
2021
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee
1944
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Winner
1956
Series
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Santa Claus (voice)
2002
Series
Great Performances
Self
1971
Series
Ciné regards
Self
1978
Film
Toy Story 4
Melephant Brooks (voice)
2019
Series
Mad About You
Uncle Phil
1992
Series
Champs-Elysées
Self
1982
Series
Wogan
Self
1982
Series
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
1968
Series
The Oscars
Self
1953
Film '72
Self
1971
Series
An Audience with...
Self
1978
Series
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Self (uncredited)
1968
Film
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
Vlad (voice)
2018
Film
Robots
Bigweld (voice)
2005
Series
To Tell the Truth
Self - Panelist
2016
Film
Hotel Transylvania 2
Vlad (voice)
2015
Film
Spaceballs
President Skroob / Yogurt
1987
Film
Ballerina
Luteau (US version)
2016
Series
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
Self
2012
Series
History of the World: Part II
Narrator (voice)
2023
Film
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
Albert Einstein (voice)
2014
Film
The Little Rascals
Mr. Welling
1994
Series
The Electric Company
Blond-Haired Cartoon Man (voice)
1971
Film
Robin Hood: Men in Tights
Rabbi Tuckman
1993
Series
Somebody Feed Phil
Self
2018
Series
Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!
Self
2026
Series
Glenn Martin, DDS
2009
Series
The Frank Skinner Show
Self
1995
Series
Live & Kicking
Self
1993
Series
Inside Comedy
Self
2012
Series
Primetime Glick
2001
Film
Young Frankenstein
Werewolf / Cat / Victor Frankenstein (voice) (uncredited)
1974
Series
Legends
Mel Funn (archive footage) (uncredited)
2006
Series
RTL Samstag Nacht
1993
Film
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank
Shogun (voice)
2022
Series
Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks
Wiley (voice)
2003
Film
John Candy: I Like Me
Self - Director, Spaceballs
2025
Film
Blazing Saddles
Governor William J. Le Petomane / Indian Chief
1974
Series
The Wonderful World of Disney
Self
1954
Series
The Hollywood Palace
Self
1964
Series
Noel's House Party
1991
Film
The Muppet Movie
Professor Max Krassman
1979
Please Turn the Page
Self
1977
Film
Life Stinks
Goddard Bolt
1991
Film
The Producers
Singer in "Springtime for Hitler" (voice) (uncredited)
1968
Film
Dracula: Dead and Loving It
Prof. Abraham Van Helsing
1995
Film
The Producers
Hilda the Pigeon / Tom the Cat (voice)
2005
Film
Spaceballs: The New One
President Skroob / Yogurt
2027
Film
Look Who's Talking Too
Mr. Toilet Man (voice)
1990
Film
Silent Movie
Mel Funn
1976
Series
The David Susskind Show
Self
1959
Series
When Things Were Rotten
Guard (uncredited)
1975
Film
The Silence of the Hams
Checkout Guest (uncredited)
1994
Film
The Land of Sometimes
The Postman (voice)
2026
Film
High Anxiety
Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke
1977
Film
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
Joe Snow (voice)
2002
Saturday Night Clive
1989
Film
Mickey's 50
Self
1978
Series
Spaceballs: The Animated Series
President Skroob / Yogurt (voice)
2008
Film
History of the World: Part I
Moses / Comicus / Torquemada / Jacques / King Louis XVI
1981
Series
Flick Flack
1974
Film
Grown Ups 3
Series
Forky Asks a Question
Melephant Brooks (voice)
2019
Film
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
Self
2018
Film
The Great Buster: A Celebration
Self
2018
Film
To Be or Not to Be
Dr. Frederick Bronski
1983
Film
Forky Asks a Question: What Is Love?
Melephant Brooks (voice)
2019
Film
The Twelve Chairs
Tikon
1970
The Paul Reiser Show
The Angry Cat (voice)
2011
Film
Sex, Lies and Video Violence
Stressed old man
2000
Film
Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic
Self
2013
Film
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
Lion victim (voice)
1975
Film
The Muppets Go Hollywood
Self
1979
Untitled Lani Pixels Project
Gatekeeper (voice)
Film
'Robin Hood: Men in Tights' – The Legend Had It Coming
Self
1993
Film
The Last Laugh
Self
2016
Film
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
Self
2023
Film
Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies
Self
2017
Series
The New Steve Allen Show
Self - 2000 Year Old Man
1961
Film
An Audience with Mel Brooks
Self
1984
Film
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise
Self
2013
Film
The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld
2025
Film
Remembering Gene Wilder
Self
2024
Film
Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love
Self - Announcer (voice)
2023
Film
Mel Brooks: The Genius Entertainer
Himself
2017
Film
Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You
Self
2016
Enormous
Bernie (voice)
Film
From Darkness to Light
Self (archive footage)
2025
Series
Broadway: The American Musical
Self
2004
John Candy: Comic Spirit
Self
2005
Film
Excavating the 2000 Year Old Man
Self
2012
Film
Hitler: The Comedy Years
Singer in 'Springtime for Hitler' (archive footage) (uncredited)
2007
Film
Mel Brooks: Live at the Geffen
Self
2015
Film
Spaceballs: The Documentary
Self
2005
Cutting Edge Comedians of the '60s & '70s
Self (archive footage)
2007
Film
It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein
Self
1994
The Sid Caesar Collection: Creating the Comedy
Himself
2000
Film
Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story
Self
2017
Mel Brooks: Seriously... Well, Almost
Self
2024
Film
Silent Laughter: The Reel Inspirations of 'Silent Movie'
Self
2009
Film
Screw Loose
Jake Gordon
1999
Series
The Grammys
Self
1959
Film
Sid Caesar Collection: Buried Treasures - The Legend of Sid Caesar
Himself
2003
Film
Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man
Himself
1970
Film
Free to Be… You and Me
Baby Boy (voice)
1974
Film
Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch
Self
1997
Film
Hollywood Singing & Dancing: A Musical History - 1980s, 1990s and 2000s
Self (archive)
2009
Film
The Automat
Self
2021
Film
Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again
Self
2011
Film
Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words
Self
2025
Film
The Making of 'The Producers'
Self
2002
Film
The Terrible Elephant Man Revealed
Self
2001
Film
A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers
Self
2009
Film
Recording the Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks
Self / Host
2001
Film
Mel Brooks: Unwrapped
Self
2018
Film
Free to Be... a Family
Self
1988
Film
Peeping Times
Adolf Hitler
1978
Film
Frank Sinatra: The Voice of the Century
Self (archive footage)
1998
Film
In the Beginning: The Caesar Years
Self
2012
Film
If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast
Self
2017
Untitled Nathan Lane Documentary
Self
Film
Making History: Mel Brooks on Creating the World
Self
2009
The Sid Caesar Collection: Inside the Writer's Room
Himself
2000
Film
Back in the Saddle
Self
2001
Film
Spaceballs: The Totally Warped Animated Adventures
President Skroob/Yogurt
2008
Film
Life Stinks: Does Life Really Stink?
Self
2003
Film
Mel Brooks Strikes Back!
Self
2012
Film
Musical Mel: Inventing The Inquisition
Self
2009
Film
Hitchcock and Mel: Spoofing the Master of Suspense
Self
2009
Film
Ruby's Studio: the Feelings Show
Sally Simon Simmons Narrator
2010
Spaceballs: In Conversation - Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
Self
2005
Film
Flower of the Dawn
Bürgermeister (voice)
2025
Film
The Great Dictator: The Clown Turns Prophet
Self (archive footage)
2011
Film
The 2000 Year Old Man
2000 Year Old Man (voice)
1975
Film
Caesar's Writers
Self
1996
Film
Mickey's Audition
Movie Director
1992
Film
Blaze of Glory: Mel Brooks' Wild, Wild West
Self (archive footage)
2014
Film
The Dick Cavett Show with Mel Brooks
Self
2006
Film
Sunset People
Self
1984
Film
It's Always About the Story: Conversations with Alan Ladd, Jr.
Himself
2016
Film
The Critic
Narrator (voice)
1963
Funny Men in Tights: Three Generations of Comedy
Self