Guest post: Spencer Blohm on the life and career of Mel Brooks

"Work, work work!" -Mel Brooks and Robyn Hilton in Blazing Saddles (1974)

BLOGGER'S NOTE: On this, the occasion of Mel Brooks' 87th birthday, I am bringing to you a specially-prepared essay about the director by freelance blogger Spencer Blohm. Please enjoy.

Melvin Kaminsky

No conversation about comedic farce and parodies in film would be complete without a mention of Mel Brooks. Born Melvin Kaminsky on June 28, 1926 in Brooklyn, NY, he lost his father to kidney disease when he was just two years old and claims that this one event is a source for much of what he calls his angry humor. Learning to couch his anger in humor and comedy led to his eventual stellar entertainment career that resulted in Brooks being one of only a handful of people to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony and a Grammy. Among his many accomplishments, Brooks is perhaps best known for writing and directing of such film classics as Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, History of the World Part I, The Producers (the original 1968 version, starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder), Spaceballs,and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. His irreverent and non-politically correct brand of humor often contains many Jewish references and jokes, taken from his personal Russian Jewish heritage. Nearly all of his films parody a genre, as in the case of Young Frankenstein and History of the World, or a specific film, as is the case for Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Spaceballs, although this latter can be said to parody both film and genre all in one. Brooks often worked as writer, director and lead actor, appearing in his own films over and over again. Following his marriage to actress Anne Bancroft in 1964, a marriage that lasted more than four decades until her death in 2005, he tried his hand at more serious film projects, but eventually returned to the spoofs that he is most famous for. In the end, he is often considered one of the funniest men in show business, winning the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 and having three of his films ranking within the top 20 of the AFI’s list of top 100 comedy films of all time. Blazing Saddles is ranked at number six, The Producers at number 11, and Young Frankenstein at number 13. In the words of Brooks himself, “It’s good to be the king!”

About the Author: Spencer Blohm is an entertainment writer for DTV’s TV Blog who has a major passion for comedy. After realizing being the class clown wasn’t a high paying profession he decided to channel his interest into other areas like writing. He often spends his time walking along the beach wondering about the comedy career that could have been.