Mel Brooks was born in 1926, so he turns 100 years old this year. This HBO MAX documentary does a thorough, excellent job of detailing his iconic life in comedy. Director Judd Apatow interviews Brooks, but also has many clips from Mel on talk shows hosted by Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, Tom Snyder and more. Mel was an entertainer in the Catskills resorts of upstate New York in the 1940s after serving in the US military during World War II. From 1950-54, he was a writer for "Your Show of Shows," which was one of the earliest comedy shows in infancy of the television medium. Here he formed important relationships with Carl Reiner and Sid Caesar. Brooks and Reiner are known for their comedy bit, "The 2000 Year Old Man." Reiner played the straight man. In 1962, Mel was one of the guests on the first episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." The documentary goes through his impressive resume as a writer-director on such films as: "The Producers" (1967), "The Twelve Chairs" (1970), "Blazing Saddles" (1974), "Young Frankenstein" (1974), "Silent Movie" (1976), "High Anxiety" (1977), "History of the World Part I" (1981), "Spaceballs" (1987), "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" (1993), and others. From 1965-70, he wrote the TV show "Get Smart" which he created with Buck Henry. In 1967, "The Graduate" was released, written by Buck Henry and starring the woman who would become Mel's wife, Anne Bancroft (Mrs. Robinson). Mel Brooks is one of few celebrities who can say he is an EGOT winner (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony). He won the Tony for his 2001 stage production of "The Producers." The documentary talks about how hard it was for Mel to lose his wife Anne Bancroft and friend Carl Reiner. Anne passed in 2005 and Carl passed in 2020. Mel and Carl had a tradition of watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy together in Carl's home, eating dinner off TV trays. After Reiner's death, the chairs and TV trays were put on display at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York. At age 99, Mel still had projects in the works. "Spaceballs 2" and "Very Young Frankenstein" are in post production.
*Some information from imdb and wikipedia.
