Born to be the center of attention, Mel Brooks grew up learning the ropes of entertainment in the Catskills during its biggest days. He later emerged as a skilled comedy writer by literally muscling his way into television in the late 1940s. Brooks would be involved with some of the most notorious musicals on Broadway in the 1950s and 1960s, before finally breaking through nearly 50 years later with a musical version of his first film, The Producers (2001). With Carl Reiner, he would create the 2000-Year-Old Man, and sold millions of comedy albums in the 1960s. He would cocreate the classic cult comedy television series Get Smart (1965-1970).
His films-which he wrote, directed, and sometimes starred in-such as The Producers (1968), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), and Spaceballs (1987)-have become certified classics to generations of fans and continuing well into the 1990s. Mel Brooks FAQ covers the entire career and life of a man who has won a Grammy, an Emmy, A Tony, and multiple Oscars. Also covered are the intertwining career of Brooks with his wife Anne Bancroft, the novelizations of Brooks' films, and the projects that never came to be.
Raunchy and intellectual at the same time, with a career spanning over sixty years, Brooks has also been involved with serious dramatic films through his Brooksfilms production company, which are also discussed in the book. All this has made Brooks the creative genius that has shaped our understanding of comedy over these many decades, as will be seen within the pages of Mel Brooks FAQ.