BIOGRAPHY, WIKIPEDIA, AGE AND NET WORTH: Fans celebrate Mel Brooks on his 97th birthday today

BIOGRAPHY, WIKIPEDIA, AGE AND NET WORTH: Fans celebrate Mel Brooks on his 97th birthday today.

Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky;[1] June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies.[2] A recipient of numerous accolades, he is one of 18 entertainers to win the EGOT, which includes an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Academy Award (“Oscar”), and a Tony Award. 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 2023.

During this same period, Brooks and Reiner created their famous 2000 Year Old Man routine, with Brooks playing the world’s oldest living human. The highly successful comedy albums brought the duo Grammy nominations in 1961, 1962 and 1964, and a victory in 1999 for “The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000.”

Brooks turned to filmmaking when he was 42 years old with “The Producers” (1968), a raunchy comedy about a hapless Broadway producer (Zero Mostel) and a nebbishy accountant (Gene Wilder) who decide to strike it rich by producing the worst musical ever: “Springtime for Hitler.” The classic satire brought him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and launched his successful big screen career.

One of only 18 people to win the EGOT, legendary funnyman Mel Brooks has excelled on the big screen, the stage and television. But it’s his movies that have made him a household name. Let’s take a look back at 12 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1926 in Brooklyn, New York, Brooks got his start as a writer for Sid Caesar on “Your Show of Shows,” working alongside Carl Reiner, Neil Simon, Danny Simon and Mel Tolkin. He then moved onto “Caesar’s Hour,” which added Woody Allen and Larry Gelbart to the writing team. The show brought Brooks three consecutive Emmy nominations (1956-1958), and he won his first prize for co-writing the 1967 reunion special. In 1965, he co-created the spy comedy “Get Smart” with Buck Henry, which brought him another Emmy bid for writing in 1966. He later won three consecutive awards for his guest role on “Mad About You” (1997-1999).