Mel Brooks



""Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.""

Probably one of the funniest men in Hollywood, and Broadway, and life in general.

Co-creator of the James Bond parody series Get Smart (wirh Buck Henry), and producer and director of many fine films -- most of them affectionate parodies -- such as Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, The Producers, The Twelve Chairs, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, History of the World Part One, To Be or Not To Be, Spaceballs, Dracula Dead and Loving It, and Robin Hood Men in Tights.

Notably, Blazing Saddles, The Producers and Young Frankenstein occupy spots 6, 11 and 13 on the AFI's list of the 100 best comedies of the last 100 years. Did we mention that he's really funny?

He also produced the drama The Elephant Man and David Cronenberg's remake of the horror film The Fly but removed his name because he didn't want people to think they were comedies.

In the new millennium, he co-wrote and produced successful musical versions of The Producers and Young Frankenstein for Broadway. Following the success of The Producers, he and Anne Bancroft appeared as themselves on Curb Your Enthusiasm, intent on casting Larry David and David Schwimmer in the show

Brooks is responsible for launching and boosting the careers of many comedians. It was he who gave Dave Chappelle his first credited role.

He also rapped as Hitler once. In an interview for 60 Minutes, he stated that his life's goal was to reduce Hitler to a figure of such ridiculousness that no-one would ever take his ideas seriously again. (If the numerous Tonys that The Producers won are any indication, it's working.) Being both Jewish and a World War Two veteran, if anyone has N-Word Privileges to joke about Adolf Hitler it's him.

He met Anne Bancroft on a talk show and then bribed a woman in order to create a Meet Cute with her. Proving that being Genre Savvy has its perks, he was somehow able to convince Mrs. Robinson to become Mrs. Brooks. This resulted in Max Brooks, probably one of the foremost experts on how to repel and survive the oncoming Zombie Apocalypse.

If you haven't seen one of his films then you need to fix that. Now.

If you're under 12, you probably know him best as the voice of Wiley the Sheep on Jakers the Adventures of Piggley Winks.

And lastly, he is a retired badass World War II vet who used to defuse Nazi landmines for the Allied Forces. Then at the Battle of the Bulge, when the Nazis set up loud speakers to play Fascist Propaganda at the Allies, Brooks set up his own loud speakers and played the works of Jewish musical artist Al Jolson right back at them. He was making fun of Nazis back when they were still relevant ...and lived. It's good to be the king, indeed.

Films of note:

 * The Producers (1968)
 * The Twelve Chairs (1970)
 * Blazing Saddles (1974)
 * Young Frankenstein (1974)
 * Silent Movie (1976)
 * High Anxiety (1977)
 * History of the World Part One (1981)
 * Spaceballs (1987)
 * Life Stinks (1991)
 * Robin Hood Men in Tights (1993)
 * Dracula Dead and Loving It (1995)
 * The Producers (2005)

Tropes named by his works:

 * Bad News in A Good Way
 * Good Is Dumb
 * Just a Stupid Accent
 * Just You and Me And My Guards
 * Ludicrous Speed
 * The Mel Brooks Number
 * Springtime for Hitler
 * Where Da White Women At?