“Freebies for their high rollers” and other recollections of the Other World weekends are from Norman Lear’s Even This I Get to Experience (Penguin, 2014), mingled with snippets from my interview with Lear. “Luckily for me . . .” is from “Mel Brooks on High Anxiety.” Unless otherwise noted, Jonathan Sanger is always quoted from Making The Elephant Man: A Memoir (McFarland, 2016). “Mel’s technique . . .” is Harvey Korman from “Funny on the Outside—but Inside, He’s a Charming Cad” by Guy Flatley, New York Times (May 28, 1977). “I had all the jet lag . . .” is AB from Anne Bancroft: A Life. “Hardtops for a communal intimacy . . .” is from “Bid Drama: High Anxiety,” Variety (Sept. 28, 1977). “My consummate height . . . ,” “You know . . . ,” and “wouldn’t matter to the movie . . .” are from “The Other Side of Mel Brooks” by Gary Arnold, Washington Post (Feb. 5, 1978). “They chirp and make noise . . .” is MB from Making The Elephant Man.
“My little Jewish mother” is from “Notes on People” by Albin Krebs, New York Times (Sept. 21, 1977). MB talks about “smarties,” “potato salad pictures,” and his plans for his “personal version of Sullivan’s Travels . . .” in “The Other Side of Mel Brooks.” “Hasn’t asked me . . .” is AB from Maggie Daly’s column in the Chicago Tribune (March 15, 1979). Brianne Murphy is quoted from Mollie Gregory’s Women Who Run the Show: How a Brilliant and Creative New Generation of Women Stormed Hollywood (St. Martin’s Press, 2002).
CHAPTER 13: 1980: UNEASY LIES THE HEAD
“I very skillfully hid my name . . . .” is from “Mel Gets Last Laugh.” “Nominal fee” and “a considerable investment . . . .” are from “Pictures: Brooks Man-for-Europe Is Buyse; Fox Finances, Brooks ‘Defers’,” Variety (Feb. 11, 1981). “The natural glue” and “I put an enormous R . . .” are from “At the Movies” by Chris Chase, New York Times (July 10, 1981). “At the height of my vulgarity” is from It’s Good to Be the King. “A considerable disappointment” is from “Hollywood Is Joyous over Record Grossing Summer” by Aljean Harmetz, New York Times (Sept. 9, 1981). “More important than the stars” is from “Dubbing, P.A. [personal appearance] Stints by Brooks Vital to History Paris B.O.,” Variety (Feb. 10, 1982). “Didn’t live up to Brooks’ usual . . .” is from “You Wash Up, I’ll Save France” by Steve Pond, Washington Post (Nov. 5, 1981). “Generally perceived to be a failure” is from “Mel Brooks Is Funnier Than Ever if He Does Say So Himself—and He Does” by Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune (Feb. 27, 1983). “Mr. Brooks made more . . .” is from “Talking Money with Mel Brooks” by Geraldine Fabrikant, New York Times (Oct. 26, 1997).
“I am the funniest man . . .” is from “Playing Comedy Is No Laughing Matter” by Fred Ferreti, New York Times (Nov. 14, 1982). “I enjoyed Airplane! . . .” is from “At the Movies,” July 10, 1981. “I don’t think they have . . .” is from “Pell-Mel.” Michael Palin is quoted from Halfway to Hollywood: Diaries: 1980–1988 (Thomas Dunne Books, 2011). “Nothing about my wife . . .” is from “Mel Brooks: After VMI.” “Warm, fun, easy” is from MT’s Dec. 15, 1980, letter to Lucille Kallen. “Old-fashioned existence,” “My mum was not just overprotective . . . ,” and “because I opened a new box . . .” are Max Brooks from “Dad Was Too Afraid to Let Me Camp” by Helena de Bertodano, The Times (UK) (July 19, 2007). “The largest house in the city” is from “Mel Brooks’ ‘Immense’ New House Upsets Neighbors” by Michelle Markel, Los Angeles Times (Aug. 21, 1983). “A little jealous” is Sid Caesar from A Short History of Mel Brooks. “It was okay . . .” is from Dan Pasternack’s 1997 interview with Caesar in the Television Academy Foundation oral history archives. Imogene Coca’s Sept. 15, 1982, letter to Lucille Kallen is among Kallen’s papers. MT comments acerbically on History of the World, Part I in a June 15, 1981, letter to Kallen.
Brooks’s friendship with the OCD-afflicted James Bailey is recounted in Bailey’s Man, Interrupted: Welcome to the Bizarre World of OCD, Where Once More Is Never Enough (Random House, 2011). Ted Sorel’s letter to the editor appeared in the Los Angeles Times (April 5, 1987). Burt Reynolds is quoted from My Life (Hoddard & Stoughton, 1994). The “Jack and the Lean Talk” lawsuit is recounted from clippings and court documents. Variety reported the Elephant Man litigation in its Aug. 15, 1979, edition. The Frances court case is reconstructed from court documents, newspaper items, and William Arnold’s reminiscences in dialogue with Wallace Reid Boyd, published as Shadowland Revisited: The Story of a Book and Its Aftermath (Kindle, 2017).
CHAPTER 14: 1983: WHY SO ANGRY?
“I spend about 30 per cent . . .” is from “On the Next Frontier, Mel Brooks Aims His Fazers at the Stars for a Space-Epic Parody” by Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune (Jan. 11, 1987). “Jesus the Man” is from Martin Kasindorf’s “From Hollywood” column in Newsday (Aug. 7, 1988). “An epic film about apartheid” is from “Brooks’ Bookshop.” Stuart Cornfeld is quoted from his “Dialogue on Film” in American Film (April 1, 1987). “I hadn’t heard about this . . .” is Richard Benjamin from Mel Brooks: Make a Noise. MT commented on My Favorite Year in his Oct. 12, 1982, letter to Lucille Kallen. MB compares The Dick Van Dyke Show, My Favorite Year, and Laughter on the 23rd Floor in “Mel Brooks Looks Back on Sid Caesar, Blazing Saddles and More.” “I was locked in the Waldorf Towers . . .” is from MB’s Film Score Monthly interview.
“A handsome gargoyle” is from “The World According to Mel Brooks” by Mel Brooks, New York Times (June 7, 1981). “Often inept in life . . .” is from “It’s a Classic Case of Chutzpah” by Richard Christiansen, Chicago Tribune (Feb. 11, 2001). Unless otherwise noted, Thomas Meehan is quoted in this chapter from his bylined “How a Team of Filmmakers Worked with Mel Brooks on Making a New Version of the Classic Comedy, ‘To Be or Not to Be’,” New York Times (Jan. 1, 1984). Alan Johnson discussed To Be or Not to Be with Douglass K. Daniel for Anne Bancroft: A Life; Daniel provided a transcript of Johnson’s interview to the author. Lewis J. Stadlen is always quoted from his memoir Acting Foolish (BearManor, 2016).
Gene Shalit’s interview with the Brookses originally aired on The Today Show on Dec. 16, 1983, and was excerpted in Eric Mink’s This Is Today: A Window on Our Times (Andrews McMeel, 2003). “What I really want to know . . .” is from “Mel Brooks: Back on the Launch Pad” by Patrick Goldstein, Los Angeles Times (March 8, 1987).
“People don’t write wonderful parts . . .” is AB from “Bancroft Portrays a Feisty Frump” by Leslie Bennetts, New York Times (Oct. 15, 1984). Freddie Francis is quoted from Freddie Francis: The Straight Story from Moby Dick to Glory, A Memoir (Scarecrow, 2013) and his interview in An Autobiography of British Cinema by Brian McFarlane (Methuen, 1997). “I’m getting a second mortgage . . .” is from “Mel Brooks Was Ready to Jump off a Roof over Sci-Fi Fiasco Solarbabies” by Clark Collis, EW.com (May 27, 2016). “A dry martini” is from “Secret Lunch Honors Ladd” by Bob Verini, Variety (Sept. 27, 2007).
CHAPTER 15: 1986: FROLICS AND DETOURS
Ronny Graham is quoted from his interview in “Mel Brooks: Back on the Launch Pad.” “Do you know . . .” is from “Pell-Mel.” “He talks a lot . . .” is Kitty Kaminsky from “Mel Brooks’ Mom Is Alive and Well.” “We all spent three or four days . . .” is Leonard Kaminsky from the “Kate Kaminsky, Mother of Mel Brooks” obituary by Jean Marie Lutes, Miami Herald (Aug. 20, 1989). “A great deal more gemütlich” is writer Zoë Heller’s characterization of what Brooks told her in “Sentimental Journey: Boy, Can Mel Talk” in The Independent (UK) (Dec. 19, 1993). “Non-stop routines . . .” is Alan Spencer from “Nutt House Wobbly but Worth a Try” by Robert P. Laurence, San Diego Union (Sept. 20, 1989).
“Brooks is first . . .” is Robert Manning from “Pilluminations: Notes, Reflections, Fulminations, Ballyhoo & Hullabaloo” by Robert Wolfe, American Film (April 1, 1990). MB is also quoted (“Taxes!”) from this column. “Hollywood insiders say dealmakers . . .” is from “Public Offerings: Blazing Shares,” Time (Dec. 11, 1989). “Egg on his face” is from “Flack Attack” by Eric Schmuckler, Forbes (June 16, 1990).
/>
“This is the first time . . .” and “one of the quickest flops of 1991” are from “Film Comment: Higher Anxiety” by Jack Mathews, Los Angeles Times (Aug. 4, 1991). “I was crucified” is from “Mel Gets Last Laugh.” “There are three pillars . . .” is from “Mel Laughs It Off” by Lindsay Mackie, The Guardian (UK) (Sept. 19, 1991). “Gorgeously staged by me” is from “Mel Brooks Picks Five-ish Favorite Scenes Ahead of AFI Honor” by Susan King, Los Angeles Times (June 6, 2013). “Decreasingly important parts . . .” is William Gibson from Anne Bancroft: A Life. Carrie Fisher wrote about Dr. Evan Chandler in her book Shockaholic (Simon & Schuster, 2011). I also paid attention to Raymond Chandler’s book exploring his nephew Jordan Chandler’s accusations against Michael Jackson, All That Glitters: The Crime and the Cover-up (Windsong Press, 2004), which comments on his brother Dr. Evan Chandler, Mel Brooks, and the Robin Hood: Men in Tights credits. “I’m always questioning . . .” is from “Pell-Mel.” Bernard Weinraub declared Robin Hood: Men in Tights “a modest success” in his roundup in the New York Times (Sept. 5, 1993). “I wasn’t happy at all” (Jean-Marie Poire) and “It was an experiment . . .” (MB) are from “French Fume as Yanks Snub a Dub” by Michael Williams, Variety (Oct. 23, 1995).
CHAPTER 16: 1995: HE WHO LAUGHS LAST
“Demolition Man . . .” is from “Sentimental Journey: Boy, Can Mel Talk.” “Dracula is too fantastical . . .” is from the Film Talk program with Colin Grimshaw (UK), April 15, 1975. “I was amazed at the comic skill . . .” is from “Sneak Reviews: Funny You Should Ask” by Ray Greene, Boxoffice (Dec. 1, 1995). “If anybody hears of any . . .” is from “Brooks Still Rubs Critics the Wrong Way” by Andy Seiler, USA Today (Jan. 3, 1996). The anecdote about Brooks confronting Roger Ebert is from “10 Smart Questions for Mel Brooks” by Kate Meyers, ew.com (June 28, 1996). Ebert’s response was published at https://www.rogerebert.com/answer-man/movie-answer -man-07211996 (July 21, 1996). “It, I think, felt more like . . .” is Steven Weber from Mel Brooks: Make a Noise.
“Pathos and real life,” Sid Caesar’s credo, is from an NBC interdepartmental memo (March 5, 1954). “Fantasy of success . . .” is CR from “Brooks’ Bookshop.” MB and Joseph Heller were jointly interviewed by David L. Ulin for the Los Angeles Times (Feb. 27, 1998). “He seemed to like that” is Helen Hunt from Mel Brooks: Make a Noise. “At the end of a day with Mel . . .” is Thomas Meehan from “Shtick Shift at 76: Mel Brooks Is Red-Hot” by Lynda Gorov, Boston Globe (June 15, 2003). “My main job . . .” is Meehan from “Without You, I’m Nothing” by Winnie McCroy, Gay City News, Nov. 18–24, 2004. “Doesn’t like to do Scene II until . . .” is Meehan from the show business roundup (multiple bylines) in the Daily News (New York) (June 9, 2003). “Mel Brooks is a fountain . . .” is from “Musical Moment: An Interview with Book Writer Thomas Meehan,” www.makemusicals.com (2011). The lunches at Orso’s are described from “The Return of Power Dining” by Merle Ginsberg, Hollywood Reporter (April 5, 2011); “Mel Brooks, Actors Carry on Tradition” by Bob Verini, Variety (Sept. 27, 2007); and “The Table at Orso” by Paul Mazursky, www.salon.com (Nov. 8, 2007). “Owner of most . . .” (referring to Robert F. X. Sillerman), “Local critics were kept away . . . ,” and “theater pundits . . .” are from “Hitler Sings! Mel Kvells!” by Chris Jones, Variety (Feb. 19–25, 2001). “Mel was a hero . . .” is Nathan Lane from “Almost a One-Man Show” by Patricia O’Haire, Daily News (New York) (June 4, 2001). “Producers and moneymen . . .” (Meehan) and the chronology and evolution of The Producers musical are drawn from Mel Brooks and Tom Meehan’s The Producers: How We Did It (Hyperion, 2001). “In Pittsburgh, however . . .” is from “History of ‘The Producers’: Part III” by Adam Sternbergh, New York (Dec. 12, 2005).
“A fantastical third act” is from “Shtick Shift at 76.” “Come [to New York] and spend money . . .” is Mayor Rudolph Giuliani from “Lower Manhattan Goes Back on the Job Today” by Greg Gittrich and Corky Siemaszko, Daily News (New York) (Sept. 27, 2001). “While Mr. Brooks said . . .” (footnote) is from John Morris’s obituary by Richard Sandomir, New York Times (Jan. 28, 2018). “A familiar grinning face . . .” is from “Tony, Meet Mel: Record Sweep for Brooks’ The Producers” by Blake Green, Newsday (June 4, 2001). “We may be in for some flak . . .” is from “$480 Seats Music to Producers’ Ears” by Patricia O’Haire and Robert Dominguez, Daily News (New York) (Oct. 27, 2001).
CHAPTER 17: 2001: UNSTOPPABLE
“Feels no competition . . .” is Charles H. Joffe from “Play It Alone, Brickman” by Jesse Kornbluth, New York Times (Feb. 24, 1980). “I admire Woody Allen . . .” is from “Mel Gets Last Laugh.” “Productions in Toronto and Australia . . .” and “cleaned up for heartland families” are from “History of The Producers: Part III.” “Every stray thought I get . . .” is from “Shtick Shift at 76.” MB’s forthcoming “anecdotal book” was announced in the Jan. 20, 2003, Publishers Weekly. “My dad was disappointed . . .” is Max Brooks from “The Brooks Family of Writers: Michelle, Max and Mel” by Steve Julian, This Stage Magazine (Nov. 9, 2010). “Just a teeny bit less . . .” is from “Shtick Shift: Bawdy Producers Tamed for H’Wood” by Sara Stewart, New York Post (Dec. 11, 2005).
“Marvelous inventions of texture and color” is from Alan Alda, Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself (Hutchinson, 2007). Jonathan Sanger is quoted in this chapter from Douglass K. Daniel’s interview with him in Anne Bancroft: A Life. “Waking up in the afternoon . . .” is from “The Brooks Family of Writers: Michelle, Max, and Mel.” “He’d been her shield . . . ,” “my father’s keeper . . . ,” “What am I going to do? . . . ,” “My dad liked going to the same . . . ,” and “I’d always been jealous . . .” are from “Saving Mel Brooks” by Max Brooks, Men’s Health (March 2007). Dick Van Patten meeting MB at the racetrack is from Van Patten’s memoir Eighty Is Not Enough: One Actor’s Journey Through American Entertainment (Phoenix, 2009). The French Roast coffee shop anecdote is from the “Rally for Doomed Alias Star” roundup in the New York Post (Aug. 23, 2005). “Memorialized . . .” is from “Q. and A.: Mel Brooks,” Hollywood Reporter (Dec. 8, 2005). “Be sure to save this . . .” is from “Produce This,” New York Post (Dec. 21, 2005). “Grief therapist” and “the worst year . . .” are Thomas Meehan from “History of ‘The Producers’: Part III.” Buck Henry blamed Kenneth Tynan for exaggerating his feud with MB in “Buck Henry Gets Cagey” by Jon S. Denny, American Film (December 1980).
“Showstopper if you’ve got . . .” is Gene Wilder from “I Like Show but I Don’t Like the Business” by Susan Dominus, The Telegraph (UK) (April 22, 2007). “Mel was always driven . . .” is from “The Robert Chalmers Interview: Gene Wilder: An Angel in America,” The Independent on Sunday (UK) (June 19, 2005). MB’s rant against Young Frankenstein’s critics was reported in Michael Riedel’s column in the New York Post (Jan. 18, 2008). “A lot of people have the money . . .” is from “It’s Alive, and It’s on Broadway: Madcap Producer Mel Brooks” by Robert Kahn, Newsday (Nov. 4, 2007). “I was there last night . . .” is from “Monster Work of Art Is Never Really Done” by Cindy Adams, New York Post (Jan. 22, 2008). “So keyed up . . .” is from “Come On, Feel the Noise” by Jeremy McCarter, New York (Nov. 9, 2007). “Said to earn nearly . . .” is from “Monster Cuts” by Michael Riedel, New York Post (June 6, 2008). “It still smarts . . .” is from “He Keeps on Joking” by Steven Zeitchik, Los Angeles Times (Dec. 10, 2012).
“I was never recognized . . .” is from “Delightful Banter with Boundless Brooks” by Kam Williams, The Aquarian Weekly (June 7, 2013). “Impressive crew” (President Obama) and “as something to put . . .” (MB) are from “Presenting America’s Newest Comedy Team: Mel Brooks and Obama” by Julie Hirschfeld Davis, New York Times (Sept. 22, 2016). “I had the three thirds . . .” is from “The History of Mel Brooks: Part I.” “Painful” and “there will be hundreds of thousands . . .” are from David Bianculli’s interview with MB. “Seems to have made peace . . .” and Max Brooks’s comments about lost time are f
rom “I Am a National Treasure.” “It’s not easy being a father . . .” is from “Mel Brooks: What I Know Now.” “He can’t feed himself . . .” is from “The History of Mel Brooks: Part I” by Curt Schleier, The Forward (May 13, 2013). “It’s empty spaces . . .” is from “Schmoozing with Mel Brooks, the 88-Year-Old Man” by Danielle Berrin, Jewish Journal (Jan. 29, 2015). “Mel sometimes doesn’t like . . .” is CR from “I Am a National Treasure.” “A market value . . .” and other details of MB’s financial portfolio are from “Talking Money with Mel Brooks” by Geraldine Fabrikant, New York Times (Oct. 26, 1997). “A leaner, meaner Young Frankenstein . . .” is Susan Stroman from her BBC World Service interview with MB (Oct. 13, 2007). “I’ve kind of cockneyed it up . . .” is from “Frankenstein Musical Gets Cockneyed Up” by Robert Dex, Evening Standard (UK) (Feb. 9, 2017). “A whole new opening” and “Her name is Sheila . . .” are from Graham Norton’s show on BBC Radio 2 (Sept. 16, 2007).
PERMISSIONS
Michael and Stephen Tolkin have graciously given permission for quoting from Mel Tolkin’s unpublished memoir and his letters to Lucille Kallen.
Licensed photographs used with permission of the New York Public Library; Photofest; and ZumaPress.com.
Filmography
(Major films with Brooks as credited writer, composer, director, producer, and/or star)
1954
NEW FACES
1963
THE CRITIC
Funny Man Page 60