It was with his parodies that Brooks hit his stride.

The highly successful comedy albums brought the duo Grammy nominations in 1961, 19, and a victory in 1999 for “The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000.”īrooks 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.

He later won three consecutive awards for his guest role on “Mad About You” (1997-1999).ĭuring this same period, Brooks and Reiner created their famous 2000 Year Old Man routine, with Brooks playing the world’s oldest living human. In 1965, he co-created the spy comedy “Get Smart” with Buck Henry, which brought him another Emmy bid for writing in 1966. The show brought Brooks three consecutive Emmy nominations (1956-1958), and he won his first prize for co-writing the 1967 reunion special. He then moved onto “Caesar’s Hour,” which added Woody Allen and Larry Gelbart to the writing team.

Let’s take a look back at 12 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.īorn 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.

But it’s his movies that have made him a household name. One of only 18 people to win the EGOT, legendary funnyman Mel Brooks has excelled on the big screen, the stage and television.

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