It's Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks (45 page)

Selected voices: Val Kilmer (Moses/God), Ralph Fiennes (Rameses), Michelle Pfeiffer (Tzipporah), Sandra Bullock (Miriam), Jeff Goldblum (Aaron), Danny Glover (Jethro), Patrick Stewart (Pharaoh Seti I), Steve Martin (Hotep), Martin Short (Huy), and Mel Brooks (additional voice)

Screw Loose

Italian, 1999, color, 85 minutes, rated R

Producers: Ezio Greggio and Whitney R. Hunter; director: Ezio Greggio; screenplay: Rudy DeLuca & Steve Haberman; original music: Silvio Amato and Umberto Smaila; cinematographer: Luca Robecchi; editor: Gib Jaffe

Selected cast: Ezio Greggio (Bernardo Puccini), Mel Brooks (Jake Gordon), Julie Condra (Dr. Barbara Collier), Gianfranco Barra (Guido Puccini), Randi Ingerman (Sofia), and John Karlsen (Dr. Caputo)

Sex, lögner & videovåld

Swedish, 2000, color, 94 minutes, no rating [made in 1992]

Producers: Mikael Beckman, Anders Ek, Johan Holm, Richard Holm, and Henrik Wadling; director: Richard Holm; screenplay: Johan Holm & Richard Holm; original music: Christer Planborg

Selected cast: Mikael Beckman (Micke), Johan Holm (Franz), Zara Zetterqvist (Little Sis), Camilla Henemark (Camilla), Micke Dubois (Hot Dog Vendor), Mel Brooks (Stressed Old Man), and Brandon Lee (Man in Line at Nightclub)

Robots

Twentieth Century-Fox, 2005, color, 91 minutes, rated PG

Producers, Jerry Davis, John C. Donkin, and William Joyce; director: Chris Wedge; codirector: Carlos Saldanha; screenplay: David Lindsay-Abaire and Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel; screen story: Ron Mita & Jim McClain & David Lindsay-Abaire; original song: Adam Schlesinger; original music: Ian Ball and John Powell; editor: John Carnochan

Selected cast (voices of): Paula Abdul (Watch), Halle Berry (Cappy), Lucille Bliss (Pigeon Lady), Terry Bradshaw (Broken Arm Bot), Jim Broadbent (Madame Gasket), Mel Brooks (Bigweld), Amanda Bynes (Piper), and Drew Carey (Crank)

The Producers

Universal, 2005, color, 134 minutes, rated PG-13

Producers: Mel Brooks and Jonathan Sanger; director/choreographer: Susan Stroman; screenplay: Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan, based on the 1968 screenplay by Mel Brooks and the 2001 stage play (book by Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan; songs by Brooks); original song: Mel Brooks; cinematographers: John Bailey and Charles Minsky; editor: Steven Weisberg

Selected cast: Nathan Lane (Max Bialystock), Matthew Broderick (Leo Bloom), Uma Thurman (Ulla), Will Ferrell (Franz Liebkind), Gary Beach (Roger De Bris), Roger Bart (Carmen Ghia), and Mel Brooks (voice of Nazi soldier in “Springtime for Hitler”/Hilda the cat/Tom the cat)

Broadway Shows*

Leonard Sillman’s New Faces of 1952

Opened Hay 16,1952, Boyale Theater, 365 performances

Sketches: Ronny Graham and Melvin Brooks

Selected cast: Robert Clary, June Carroll, Alice Ghostley, Eartha Kitt, Ronny Graham, Paul Lynde, and Rosemary O’Reilly

Shinbone Alley

Opened April 13.1957, Broadway Theater. 49 performances

Book: Joe Darion and Mel Brooks, based on the “archy and mehitabel” stories by Don Marquis

Selected cast: Eddie Bracken, Jacques d’Amboise, Allegra Kent, Eartha Kitt, and Erik Rhodes

All American

Opened March 19,1962. Winter Garden Theater. 80 performances

Book: Mel Brooks, based on the novel
Professor Fodorski
by Robert Lewis Taylor

Selected cast: Ray Bolger, Anita Gillette, Eileen Herlie, Ron Husmann, and Fritz Weaver

The Producers

Opened April 19.2001, St. James Theater, still running

Book: Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan; songs: Mel Brooks, based on the screenplay and songs from the 1968 film
The Producers
by Mel Brooks

Selected cast: Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Roger Bart, Gary Beach, Cady Huffman, and Brad Oscar

Television Series

Admiral Broadway Revue

NBC and Dumont, 1949

Uncredited joke/sketch consultant: Mel Brooks

Selected cast: Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Mary McCarty, and Marge & Gower Champion

Your Show of Shows

NBC, 1950–1954

Writing team member: Mel Brooks

Selected cast: Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Howard Morris, and Carl Reiner

The Imogene Coca Show

NBC, 1954–1955

Writing team member: Mel Brooks

Selected cast: Imogene Coca, David Burns, Hal March, and Bibi Osterwald

Caesar’s Hour

NBC, 1955–1957

Writing team member: Mel Brooks

Selected cast: Sid Caesar, Nanette Fabray, Howard Morris, Carl Reiner, and Janet Blair

The Polly Bergen Show

NBC, 1957

Producer/writer: Mel Brooks

Selected cast: Polly Bergen, Peter Gennaro Dancers, Bill Bergen, and the Luther Henderson Jr. Orchestra

Sid Caesar Invites You

ABC. 1958

Writing team member: Mel Brooks

Selected cast: Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, and Paul Reed

Get Smart

NBC and later CBS. 1965–1970

Cocreator/occasional scripter: Mel Brooks

Selected cast: Don Adams, Barbara Feldon, Edward Platt, Dick Gautier, and Bernie Kopell

The Electric Company

PBS, 1973–1977

Role of Blond-Haired Cartoon Man: Mel Brooks

When Things Were Rotten

ABC, 1975

Cocreator/coproducer/occasional scripter: Mel Brooks

Selected cast: Richard Gautier, Dick Van Patten, Bernie Kopell, Richard Dimitri, Henry Polic II, and Misty Rowe

The Nutt House

NBC, 1989

Coproducer/writer: Mel Brooks

Selected cast: Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Mark Blankfield, Brian McNamara, Molly Hagan, Gregory Itzin, and Ronny Graham

Get Smart

Fox, 1995

Cocreator of original 1965–1970 series: Mel Brooks

Selected cast: Don Adams, Barbara Feldon, Andy Dick, Elaine Hendrix, and Heather Morgan

Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks

PBS, 2003-present

Voice of Wiley the Sheep: Mel Brooks

* Mel Brooks’s Brooksfilms Ltd. also produced the following films:
Fatso
(1980),
Loose Shoes
(1980),
The Elephant Man
(1980),
My Favorite Year
(1982),
Frances
(1982),
The Doctor and the Devils
(1985),
Solarbabies
(1986), 84
Charing Cross Road
(1987), and
The Vagrant
(1992), and Mel Brooks participated in such documentaries as
Sunset People
(1984) and
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
(1998).

* Mel Brooks also served as script consultant on the following Broadway shows:
Nowhere to Go But Up
(1962),
Kelly
(1965), and
The Best Laid Plans
(1966).

Bibliography

Books

Adams, Joey, and Henry Tobias.
The Borscht Belt.
New York: Bentley, 1966.

Adler, Bill, and Jeffrey Feinman.
Mel Brooks: The Irreverent Funnyman.
New York: Playboy, 1976.

Baxter, John.
Woody Allen: A Biography.
New York: Carroll and Graf, 1999.

Bedell, Sally.
Up the Tube: Prime-Time TV in the Silverman Years.
New York: Viking, 1981.

Bloom, Ken.
Broadway: An Encyclopedia.
New York: Routledge, 2003.

Blumberg, Esterita “Cissie.”
Remember the Catskills: Tales by a Recovering Hotelkeeper.
Fleischmanns, N.Y.: Purple Mountain, 1996.

Brooks, Max.
The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead.
New York: Three Rivers, 2003.

Brooks, Mel, Ron Clark, Rudy DeLuca, and Barry Levinson.
Silent Movie
(a screenplay). New York: Ballantine, 1976.

Brooks, Mel, and Tom Meehan.
The Producers: The Book
,
Lyrics
,
and Story Behind the Biggest Hit in Broadway History! How We Did It.
New York: Roundtable, 2001.

Brooks, Mel, and Carl Reiner.
The 2000 Year Old Man: The collected recorded wisdom of the venerable sage in one fully illustrated volume.
New York: Warner Books, 1981.

———.
The 2000 Year Old Man Goes to School.
New York: HarperCollins, 2005.

———.
The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000: The Book.
New York: Harper Entertainment, 1997.

Brooks, Tim, and Earle Marsh.
The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows: 1946-Present
(8th ed.). New York: Ballantine, 2003.

Brown, Jared.
Zero Mostel: A Biography.
New York: Atheneum, 1989.

Bryer, Jackson R., and Richard A. Davison (eds.).
The Art of the American Musical: Conversation with the Creators.
New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2005.

Caesar, Sid, with Bill Davidson.
Where Have I Been? An Autobiography.
New York: Signet, 1983.

Caesar, Sid, with Eddy Friedfeld.
Caesar’s Hours: My Life in Comedy
,
with Love and Laughter.
New York: Public Affairs, 2003.

Castleman, Harry, and Walter J. Podrazik.
Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1982.

Crick, Robert Alan.
The Big Screen Comedies of Mel Brooks.
Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2002.

Davis, Lee.
Scandals and Follies: The Rise and Fall of the Great Broadway Revue.
New York: Limelight, 2000.

Denman, Jeffrey. A
Year with
The Producers:
One Actor’s Exhausting (But Worth It) Journey from
Cats
to Mel Brooks’ Mega-Hit.
New York: Routledge, 2002.

Dresser, David, and Lester D. Friedman. A
merican-Jewish Filmmakers: Traditions and Trends.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993.

Epstein, Lawrence J.
The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America.
New York: PublicAffairs, 2001.

Erens, Patricia.
The Jew in American Cinema.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1984.

Fisher, James.
Eddie Cantor: A Bio-Bibliography.
Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1997.

Fox, Julian.
Woody: Movies from Manhattan.
Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook, 1996.

Friedman, Lester D.
The Jewish Image in American Film: 70 Years of Hollywood’s Vision of Jewish Characters and Themes.
Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel, 1987.

Frommer, Myrna Katz, and Harvey Frommer.
It Happened in the Catskills: An Oral History in the Words of Busboys
,
Bellhops
,
Guests
,
Proprietors
,
Comedians
,
Agents
,
and Others Who Lived It.
New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991.

Gabler, Neal, Frank Rich, and Joyce Antler.
Televisions Changing Image of American Jews.
New York: The American Jewish Committee, 2000.

Garr, Teri, with Henriette Mantel.
Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood.
New York: Hudson Street, 2005.

Gelbart, Larry.
Laughing Matters: On Writing
M*A*S*H, Tootsie, Oh, God!,
and a Few Other Funny Things.
New York: Random House, 1998.

Goldberg, Lee.
Unsold Television Pilots
,
Vol. 1: 1955 through 1988.
Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1990.

Goldman, Albert, from the journalism of Lawrence Schiller.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Lenny Bruce!
New York: Ballantine, 1974.

Green, Joey.
The Get Smart Handbook.
New York: Collier, 1993.

Gregory, Mollie.
Women Who Run the Show.
New York: St. Martin’s, 2002.

Grossinger, Tania.
Growing Up at Grossinger’s.
New York: David McKay, 1975.

Heller, Joseph, and Speed Vogel. No
Laughing Matter.
New York: Plume, 1995.

Holtzman, William.
Seesaw:
A
Dual Biography of Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks.
Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1979.

Kanfer, Stefan. A
Summer World: The Attempt to Build a Jewish Eden in the Catskills
,
from the Days of the Ghetto to the Rise and Decline of the Borscht Belt
. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1992.

Kent, Nicolas.
Naked Hollywood: Money and Power in the Movies Today.
New York: St. Martin’s, 1991.

Kisseloff, Jeff.
The Box: An Oral History of Television, 1920–1961.
New York: Viking, 1995.

Krutnik, Frank.
Inventing Jerry Lewis.
Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000.

Levy, Shawn.
King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis.
New York: St. Martin’s, 1997.

Lloyd, Norman.
Stages: Of Life in Theatre
,
Film and Television
(revised edition). New York: Limelight, 1993.

Logan, Joshua.
Josh: My Up and Down
,
In and Out Life.
New York: Delacorte, 1976.

———.
Movie Stars
,
Real People
,
and Me.
New York: Delacorte, 1978.

Lyman, Darryl.
Great Jews in the Performing Arts.
Middle Village, N.Y.: Jonathan David, 1999.

———.
Great Jews on Stage and Screen.
Middle Village, N.Y.: Jonathan David, 1987.

———.
The Jewish Comedy Catalog.
Middle Village, N.Y.: Jonathan David, 1989.

Malarcher, Jay.
The Classically American Comedy of Larry Gelbart.
Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow, 2003.

Manbeck, John B. (consulting ed.).
The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn
, 2nd ed. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2004.

Manchel, Frank.
The Box-Office Clowns: Bob Hope
,
Jerry Lewis
,
Mel Brooks
,
and Woody Allen.
New York: Franklin Watts, 1979.

Mason, Marsha.
Journey: A Personal Odyssey.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.

Mazursky, Paul.
Show Me the Magic: My Adventures in Life and Hollywood.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999.

McCrohan, Donna.
The Life and Times of Maxwell Smart.
New York: St. Martin’s, 1988.