Editing Mel Brooks (section)

== Career ==
=== 1949–1959: Early work and breakthrough ===
{{main|Your Show of Shows|Caesar's Hour}}
[[File:Coca caesar your show of shows 1952.JPG|thumb|left|Brooks wrote for ''[[Your Show of Shows]]'' starring [[Imogene Coca]] and [[Sid Caesar]]]]

After the war, Brooks's mother had secured him a job as a clerk at the [[Brooklyn Navy Yard]], but Brooks "got into a taxi and ordered the driver to take him to the Catskills",<ref>{{cite news |last=Jacob|first=Kornbluh |author-link=Jacob Kornbluh |date=August 23, 2021 |title=The advice comedian Mel Brooks gave to his great nephew Todd Kaminsky, now running for Nassau County DA |url=https://forward.com/news/474504/the-advice-comedian-mel-brooks-gave-to-his-great-nephew-todd-kaminsky-now/ |work=[[The Forward]] |location= |access-date=August 24, 2021}}</ref> where he started working in various [[Borscht Belt]] resorts and nightclubs in the [[Catskill Mountains]] as a drummer and pianist. When a regular comic at one of the clubs was too sick to perform, Brooks started working as a stand-up comic, telling jokes and doing movie-star impressions. He also began acting in summer stock in Red Bank, New Jersey, and did some radio work.<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/> He eventually worked his way up to the comically aggressive job of [[tummler]] at [[Grossinger's]], one of the Borscht Belt's most famous resorts.<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/articles/2001/15_Aug---Lost_Issue_Mel_Brooks_Interview.asp |title=8/15/01: Lost Issue Mel Brooks Interview 1997 |publisher=Filmscoremonthly.com |access-date=May 4, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918053720/http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/articles/2001/15_Aug---Lost_Issue_Mel_Brooks_Interview.asp |archive-date=September 18, 2009 }}</ref>

<blockquote>In the years after the war, Brooks's hero was comedian Sid Caesar. Back in New York, Brooks would slink<ref name="thecjn.ca/brooks">{{cite news |last1=Breslin |first1=Mark |title=Mel Brooks: The other Jewish comedy legend |url=https://thecjn.ca/arts/books-and-authors/mel-brooks-the-other-jewish-comedy-legend/ |access-date=29 September 2022 |work=The Canadian Jewish News |date=18 July 2019}}</ref> around trying to catch Caesar in between meetings to pitch him joke ideas. Eventually Caesar cracked and paid Brooks a little cash to throw him gags....At 24, Brooks got his break as a full-time writer.<ref name="lareviewofbooks-McGilligan-brooks">{{cite news |last1=Yogerst |first1=Chris |title=Review: 'Funny Man' by Patrick McGilligan |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/mel-brooks-boomers-comedian/ |access-date=29 September 2022 |work=[[Los Angeles Review of Books]] |date=12 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref></blockquote>

Brooks found more rewarding work behind the scenes, becoming a comedy writer for television. In 1949, his friend [[Sid Caesar]] hired him to write jokes for the DuMont/NBC series ''[[The Admiral Broadway Revue]]'',<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/mel-brooks-timeline-2000-years-of-mel-brooks/2593/|title=Mel Brooks – Timeline: 2000 Years of Mel Brooks |date=February 1, 2013|work=American Masters (PBS)|access-date=March 15, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> paying him, off-the-books, $50 a week. In 1950, Caesar created the innovative variety comedy series ''[[Your Show of Shows]]'' and hired Brooks as a writer along with [[Carl Reiner]], [[Neil Simon]], [[Danny Simon]], and head writer [[Mel Tolkin]].<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/> The writing staff proved widely influential.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://brothers-ink.com/2016/02/the-amazing-writing-team-of-your-show-of-shows/|title=The Amazing Writing Team of Your Show of Shows |website=Brothers' Ink Productions|date=February 5, 2016 |language=en-US|access-date=March 15, 2018}}</ref> Reiner, as creator of ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'', based [[Morey Amsterdam]]'s character Buddy Sorell on Brooks.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.neatorama.com/2017/01/26/13-Things-You-Didnt-know-about-The-Dick-Van-Dyke-Show/|title=13 Things You Didn't Know About The Dick Van Dyke Show|work=Neatorama|access-date=March 15, 2018|language=en}}</ref> Likewise, the film ''[[My Favorite Year]]'' (1982) is loosely based on Brooks's experiences as a writer on the show including an encounter with the actor [[Errol Flynn]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/my-favorite-year/253706/my-favorite-year-a-mirror-for-errol-flynn-peter-otooles-hellraising|title=My Favorite Year: A Mirror for Errol Flynn & Peter O'Toole's Hellraising|work=Den of Geek|access-date=March 15, 2018|language=en}}</ref> Neil Simon's play ''[[Laughter on the 23rd Floor]]'' (1993) is also loosely based on the production of the show, and the character Ira Stone is based on Brooks.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/1993/legit/reviews/laughter-on-the-23rd-floor-1200434229/|title=Laughter on the 23rd Floor|last=Gerard|first=Jeremy|date=November 23, 1993|work=Variety|access-date=March 15, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/life/arts/2017/11/15/review-act-1-delivers-plenty-laughter-23rd-floor/864200001/|title=Review: ACT 1 delivers plenty of 'Laughter on the 23rd Floor'|work=The Tennessean|access-date=March 15, 2018|language=en}}</ref> ''Your Show of Shows'' ended in 1954 when performer [[Imogene Coca]] left to host her own show.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/03/nyregion/imogene-coca-92-is-dead-a-partner-in-one-of-tv-s-most-successful-comedy-teams.html|title=Imogene Coca, 92, Is Dead; a Partner in One of TV's Most Successful Comedy Teams|last=McFadden|first=Robert D.|date=June 3, 2001|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 15, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Caesar then created ''[[Caesar's Hour]]'' with most of the same cast and writers (including Brooks and adding [[Woody Allen]] and [[Larry Gelbart]]). It ran from 1954 until 1957.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eyesofageneration.com/caesars-hour-1954-57after-your-show-of-shows-ended-its-four-year-run/|title='Caesar's Hour'…1954–57 – Eyes Of A Generation…Television's Living History|website=eyesofageneration.com|date=August 25, 2013 |language=en-US|access-date=March 15, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Reiner#ref1197590|title=Carl Reiner {{!}} American actor and filmmaker|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=March 15, 2018|language=en}}</ref> Brooks told ''[[The New York Times]]'', "When I was a fledgling comedy writer working for Sid Caesar on ''Your Show of Shows'', our head writer was Mel Tolkin... I really looked up to him. (By the way, I was 5-foot-7 and he was six feet tall.) He was a bona fide intellectual, thoroughly steeped in the traditions of great Russian literature. One day he handed me a book. He said to me, 'Mel, you're an animal from Brooklyn, but I think you have the beginnings of something called a mind.' The book was ''[[Dead Souls]]'' by the magnificent genius [[Nikolai Gogol]]. It was a revelation. I'd never read anything like it. It was hysterically funny and incredibly moving at the same time... It was a life-changing gift, and I still read it once a year to remind myself of what great comic writing can be."<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 13, 2022 |title=How 'Dead Souls' Taught Mel Brooks What Comedy Writing Could Be |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/books/review/mel-brooks-by-the-book-interview.html}}</ref>

===1958–1969: Rise to prominence===
[[File:Carl Reiner with toupee 1964.jpg|thumb|right|190px|Brooks collaborated with [[Carl Reiner]] on "The 2000 Year Old Man" albums]]

Brooks and co-writer Reiner had become close friends and began to casually improvise comedy routines when they were not working. In October 1959, for a [[Random House]] book launch of [[Moss Hart]]{{'}}s autobiography, ''[[Act One (book)|Act One]]'', at ''Mamma Leone's'', [[Mel Tolkin]] (standing in for Carl Reiner) and Mel Brooks performed, and it was later recalled by [[Kenneth Tynan]].<ref name="newyorker/1978/10/30/mel-brooks">{{cite magazine |last1=Tynan |first1=Kenneth |author1-link=Kenneth Tynan |title=Mel Brooks' Indestructible Comedy |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1978/10/30/mel-brooks-frolics-and-detours-of-a-short-hebrew-man |access-date=September 29, 2022 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=October 23, 1978}}</ref> Reiner played the straight-man interviewer and set Brooks up as anything from a Tibetan monk to an astronaut. As Reiner explained: "In the evening, we'd go to a party and I'd pick a character for him to play. I never told him what it was going to be."<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/> On one of these occasions, Reiner's suggestion concerned a [[2000 Year Old Man|2000-year-old man]] who had witnessed the crucifixion of [[Jesus Christ]] (who "came in the store but never bought anything"), had been married several hundred times and had "over forty-two thousand children, and not one comes to visit me". At first Brooks and Reiner only performed the routine for friends but, by the late 1950s, it gained a reputation in New York City. [[Kenneth Tynan]] saw the [[comedy duo]] perform at a party in 1959 and wrote that Brooks "was the most original comic improvisor I had ever seen".<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/>

In 1960, Brooks, without his family, moved from New York to Hollywood, returning in 1961.<ref name="grunge/363048"/> He and Reiner began performing the "2000 Year Old Man" act on ''[[The Steve Allen Show]]''. Their performances led to the release of the comedy album ''2000 Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks'' that sold over a million copies in 1961.<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/> They eventually expanded their routine with two more albums in 1961 and 1962, a revival in 1973, a 1975 animated TV special, and a reunion album in 1998. At one point, when Brooks had financial and career struggles, the record sales from the 2000 Year Old Man were his chief source of income.<ref name="1975/brooks-playboy"/> Brooks adapted the 2000 Year Old Man character to create the 2500-Year-Old Brewmaster for [[Ballantine Beer]] in the 1960s. Interviewed by [[Dick Cavett]] in a series of ads, the Brewmaster (in a German accent, as opposed to the 2000 Year Old Man's Yiddish accent) said he was inside the original Trojan horse and "could've used a six-pack of fresh air".<ref name="1966/brooks-playboy">{{cite news |last1=Siegel |first1=Larry |title=Mel Brooks: The Playboy Interview |work=Ysos.sammigirl.com |agency=Playboy |date=October 1966 |url=http://ysos.sammigirl.com/interviews/playboy1966.html |access-date=November 1, 2012 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512095922/http://ysos.sammigirl.com/interviews/playboy1966.html |archive-date=May 12, 2013}}</ref>

Brooks was involved in the creation of the Broadway musical ''[[All American (musical)|All American]]'' which debuted on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in 1962. He wrote the play with lyrics by [[Lee Adams]] and music by [[Charles Strouse]]. It starred [[Ray Bolger]] as a southern science professor at a large university who uses the principles of engineering on the college's football team and the team begins to win games. It was directed by [[Joshua Logan]], who script-doctored the second act and added a gay subtext to the plot. It ran for 80 performances and received two [[Tony Awards|Tony Award]] nominations. The animated short film ''[[The Critic (1963 film)|The Critic]]'' (1963), a satire of arty, esoteric cinema, was conceived by Brooks and directed by [[Ernest Pintoff]]. Brooks supplied running commentary as the baffled moviegoer trying to make sense of the obscure visuals. It won the [[Academy Award for Animated Short Film]].

[[File:DonAdams.jpg|thumb|left|190px|[[Don Adams]] with the iconic "Shoe Phone" in ''[[Get Smart]]'']]

With comedy writer [[Buck Henry]], Brooks created a TV comedy show titled ''[[Get Smart]],'' about a bumbling [[James Bond]]–inspired spy. Brooks said, "I was sick of looking at all those nice sensible situation comedies. They were such distortions of life... I wanted to do a crazy, unreal [[comic-strip]] kind of thing about something besides a family. No one had ever done a show about an idiot before. I decided to be the first."<ref name="time1965">{{cite magazine|title=Smart Money|url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,834525,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730214034/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,834525,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 30, 2013|magazine=Time|date=October 15, 1965|access-date=August 30, 2009}}</ref> Starring [[Don Adams]] as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, the series ran from 1965 until 1970, although Brooks had little involvement after the first season. It was highly rated for most of its production and won seven [[Primetime Emmy Awards]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.com/celebrities/mel-brooks|title=Mel Brooks Emmy Nominated|publisher=Emmys.com|access-date=November 1, 2012}}</ref> including [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series|Outstanding Comedy Series]] in 1968 and 1969.

During a press conference for ''All American'', a reporter asked, "What are you going to do next?" and Brooks replied, "Springtime for Hitler," perhaps riffing on ''[[Springtime for Henry]]''.<ref name="vanityfair/making-producers"/> For several years, Brooks toyed with a bizarre and unconventional idea about a musical comedy of [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bh.org.il/blog-items/five-jewish-comedians/|title=Let There Be Laughter – Jewish Humor Around the World|website=Beit Hatfutsot|date=March 20, 2017|access-date=October 2, 2019|archive-date=October 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025163314/https://www.bh.org.il/blog-items/five-jewish-comedians/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He explored the idea as a novel and a play before finally writing a script.<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/> He eventually found two producers to fund it, [[Joseph E. Levine]] and [[Sidney Glazier]], and made his first feature film, ''[[The Producers (1967 film)|The Producers]]'' (1968).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Producers |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/87256/the-producers |publisher=[[Turner Classic Movies]] |access-date=December 17, 2020}}</ref>

''The Producers'' was so brazen in its satire that major studios would not touch it, nor would many exhibitors. Brooks finally found an independent distributor who released it as an art film, a specialized attraction. At the [[41st Academy Awards]], Brooks won the [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay]] for the film over fellow writers [[Stanley Kubrick]] and [[John Cassavetes]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1969|title=The 41st Academy Awards (1969) Nominees and Winners|access-date=July 3, 2020|year=2019|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences}}</ref> ''The Producers'' became a smash underground hit, first on the nationwide [[college circuit]], then in revivals and on home video. It premiered to a limited audience in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 22, 1967, before achieving a wide release in 1968. [[Peter Sellers]] personally championed the film, paying out of pocket to take out full page ads in [[Variety (magazine)|''Variety'']] and ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref name="MENF">{{cite web|last1=Mancini |first1=Mark|title= 12 Outrageous Facts About The Producers|url= https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/80238/12-outrageous-facts-about-producers|access-date=January 20, 2023|work=[[Mental Floss]]|date= May 19, 2016}}</ref> Brooks, along with his collaborator [[Thomas Meehan (writer)|Thomas Meehan]], later adapted it into a [[The Producers (musical)|musical]], which was hugely successful on Broadway and received an unprecedented 12 Tony awards. In 2000, [[Roger Ebert]] included ''The Producers'' in his canon of Great Movies, and remembered being in an elevator with Brooks and [[Anne Bancroft]] shortly after the movie was released: "A woman got on the elevator, recognized him and said, 'I have to tell you, Mr. Brooks, that your movie is vulgar.' Brooks smiled benevolently. 'Lady', he said, 'it rose below vulgarity.{{'"}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=July 23, 2000 |title=The Producers |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-producers-1968}}</ref>

===1970–1979: Career stardom===
With the moderate financial success of the film ''The Producers'', Glazier financed Brooks's next film, ''[[The Twelve Chairs (1970 film)|The Twelve Chairs]]'' (1970). Loosely based on [[Ilf and Petrov]]'s 1928 [[The Twelve Chairs|Russian novel of the same name]] about greedy materialism in post-revolutionary Russia, it stars [[Ron Moody]], [[Frank Langella]], and [[Dom DeLuise]] as three men individually searching for a fortune in diamonds hidden in a set of 12 antique chairs. Brooks makes a cameo appearance as an alcoholic ex-serf who "yearns for the regular beatings of yesteryear". The film was shot in Yugoslavia with a budget of $1.5 million. It received poor reviews and was not financially successful.<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/>

[[File:Gene Wilder 1970.JPG|thumb|right|190px|Brooks collaborated with [[Gene Wilder]] on several films including ''Young Frankenstein'' and ''Blazing Saddles'' (both 1974)]]

Brooks then wrote an adaptation of [[Oliver Goldsmith]]'s ''[[She Stoops to Conquer]]'', but was unable to sell the idea to any studio and believed that his career was over. In 1972, he met agent [[David Begelman]], who helped him set up a deal with [[Warner Bros.]] to hire Brooks (as well as [[Richard Pryor]], [[Andrew Bergman]], [[Norman Steinberg]], and [[Alan Uger]]) as a script doctor for an unproduced script called ''Tex-X''. Eventually, Brooks was hired as director for what became ''[[Blazing Saddles]]'' (1974), his third film.<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/> ''Blazing Saddles'' starred [[Cleavon Little]], [[Gene Wilder]], [[Harvey Korman]], [[Slim Pickens]], [[Madeline Kahn]], [[Alex Karras]], and Brooks himself, with cameos by [[Dom DeLuise]] and [[Count Basie]]. It had music by Brooks and John Morris, and a modest budget of $2.6 million. A satire on the [[Western film]] genre, it references older films such as ''[[Destry Rides Again]]'' (1939), ''[[The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (film)|The Treasure of the Sierra Madre]]'' (1948), ''[[High Noon]]'' (1952) and ''[[Once Upon a Time in the West]]'' (1968). In a surreal sequence towards the end, it references the extravagant musicals of [[Busby Berkeley]].

Despite mixed reviews, ''Blazing Saddles'' was a success with younger audiences. It became the second-highest US grossing film of 1974, grossing $119.5 million in the United States and Canada. It was nominated for three [[Academy Awards]]: [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] (for Madeline Kahn), [[Academy Award for Film Editing|Best Film Editing]], and [[Academy Award for Best Original Song|Best Original Song]]. It won the [[Writers Guild of America Award]] for [[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Comedy – Written Directly for the Screen]]; and in 2006 it was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the [[Library of Congress]] and selected for preservation in the [[National Film Registry]]. Brooks has said that the film "has to do with love more than anything else. I mean when that black guy rides into that Old Western town and even a little old lady says 'Up yours, nigger!', you know that his heart is broken. So it's really the story of that heart being mended."<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/> Brooks described the film as "a Jewish western with a black hero".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Tynan |first=Kenneth |date=October 22, 1978 |title=Frolics and Detours of a Short Hebrew Man |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1978/10/30/mel-brooks-frolics-and-detours-of-a-short-hebrew-man |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref>

When Gene Wilder replaced [[Gig Young]] as the Waco Kid, he did so only when Brooks agreed that his next film would be a script<ref name="vulture/funny-man-highlights">{{cite web |last1=Boone |first1=Brian |title=Highlights From Mel Brooks Biography 'Funny Man' |url=https://www.vulture.com/2019/03/mel-brooks-biography-funny-man-book-highlights.html |website=[[Vulture.com]] |publisher=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |access-date=September 29, 2022 |language=en-us |date=March 19, 2019}}</ref> that Wilder had been working on: a spoof of the [[Universal Pictures|Universal]] series of ''[[Frankenstein (1931 film)|Frankenstein]]'' films from several decades earlier. After the filming of ''Blazing Saddles'' was completed, Wilder and Brooks began writing the script for ''[[Young Frankenstein]]'' and shot it in the spring of 1974. It starred Wilder, [[Marty Feldman]], [[Peter Boyle]], [[Teri Garr]], [[Madeline Kahn]], [[Cloris Leachman]] and [[Kenneth Mars]], with [[Gene Hackman]] in a cameo role. Brooks' voice can be heard three times: as the wolf howl when the characters are on their way to the castle; as the voice of Victor Frankenstein, when the characters discover the laboratory; and as the sound of a cat when Gene Wilder accidentally throws a dart out of the window in a scene with Kenneth Mars. Composer [[John Morris (composer)|John Morris]] again provided the score, and [[Universal monsters]] special effects veteran [[Kenneth Strickfaden]] worked on the film.

[[File:Mel Brooks High Anxiety still.jpg|thumb|left|Brooks in ''[[High Anxiety]]'' (1977)]]

''Young Frankenstein'' was the third-highest-grossing film domestically of 1974, just behind ''Blazing Saddles'' with a gross of $86 million. It also received two Academy Award nominations for [[Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay|Best Adapted Screenplay]] and [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]]. It received some of the best reviews of Brooks's career. Even notoriously hard-to-please critic [[Pauline Kael]] liked it, saying: "Brooks makes a leap up as a director because, although the comedy doesn't build, he carries the story through&nbsp;... [He] even has a satisfying windup, which makes this just about the only comedy of recent years that doesn't collapse."<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/> In 1975, at the height of his movie career, Brooks tried TV again with ''[[When Things Were Rotten]]'', a [[Robin Hood]] parody that lasted only 13 episodes. Nearly 20 years later, in response to the 1991 hit film ''[[Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves]]'', Brooks mounted another Robin Hood parody, ''[[Robin Hood: Men in Tights]]'' (1993). It resurrected several pieces of dialogue from his TV series, and from earlier Brooks films.

After his two hit films Brooks got a call from [[Ron Clark (writer)|Ron Clark]] who had an audacious idea: the first feature-length silent comedy in four decades.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/18/archives/mel-brooks-talks-up-silent-movie-brooks-talks-up-silent-movie.html Mel Brooks Talks Up ‘Silent Movie’]</ref> ''[[Silent Movie]]'' (1976) was written by Brooks and Clark, and starred Brooks in his first leading role, with Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman, [[Sid Caesar]], [[Bernadette Peters]], and in cameo roles playing themselves: [[Paul Newman]], [[Burt Reynolds]], [[James Caan]], [[Liza Minnelli]], [[Anne Bancroft]], and the [[mime]] [[Marcel Marceau]], who uttered the film's only word of audible dialogue: "Non!" It is an homage to silent comedians [[Charlie Chaplin]] and [[Buster Keaton]], among others. It was not as successful as Brooks's previous two films but did gross $36 million. Later that year, he was named fifth on the [[Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll]].<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/> Reviews were generally favorable; [[Roger Ebert]] praised it as "not only funny, but fun. It's clear at almost every moment that the filmmakers had a ball making it." Regarding the film's inside jokes, Ebert wrote that "the thing about Brooks's inside jokes is that their outsides are funny, too."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=January 1, 1976 |title=Silent Movie |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/silent-movie-1976}}</ref>

''[[High Anxiety]]'' (1977), Brooks's parody of [[Freudian psychoanalysis]], as well as the films of [[Alfred Hitchcock]], was written by Brooks, Ron Clark, [[Rudy De Luca]], and [[Barry Levinson]], and was the first movie Brooks produced himself. Starring Brooks, Madeline Kahn, [[Cloris Leachman]], Harvey Korman, [[Ron Carey (actor)|Ron Carey]], [[Howard Morris]], and [[Dick Van Patten]], it satirizes such Hitchcock films as ''[[Vertigo (film)|Vertigo]]'', ''[[Spellbound (1945 film)|Spellbound]]'', ''[[Psycho (1960 film)|Psycho]]'', ''[[The Birds (film)|The Birds]]'', ''[[North by Northwest]]'', ''[[Dial M for Murder]]'' and ''[[Suspicion (1941 film)|Suspicion]]''. Brooks plays Professor Richard H. (Harpo) Thorndyke, a Nobel Prize–winning psychologist who suffers from "[[acrophobia|high anxiety]]".<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/>

===1980–2001: Established career===
[[File:Mel Brooks.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Brooks in 1984]]

By 1980, [[Gene Siskel]] and [[Roger Ebert]] had referred to Mel Brooks and [[Woody Allen]] as "the two most successful comedy directors in the world today&nbsp;... America's two funniest filmmakers".<ref name="siskelebert">{{cite episode| title=Take 2: Who's Funnier: Mel Brooks or Woody Allen?|series=Sneak Previews|credits=Siskel, Gene; Ebert, Roger |network=PBS|location=Chicago |air-date=May 1, 1980|season=4}}</ref> Released that year was the dramatic film ''[[The Elephant Man (1980 film)|The Elephant Man]]'' directed by [[David Lynch]] and produced by Brooks. Knowing that anyone seeing a poster reading "Mel Brooks presents ''The Elephant Man''" would expect a comedy, he set up the company [[Brooksfilms]]. It has since produced a number of non-comedy films, including ''[[Frances (film)|Frances]]'' (1982), ''[[The Fly (1986 film)|The Fly]]'' (1986), and ''[[84 Charing Cross Road (film)|84 Charing Cross Road]]'' (1987) starring [[Anthony Hopkins]] and Anne Bancroft—as well as comedies, including [[Richard Benjamin]]'s ''[[My Favorite Year]]'' (1982), partially based on Mel Brooks's real life. Brooks sought to purchase the rights to ''84 Charing Cross Road'' for his wife, Anne Bancroft, for many years. He also produced the comedy ''[[Fatso (1980 film)|Fatso]]'' (1980) that Bancroft directed.

In 1981, Brooks joked that the only genres that he hadn't spoofed were historical epics and Biblical spectacles.<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/> ''[[History of the World Part I]]'' was a tongue-in-cheek look at human culture from the [[Stone Age|Dawn of Man]] to the [[French Revolution]]. Written, produced and directed by Brooks, with narration by [[Orson Welles]], it was another modest financial hit, earning $31 million. It received mixed critical reviews. Critic [[Pauline Kael]], who for years had been critical of Brooks, said, "Either you get stuck thinking about the bad taste or you let yourself laugh at the obscenity in the humor as you do [[Luis Buñuel|Buñuel]]'s perverse dirty jokes."<ref name="Wakeman, John 19882"/>

Brooks produced and starred in (but did not write or direct) a remake of [[Ernst Lubitsch]]'s 1942 film ''[[To Be or Not to Be (1942 film)|To Be or Not to Be]]''. His [[To Be or Not to Be (1983 film)|1983 version]] was directed by [[Alan Johnson (choreographer)|Alan Johnson]] and starred Brooks, Anne Bancroft, [[Charles Durning]], [[Tim Matheson]], [[Jose Ferrer]] and [[Christopher Lloyd]]. It generated international publicity by featuring a controversial song on its soundtrack—"[[To Be or Not to Be (The Hitler Rap)]]"—satirizing German society in the 1940s, with Brooks playing Hitler.

The second movie Brooks directed in the 1980s was ''[[Spaceballs]]'' (1987), a parody of science fiction, mainly ''[[Star Wars]]''. It starred [[Bill Pullman]], [[John Candy]], [[Rick Moranis]], [[Daphne Zuniga]], Dick Van Patten, [[Joan Rivers]], Dom DeLuise, and Brooks.

In 1989, Brooks (with co-executive producer [[Alan Spencer (writer)|Alan Spencer]]) made another attempt at television success with the sitcom ''[[The Nutt House]]'', featuring Brooks regulars Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman. It was originally broadcast on NBC, but the network aired only five of the eleven produced episodes before canceling the series. During the next decade, Brooks directed ''[[Life Stinks]]'' (1991), ''[[Robin Hood: Men in Tights]]'' (1993), and ''[[Dracula: Dead and Loving It]]'' (1995). [[People Magazine|''People'']] magazine wrote, "Anyone in a mood for a hearty laugh couldn't do better than ''Robin Hood: Men in Tights'', which gave fans a parody of [[Robin Hood]], especially ''[[Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves]]''."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20105999,00.html |title= Picks and Pans Review: Robin Hood: Men in Tights |work= [[People (magazine)|People]] |first1= Ralph |last1= Novak |first2= Tom |last2= Gliatto |first3= Leah |last3= Rozen |date= August 9, 1993 |volume= 40 |number= 6 |access-date= July 11, 2015 |archive-date= July 13, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150713211414/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20105999,00.html |url-status= dead }}</ref> Like Brooks's other films, it is filled with one-liners and the occasional breaking of [[the fourth wall]]. ''Robin Hood: Men in Tights'' was Brooks's second time exploring the life of Robin Hood (the first, as mentioned above, being his 1975 TV show ''When Things Were Rotten''). ''Life Stinks'' was a financial and critical failure, but is notable as the only film Brooks directed that is neither a parody nor a film about other films or theater. (''The Twelve Chairs'' was a parody of the original novel.)

===2001–present===
[[Image:Theatre Royal Drury Lane - The Producers 1.jpg|thumb|left|''The Producers'' at [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]]]]

[[File:The Producers.jpg|thumb|right|190px|''The Producers'' on [[Broadway (theatre)|Broadway]]]]

Brooks created the [[The Producers (musical)|musical adaptation]] of his film ''[[The Producers (1967 film)|The Producers]]'' on the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in 2001. The production starring [[Nathan Lane]] and [[Matthew Broderick]] received critical acclaim and was a significant box office success. ''[[The New York Times]]'' theatre critic [[Ben Brantley]] praised the production writing, "Mr. Brooks has taken what could have been overblown camp into a far warmer realm in which affection always outweighs irony."<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/movies/theater-review-a-scam-that-ll-knock-em-dead.html|title= THEATER REVIEW; A Scam That'll Knock 'Em Dead|work= The New York Times|date= April 20, 2001|accessdate= July 13, 2023|last1= Brantley|first1= Ben}}</ref> The production broke the [[Tony Awards|Tony Award]] record with 12 wins, a record previously held for 37 years by ''[[Hello, Dolly! (musical)|Hello, Dolly!]]'' with 10 wins including the [[Tony Award for Best Musical]]. It led to a 2005 [[The Producers (2005 film)|big-screen version]] of the Broadway adaptation/remake with Lane, Broderick, [[Gary Beach]], and [[Roger Bart]] reprising their stage roles, and new cast members [[Uma Thurman]] and [[Will Ferrell]].

In early April 2006, Brooks began [[musical composition|composing]] the score to a Broadway [[Young Frankenstein (musical)|musical adaptation of ''Young Frankenstein'']], which he says is "perhaps the best movie [he] ever made". The world premiere was at Seattle's Paramount Theater, between August 7, 2007, and September 1, 2007, after which it opened on Broadway at the former [[Lyric Theatre (1998 New York City)|Lyric Theater]] (then the Hilton Theatre), New York, on October 11, 2007. It earned mixed reviews from the critics. In the 2000s, Brooks worked on an [[animated series]] sequel to ''Spaceballs'' called ''[[Spaceballs: The Animated Series]]'', which premiered on September 21, 2008, on [[G4 TV]].

Brooks has also supplied vocal roles for animation. He voiced Bigweld, the master inventor, in the animated film ''[[Robots (2005 film)|Robots]]'' (2005), and in the later animated film ''[[Mr. Peabody & Sherman]]'' (2014) he had a cameo appearance as [[Albert Einstein]]. He returned, to voice Dracula's father, [[List of Hotel Transylvania characters#Count Vladimir "Vlad" Dracula|Vlad]], in ''[[Hotel Transylvania 2]]'' (2015)<ref>{{cite web|last=Truitt|first=Brian|date=November 25, 2014|title=Mel Brooks checks in for 'Hotel Transylvania 2'|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/11/25/mel-brooks-hotel-transylvania-2-movie-sneak-peek/19193423/|access-date=July 12, 2015|work=[[USA Today]]}}</ref> and ''[[Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation]]'' (2018). Brooks joked about the concept of a musical adaptation of ''Blazing Saddles'' in the final number in ''Young Frankenstein'', in which the full company sings, "next year, ''Blazing Saddles''!" In 2010, Brooks confirmed this, saying that the musical could be finished within a year; however, no creative team or plan has been announced.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/137884-Back-on-the-Horse-Mel-Brooks-Penning-Songs-for-Blazing-Saddles- |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120906082545/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/137884-Back-on-the-Horse-Mel-Brooks-Penning-Songs-for-Blazing-Saddles- |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 6, 2012 |title=Back on the Horse: Mel Brooks Penning Songs for Blazing Saddles Musical |work=Playbill |date=March 16, 2010 |access-date=November 1, 2012 }}</ref>

In 2021, at age 95, Brooks published a memoir titled ''All About Me!''.<ref name="FreshAirInterview">{{cite web |author-link=Terry Gross|first1=Terry|last1=Gross |url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1061836388 |title=Mel Brooks says his only regret as a comedian is the jokes he didn't tell |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=December 7, 2021 |access-date=December 9, 2021}}</ref> On October 18, 2021, it was announced that Brooks would write and produce ''[[History of the World, Part II]]'', a follow-up TV series on [[Hulu]] to his [[History of the World, Part I|1981 movie]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Walsh |first=Michael |date=October 18, 2021 |title=Hulu Orders Mel Brooks' HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART II Series |url=https://nerdist.com/article/hulu-orders-mel-brooks-history-of-the-world-part-ii-series |website=Nerdist}}</ref> He received a nomination for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance]] for his role as the narrator in the series.