I have always known that June 28th was an important date in history and not just because it is the birthday of myself, my “twin sister” Suzanne and golfer extraordinaire, Bill Ten Eick. On June 28, 1914 Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo, an act that precipitated World War I. Exactly, five years later to the day, The Treaty of Versailles was signed by Germany, ending the gruesome conflict.
Further research indicates that June 28th is the anniversary of the birth of British king and certified marriage counselor, Henry VIII. It is also the anniversary of the births of Methodism founder, John Wesley, circus entrepreneur Otto Ringling and Broadway songsmith Richard Rogers. June 28th is the birthday of actors Jon Cusack, Kathy Bates, the late Pat Morita (wax on-wax off) and the dearly departed Gilda Radner.
Today is also the 98th birthday of American treasure Melvin Kaminsky, better known as Mel Brooks. Born to Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, Mel saw his first Broadway Show (“Anything Goes”) when he was nine. The experience hooked the young boy on show business. By the time Mel turned fourteen he had become an accomplished drummer and started playing at Catskills resorts.
In 1944, Mel graduated from high school, joined the army and was deployed to Europe. A member of an engineering unit, the Brooklynite participated in the Battle of the Bulge although most of his service involved building bridges or searching for land mines with his bayonet.
What a Career!
Returning stateside, Mel set his sights on the new medium of television. Now known as Mel Brooks, he was hired by Sid Caesar’s “Show of Shows” where he met Carl Reiner. The comedic duo produced several albums featuring Brooks’ “2000 year old man”. Mel’s character had conversed with Jesus, danced with Marie Antoinette and fathered over 42,000 children (“Not one of them ever comes to visit me”, he complains.)
Tasked in the sixties with designing a sitcom that combined James Bond and Inspector Clouseau, Brooks and Buck Henry co-created the hit series, “Get Smart”.
Mel went on to direct “The Producers”, “Blazing Saddles”, and “Young Frankenstein”. While developing a spoof of Hitchcock films, Brooks mailed the unfinished script to the legendary director and offered to cancel the project if Hitch disapproved. In response, Hitchcock invited Brooks to his office where the two met regularly to finalize the hilarious “High Anxiety”.
In the early eighties, Mel branched out from his zany comedies and produced a wide variety of films under his new company Brooksfilms. He produced megahits “The Elephant Man” and “The Fly”. He also produced “Frances”, the biopic of actress France Farmer as well as the charming comedy, “My Favorite Year”.
Mel is one of nineteen EGOTs walking the planet. These are the rare talents who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Brooks won the Emmy for Best Writing for a Sid Caesar reunion show. He won three additional Emmys for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy. Brooks won three Grammys including Best Spoken Comedy Album for “The Two Thousand Year Old Man” and Best Musical Show Album for “The Producers”. He was awarded an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the 1968 version of “The Producers” and won a Tony for Best Musical for his stage adaptation of “The Producers”.
A Great Life
In 1962, native New Yorker Anne Bancroft became an international star with her acclaimed performance as Annie Sullivan in “The Miracle Worker”. One year earlier, she was rehearsing for a show at The Ziegfeld Theater in New York. Brooks was in the audience and became enchanter with the lovely actress. When she finished singing a number entitled-ironically enough-“I Wanna Get Married”, Brooks jumped to his feet and yelled, “Anne Bancroft-I love you”. They married in 1964 and were together until Anne’s death in 2005.
A very happy birthday to Mel Brooks: Accomplished director, producer, actor, composer, Kennedy Center honoree and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Have a great weekend, everyone. If you want a good laugh, go to YouTube and look up Mel Brook’s “Cary Grant Story”. Priceless.
If you enjoyed this blog, you will love my book, “Get Smarter-Be Amazed”. Visit www.tedcurtinstories.com for direct links to Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
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