The journey from poolside entertainer to king of comedy

Mel Brooks has written a memoir about his 70-year career in comedy.

The 95-year-old comedian, actor and director has also recorded the audiobook version of  All About Me! My Remarkable Life In Show Business.

The book will be published by Century, an imprint of Penguin Random House, on November 30.

They say Brooks will cover everything from his childhood growing up in Brooklyn to his long marriage to actress Anne Bancroft ‘with his signature sense of humour, irreverence and sense of nostalgia’.

The star himself told the Deadline website: ‘It was joyous and at times bittersweet writing this book and reliving the peaks and valleys of my incredible journey from Brooklyn to Hollywood to Broadway,

‘I hope fans of comedy will get a kick out of the stories behind my work, and really enjoy taking this remarkable ride with me.’

Born in 1926, Brooks got a taste for entertaining at the age of 14 as a  tummler, entertaining resort guests with antics around the swimming pool.

After serving in the Army during the Second World War, where he defused land mines as the Allies advanced into Nazi Germany and fought in the Battle of the Bulge – he became an entertainer in the so-called Borscht Belt resorts in the Catskills mountains of upstate New York.

In 1950, he was hired by his friend to be a writer on the groundbreaking TV comedy show Your Show Of Shows  alongside the likes of Carl Reiner and Neil Simon.

In the 1960s he developed a double-act with Reiner, notable for the 2,000 Year Old Man sketch, and co-created the TV spy spoof Get Smart.

His first feature film was The Producers in 1968, followed by Blazing Saddles (1972), Young Frankenstein (1974), Silent Movie (1976), High Anxiety (1977), History of the World, Part I (1981), Spaceballs (1987), and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993).

Amazon is taking orders for the book, here, priced £16.99.

Published: 4 Aug 2021