Well, I’ve been lucky enough to prove him wrong. I have had a great second act and I’m enjoying a pretty good third act too. If I were a Shakespearean play, I’d be rooting for five acts!
I’m also proud to say that I have made people laugh for a living, and whether or not you’ll allow me to, I’m going to brag—I can honestly say, I’ve done it as well as anybody. I started in 1938 as a street-corner comic in Brooklyn, and I’m still doing it…just on more well-known street corners. Comedy is a weird but very beautiful thing. Even though it seems foolish and silly and crazy, comedy has the most to say about the human condition. Because if you can laugh, you can get by. You can survive when things are bad if you have a sense of humor.
I started writing this book because, like everyone else in 2020, I was stuck at home. So I figured, why not? My son Max encouraged me. He said, “Just tell all the stories you told me when I was growing up and you’ll already have a big fat book.”
It’s been a lot of fun writing this memoir, and I’m sorry I have to bring it to a close. But who knows, maybe we’ll meet again in another chapter called:
The History of Mel Brooks, Part II.
“Where you headed, cowboy?”
“Nowhere special.”
“Nowhere special…I’ve always wanted to go there.”
—The Waco Kid and Sheriff Bart,
Blazing Saddles
Acknowledgments
I hope I have remembered things as they happened so many years ago. If any of you who know me well remember them differently—keep it to yourself.
It’s not easy to write a book, especially an autobiography. There are so many things to remember and so many ways to say those things. It’s almost impossible if you don’t have the right people to help you accomplish this mighty task. First and foremost, people like Shelby Van Vliet. There are words to describe her that simply can’t say enough about who she is and what she’s done for me in fashioning this book. Words like “indefatigable”—to wit, untiring, incapable of being fatigued—hardly describe her monumental feat in getting this book out of me every day in every way. Encouraging me to go on when I was stumbling, bumbling, and sometimes ready to quit. Her tireless optimism and good nature filled me with the courage and energy to go forth and continue on. So thank you, Shelby, for your gracious good humor and for suffering my explosions of despair and being the sturdy guardrails that always kept me on track. The truth is I could never have written this book without your help.
To my literary agent, Jonny Geller, for fighting my initial resistance and talking me into this incredible undertaking. Thank you, Jonny.
To my editor, Pamela Cannon, for her never-flagging enthusiasm and great support at every twist and turn all along the way. Without you and the whole wonderful team at Ballantine Books I don’t think I could have done it (at least not nearly as well!).
To Eddy Friedfeld, without whom I would still be lost in the wilderness of almost a century of memories. Eddy, thank you for your boundless resourcefulness in helping me put together a fabulous road map of everything I’ve ever said or done. You’re a lot more than just a researcher and archivist, you’re a bit of a genius.
To Leah Zappy, Randy Auerbach, Michael Gruskoff, Alan Yentob, Steve Haberman, and all the other friends and colleagues I leaned on to help me remember the where and when of what happened behind the scenes as I went from movie to movie on my way to Broadway.
To Kevin Salter, for helping me take the stage for my third act, and always being there to make everything I do so fulfilling and enjoyable.
To Dave Rodgers, my right hand and my right arm, for keeping me upright every time I faltered and for always being there any and every time I needed you.
And last but not least a great big thank-you to my wonderful family. My children, Stefanie, Nicky, Eddie, and Max, and my remarkable grandchildren, Samantha and Henry—I could not have gotten through the marathon of writing this book without you all being there right through to the finish line, rallying me on with your faith in me. You are my never-ending source of strength and hope. I love you all.