Mel Brooks at 100 and Still Not Retiring: The Life of a Hollywood Genius

One of the last true giants of Hollywood comedy has turned 100 - and still refuses to retire. Mel Brooks, born Melvin Kaminsky in Brooklyn to a Jewish family with European roots, has stayed active at an age when most of his contemporaries fell silent long ago.

Life didn't give him an easy start. His father died when Mel was only two, and his mother raised four children on her own. At 17 he was called up to the US army in the Second World War, and before that he was already entertaining guests at New York hotels. After the war he started writing jokes for radio and for comedians, and the early fifties brought him onto the team of the legendary „Your Show of Shows".

Then came the run of masterpieces. With „Get Smart" (1965) he mocked the spy mania of the time. His directorial debut „The Producers" (1967) won him an Oscar for original screenplay. And 1974 brought the two classics that made him immortal - „Blazing Saddles" and „Young Frankenstein". Brooks is also a member of the rare group of artists with EGOT status - having won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

On a personal level, his marriage to the actress Anne Bancroft, which lasted from 1964 until her death in 2005, remains one of Hollywood's most famous love stories. His son Max Brooks became a successful writer. And Mel himself isn't stopping - in 2021 he published his memoirs, this January a documentary series about his life came out, and a sequel to „Spaceballs" is announced for 2027. Asked how you stay young, his answer is simple: with curiosity. A century on, that sounds more convincing than any anti-ageing industry.