Melvin "Mel" Kaminsky (born June 28, 1926),
[Parish, pp. 16–17] better known by his
stage name Mel Brooks, is an American
film director,
screenwriter,
composer,
lyricist,
comedian,
actor and
producer, best known as a creator of broad film
farces and comic
parodies. Brooks is a member of
the short list of entertainers with the distinction of having won an
Emmy, a
Grammy, an
Oscar and a
Tony award. Three of his films (
Blazing Saddles,
The Producers and
Young Frankenstein) ranked in the Top 20 on the
American Film Institute's list of the Top 100 comedy films of all-time.
[AFI's list]
Biography
Early life
Brooks was born
Melvin Kaminsky in
Brooklyn, New York, the son of Kate (
née Brookman), a
garment worker, and Maximilian Kaminsky, a process server.
["Mel Brooks Biography (1926-)" at Filmreference.com] Brooks and his family are
Jewish; his maternal grandparents immigrated from outside
Kiev in the
Russian Empire and his paternal family was from
Danzig in the
German Empire.
[[1]] His father died of kidney disease at age 34.
