Mel Brooks: The Comedy Legend is 100 Years Old
Celebrating the filmmaker responsible for satire classics like Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs and Dracula: Dead and Loving It
On June 28, 2026, famed comedy storyteller Mel Brooks celebrated his 100th birthday! Over his long career—as a writer, director, actor, and more—his works have included 1974’s Young Frankenstein (parody of Mary Shelley’s classic monster), 1974’s Blazing Saddles (parody of Western movies), 1977’s High Anxiety (parody of Alfred Hitchcock thrillers), 1987’s Spaceballs (parody of Star Wars), 1995’s Dracula: Dead and Loving It (parody of, well, Dracula), plus TV shows and stage productions, and so much more.
A stage musical adapting his movie The Producers ran on Broadway from 2001-2007. That production won a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards.
In fact, Brooks is one of the few entertainers to have won the EGOT (an Emmy AND a Grammy AND an Oscar AND a Tony). He also received a Golden Scroll for Best Director from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (1976), a Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy from the American Comedy Awards (1987), an American Comedy Award for his guest shot on Mad About You (1997), a Kennedy Center Honor (2009), a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2010), the AFI Life Achievement Award (2013), a British Film Institute Fellowship (2015), a National Medal of Arts (2016), a BAFTA Fellowship(2017), and a Career Peabody Award (2024), among others.
In his memoir All About Me!, Brooks shared the details about his rise from a Depression-era kid in Brooklyn to eventually receiving the National Medal of Arts.
“I hope fans of comedy will get a kick out of the stories behind my work,” he said when All About Me! came out. “And really enjoy taking this remarkable ride with me.”
When highlighted in People magazine, Brooks shared his belief that laughing keeps a person healthy and happy.
“It’s an amazing sound, people laughing at something I created. Making comedy is a great job. It keeps you sane and happy. It gives you a reason to be alive.”
And all these years later, Brooks is still in business: His people are making a sequel to Spaceballs right now. As reported in Variety, Brooks “brought the Farce” to CinemaCon. In a pre-taped video he announced the sequel’s official title as Spaceballs: The New One.
“Hold on, wait a minute! ‘Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money’ is not going to be the title of this movie,” Brooks said, referring to a joke from the original film. “Why not? Because after all these years, I found the money. It was in my basement.” Of the follow-up’s real name, Brooks jabbed, “It’s just like the old one, but it’s newer.”
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The Munsters: Is Herman Munster Really Frankenstein’s Monster? (Well…)
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Turns out that Carla’s new house was built on top of a prison graveyard. What can go wrong? “Why, I could no more close my eyes in that cauldron of blood than sever my own arm. Oh, yes, well. Angels on your pillow.”