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120-527: The seder was hosted by Jason Alexander on the fourth night of Passover . The Saturday Seder coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic , which resulted in many physical seders being canceled throughout the world. The seder aimed to raise funds to benefit the CDC Foundation's Coronavirus Emergency Response Fund. In total, the seder raised more than $ 2.9 million for charity. The seder covered the story of

240-716: A Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2010, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2013, a British Film Institute Fellowship in 2015, a National Medal of Arts in 2016, a BAFTA Fellowship in 2017, and the Honorary Academy Award in 2024. Brooks began his career as a comic and a writer for Sid Caesar 's variety show Your Show of Shows from 1950 to 1954. With Carl Reiner , he created the comedy sketch The 2000 Year Old Man , and together, they released several comedy albums, starting with 2000 Year Old Man in 1960. With Buck Henry , he created

360-449: A Random House book launch of Moss Hart ' s autobiography, Act One , at Mamma Leone's , Mel Tolkin (standing in for Carl Reiner) and Mel Brooks performed, and it was later recalled by Kenneth Tynan . Reiner played the straight-man interviewer and set Brooks up as anything from a Tibetan monk to an astronaut. As Reiner explained: "In the evening, we'd go to a party and I'd pick a character for him to play. I never told him what it

480-625: A Robin Hood parody that lasted only 13 episodes. Nearly 20 years later, in response to the 1991 hit film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves , Brooks mounted another Robin Hood parody, Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). It resurrected several pieces of dialogue from his TV series, and from earlier Brooks films. After his two hit films Brooks got a call from Ron Clark who had an audacious idea:

600-481: A musical , which was hugely successful on Broadway and received an unprecedented 12 Tony awards. In 2000, Roger Ebert included The Producers in his canon of Great Movies, and remembered being in an elevator with Brooks and Anne Bancroft shortly after the movie was released: "A woman got on the elevator, recognized him and said, 'I have to tell you, Mr. Brooks, that your movie is vulgar.' Brooks smiled benevolently. 'Lady', he said, 'it rose below vulgarity. ' " With

720-477: A Dirty Rotten Fraud was an autobiographical script based on his marriage. By 1966, Brooks was "living in a fairly old but comfortable New York town house". Brooks married actress Anne Bancroft in 1964, and they remained together for 41 years until her death in 2005. They met at a rehearsal for the Perry Como Variety Show in 1961, and were married three years later on August 5, 1964, at

840-473: A Jewish family, the son of Ruth Minnie (née Simon), a nurse and health care administrator, and Alexander B. Greenspan, an accounting manager. Greenspan later borrowed his father's first name to create his stage name, Jason Alexander. Alexander grew up in Maplewood and Livingston, New Jersey , and is a 1977 graduate of Livingston High School . Interested in magic from an early age, he initially hoped to be

960-407: A Nobel Prize–winning psychologist who suffers from " high anxiety ". By 1980, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert had referred to Mel Brooks and Woody Allen as "the two most successful comedy directors in the world today ... America's two funniest filmmakers". Released that year was the dramatic film The Elephant Man directed by David Lynch and produced by Brooks. Knowing that anyone seeing

1080-518: A black hero." When Gene Wilder replaced Gig Young as the Waco Kid, he did so only when Brooks agreed that his next film would be a script that Wilder had been working on: a spoof of the Universal series of Frankenstein films from several decades earlier. After the filming of Blazing Saddles was completed, Wilder and Brooks began writing the script for Young Frankenstein and shot it in

1200-511: A cameo appearance as an alcoholic ex-serf who "yearns for the regular beatings of yesteryear". The film was shot in Yugoslavia with a budget of $ 1.5 million. It received poor reviews and was not financially successful. Brooks then wrote an adaptation of Oliver Goldsmith 's She Stoops to Conquer , but was unable to sell the idea to any studio and believed that his career was over. In 1972, he met agent David Begelman , who helped him set up

1320-497: A character from Dostoevsky's The Idiot . And the name Leo Bloom is a reference to Leopold Bloom, hero of Joyce 's Ulysses . Regarding religion, Brooks stated, "I'm rather secular. I'm basically Jewish. But I think I'm Jewish not because of the Jewish religion at all. I think it's the relationship with the people and the pride I have. The tribe surviving so many misfortunes, and being so brave and contributing so much knowledge to

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1440-446: A crazy, unreal comic-strip kind of thing about something besides a family. No one had ever done a show about an idiot before. I decided to be the first." Starring Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, the series ran from 1965 until 1970, although Brooks had little involvement after the first season. It was highly rated for most of its production and won seven Emmy Awards , including Outstanding Comedy Series in 1968 and 1969. During

1560-444: A dart out of the window in a scene with Kenneth Mars. Composer John Morris again provided the score, and Universal monsters special effects veteran Kenneth Strickfaden worked on the film. Young Frankenstein was the third-highest-grossing film domestically of 1974, just behind Blazing Saddles with a gross of $ 86 million. It also received two Academy Award nominations for Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound . It received some of

1680-523: A deal with Warner Bros. to hire Brooks (as well as Richard Pryor , Andrew Bergman , Norman Steinberg , and Alan Uger ) as a script doctor for an unproduced script called Tex-X . Eventually, Brooks was hired as director for what became Blazing Saddles (1974), his third film. Blazing Saddles starred Cleavon Little , Gene Wilder , Harvey Korman , Slim Pickens , Madeline Kahn , Alex Karras , and Brooks himself, with cameos by Dom DeLuise and Count Basie . It had music by Brooks and John Morris, and

1800-609: A far warmer realm in which affection always outweighs irony." The production broke the Tony Award record with 12 wins, a record previously held for 37 years by Hello, Dolly! with 10 wins including the Tony Award for Best Musical . It led to a 2005 big-screen version of the Broadway adaptation/remake with Lane, Broderick, Gary Beach , and Roger Bart reprising their stage roles, and new cast members Uma Thurman and Will Ferrell . In early April 2006, Brooks began composing

1920-673: A guest star in the third episode of the improv comedy series Thank God You're Here . He has been a frequent guest and panelist on Bill Maher 's Politically Incorrect in 1995, 1997 and 2000 and Real Time in 2006, 2009 and 2012; Hollywood Squares in 1999, 2002 and 2004; the Late Late Show in 2003, 2012, 2014 and 2015, with Craig Kilborn , Craig Ferguson , and James Corden ; Late Show with David Letterman in 1989, 2000, and 2002; The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2015; and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2015. In 2008, Alexander guest-starred in

2040-499: A little cash to throw him gags....At 24, Brooks got his break as a full-time writer. Brooks found more rewarding work behind the scenes, becoming a comedy writer for television. In 1949, his friend Sid Caesar hired him to write jokes for the DuMont/NBC series The Admiral Broadway Revue , paying him, off-the-books, $ 50 a week. In 1950, Caesar created the innovative variety comedy series Your Show of Shows and hired Brooks as

2160-422: A magician, but while attending a magic camp was told that his hands were too small for card magic. He became interested in theater, eventually realizing, "Wait a minute—the whole thing's an illusion. Nothing up there is real" and that theater itself was "a magic trick". He then decided to pursue a theater career. After high school, he studied theater at Boston University . He wanted to pursue classical acting, but

2280-431: A million copies in 1961. They eventually expanded their routine with two more albums in 1961 and 1962, a revival in 1973, a 1975 animated TV special, and a reunion album in 1998. At one point, when Brooks had financial and career struggles, the record sales from the 2000 Year Old Man were his chief source of income. Brooks adapted the 2000 Year Old Man character to create the 2500-Year-Old Brewmaster for Ballantine Beer in

2400-469: A mind.' The book was Dead Souls by the magnificent genius Nikolai Gogol . It was a revelation. I'd never read anything like it. It was hysterically funny and incredibly moving at the same time... It was a life-changing gift, and I still read it once a year to remind myself of what great comic writing can be." Brooks and co-writer Reiner had become close friends and began to casually improvise comedy routines when they were not working. In October 1959, for

2520-602: A modest budget of $ 2.6 million. A satire on the Western film genre, it references older films such as Destry Rides Again (1939), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), High Noon (1952) and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). In a surreal sequence towards the end, it references the extravagant musicals of Busby Berkeley . Despite mixed reviews, Blazing Saddles was a success with younger audiences. It became

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2640-499: A nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for his role as the narrator in the series. Brooks is one of the few people who have received an Oscar , an Emmy , a Tony , and a Grammy . He won his first Grammy for Best Spoken Comedy Album in 1999 for his recording of The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000 with Carl Reiner . His two other Grammys came in 2002 for Best Musical Show Album for

2760-423: A parody of science fiction, mainly Star Wars . It starred Bill Pullman , John Candy , Rick Moranis , Daphne Zuniga , Dick Van Patten, Joan Rivers , Dom DeLuise, and Brooks. In 1989, Brooks (with co-executive producer Alan Spencer ) made another attempt at television success with the sitcom The Nutt House , featuring Brooks regulars Harvey Korman and Cloris Leachman. It was originally broadcast on NBC, but

2880-451: A poster reading "Mel Brooks presents The Elephant Man " would expect a comedy, he set up the company Brooksfilms . It has since produced a number of non-comedy films, including Frances (1982), The Fly (1986), and 84 Charing Cross Road (1987) starring Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft—as well as comedies, including Richard Benjamin 's My Favorite Year (1982), partially based on Mel Brooks's real life. Brooks sought to purchase

3000-535: A press conference for All American , a reporter asked, "What are you going to do next?" and Brooks replied, "Springtime for Hitler," perhaps riffing on Springtime for Henry . For several years, Brooks toyed with a bizarre and unconventional idea about a musical comedy of Adolf Hitler . He explored the idea as a novel and a play before finally writing a script. He eventually found two producers to fund it, Joseph E. Levine and Sidney Glazier , and made his first feature film, The Producers (1968). The Producers

3120-592: A professor redirected him toward comedy after noticing his physique, remarking, "I know your heart and soul are Hamlet , but you will never play Hamlet." Alexander left Boston University without a degree after his third year to take a full-time acting job in New York City. The university awarded him an honorary degree in 1995. Alexander began his acting career on the New York stage and is an accomplished singer and dancer. Alexander made his film debut in 1981 in

3240-480: A punch in the face." Brooks was a small, sickly boy who often was bullied and teased by his classmates because of his size. At age nine, he saw Anything Goes with William Gaxton , Ethel Merman and Victor Moore at the Alvin Theater . After the show, he told his uncle that he was not going to work in the garment district like everyone else but instead wanted to go into show business. When Brooks

3360-474: A reputation in New York City. Kenneth Tynan saw the comedy duo perform at a party in 1959 and wrote that Brooks "was the most original comic improvisor I had ever seen". In 1960, Brooks, without his family, moved from New York to Hollywood, returning in 1961. He and Reiner began performing the "2000 Year Old Man" act on The Steve Allen Show . Their performances led to the release of the comedy album 2000 Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks that sold over

3480-569: A salary of $ 5,000 a week on Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour , his salary dropped to $ 85 a week as a freelance writer. For five years he had few gigs , and was living in Greenwich Village on Perry Street in a fourth-floor walk-up. In 1960, to escape his situation, Brooks moved in with a friend, in Los Angeles. In 1961, after his return to New York, he found that Baum had begun suing him for legal separation. Marriage Is

3600-612: A similar show of this nature was in 2006's Jason Alexander's Comedy Christmas . In February/March 2010, Alexander starred in his show, The Donny Clay Experience , at the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas , Nevada . Donny Clay, whom he has portrayed in a tour of the United States and Orillia, Ontario, is a self-help guru in a similar mold to his Bob Patterson character. In 2009, he played Joseph in

3720-413: A southern science professor at a large university who uses the principles of engineering on the college's football team and the team begins to win games. It was directed by Joshua Logan , who script-doctored the second act and added a gay subtext to the plot. It ran for 80 performances and received two Tony Award nominations. The animated short film The Critic (1963), a satire of arty, esoteric cinema,

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3840-640: A supposedly live feed of the playing field hearing startled sports commentators as Alexander and the dog land in the field to wild applause. Alexander appeared in the 1995 TV version of the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie , as Conrad Birdie's agent, Albert Peterson. He guest-starred in episode 8 of the 1996 variety show Muppets Tonight . He voiced the gargoyle Hugo in Disney 's 1996 animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame and its direct-to-video sequel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II . Alexander voiced

3960-477: A two-state solution, which was later criticised by Roz Rothstein, CEO of the pro-Israel education group StandWithUs. When asked about the IDF, Alexander stated that they were humane and noble, stating "some of the finest, most humane, most admirable, most noble-serving soldiers that I've ever seen" and that "there can never be any doubt that I am also an advocate for Israel". When asked about why he had repeatedly emceed

4080-449: A writer along with Carl Reiner , Neil Simon , Danny Simon , and head writer Mel Tolkin . The writing staff proved widely influential. Reiner, as creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show , based Morey Amsterdam 's character Buddy Sorell on Brooks. Likewise, the film My Favorite Year (1982) is loosely based on Brooks's experiences as a writer on the show including an encounter with the actor Errol Flynn . Neil Simon's play Laughter on

4200-457: Is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies . A recipient of numerous accolades , he is one of 21 entertainers to win the EGOT , which includes an Emmy Award , a Grammy Award , an Academy Award , and a Tony Award . He received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2009,

4320-508: Is an homage to silent comedians Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton , among others. It was not as successful as Brooks's previous two films but did gross $ 36 million. Later that year, he was named fifth on the Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll . Reviews were generally favorable; Roger Ebert praised it as "not only funny, but fun. It's clear at almost every moment that the filmmakers had a ball making it." Regarding

4440-429: Is best known as one of the key cast members of the award-winning television sitcom Seinfeld , where he played the bumbling George Costanza ( Jerry Seinfeld 's character's best friend since childhood). He was nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards for the role, but did not win any, mainly due to his co-star Michael Richards winning for his role as Cosmo Kramer . He did, however, win

4560-430: Is filled with one-liners and the occasional breaking of the fourth wall . Robin Hood: Men in Tights was Brooks's second time exploring the life of Robin Hood (the first, as mentioned above, being his 1975 TV show When Things Were Rotten ). Life Stinks was a financial and critical failure, but is notable as the only film Brooks directed that is neither a parody nor a film about other films or theater. ( The Twelve Chairs

4680-496: Is his godfather. DeLuise's father Dom DeLuise was a frequent costar of Brooks in his earlier career. Brooks is a voracious reader; in a profile for The New Yorker , Kenneth Tynan describes "Brooks the secret connoisseur, worshiper of good writing, and expert on the Russian classics , with special reverence to Gogol , Turgenev , Dostoevski , and Tolstoy ." In The Producers , Bialystock refers to Bloom as "Prince Myshkin",

4800-1046: Is terrible! I can't go on!" before jumping, fully clothed into the pool. He was taught by Buddy Rich (who had also grown up in Williamsburg) how to play the drums, and started to earn money as a musician when he was 14. During his time as a drummer, he was given his first opportunity as a comedian at the age of 16, filling in for an ill MC. During his teens, he changed his name to Melvin Brooks, influenced by his mother's maiden name Brookman, after being confused with trumpeter Max Kaminsky . Brooks graduated from Eastern District High School in Williamsburg in January 1944 and intended to follow his older brother and enroll in Brooklyn College to study psychology. In early 1944, in his senior year in high school, Brooks

4920-540: Is the silent majority of Israelis and Palestinians. This has been criticised by The Electronic Intifada as "promoting what many Palestinians see as "a false peace that fails to address the structural injustices driving the conflict", and as a fake peace group which "manufactures consent for Israeli apartheid". On Real Time with Bill Maher , he said he had visited Israel many times and spoke about progress toward peace he had observed. On December 6, 2012 Alexander emceed his third gala event for non-profit group Friends of

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5040-528: The Friends 2001 episode " The One Where Rosita Dies " as Earl, a suicidal supply manager . Phoebe calls him trying to sell him toner , learns about his problem, and tries to persuade him not to commit suicide. This is referenced in an episode of Malcolm in the Middle where Alexander appears as Leonard, a neurotic and critical loner. He describes himself as "free" and says he makes money "selling toner over

5160-545: The 78th Infantry Division as a forward artillery observer . In December 1944, a short while later, Brooks was transferred to the 1104th  Engineer Combat Battalion as a combat engineer , participating in the Battle of the Bulge . Of his experience there, Brooks noted: Along the roadside, you'd see bodies wrapped up in mattress covers and stacked in a ditch, and those would be Americans, that could be me. I sang all

5280-741: The AFI Life Achievement Award , in June 2013. In 2014 Brooks was honored in a handprint and footprint ceremony at TCL Chinese Theatre . His concrete handprints include a six-fingered left hand as he wore a prosthetic finger when making his prints. On March 20, 2015, he received a British Film Institute Fellowship from the British Film Institute . Brooks met Florence Baum, a dancer in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , on Broadway. They were married from 1953 until their divorce in 1962. They had three children. After earning

5400-806: The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Song for "The Bad Guys?" on Brainwashed By Toons (2020). In 2020, Alexander hosted the Saturday Night Seder , an online Passover Seder that featured many celebrities and benefited the CDC Foundation . From February 2023 he co-presented Really? No, Really? , a weekly podcast in which he, co-host Peter Tilden, and their guests attempt to find answers "to life’s most baffling, intriguing, confusing and annoying questions". In July 2023, he made his Broadway directing debut with Sandy Rustin's comedy The Cottage . The cast includes Eric McCormack , Laura Bell Bundy and Lilli Cooper . In 2023, on

5520-615: The DreamWorks film The Prince of Egypt (1998), an animated depiction of the Exodus story. The song's composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz provided the piano accompaniment. This performance received widespread acclaim as the program's highlight, thanks in part to the song's resurgence in visibility and popularity through the film's stage musical adaptation , which was running in the West End and suspended performances in response to

5640-967: The Fort Dix , New Jersey , induction center, and was sent to the Field Artillery Replacement Training Center at Fort Sill, Oklahoma for basic training and radio operator training. Brooks was then sent back to Fort Dix for overseas assignment. Brooks says he boarded SS  Sea Owl at the Brooklyn Navy Yard around February 15, 1945. A reporter for the United States Department of Defense writes that Brooks arrived in France in November 1944, and later in Belgium, serving with

5760-700: The Jewish Exodus from Egypt in a humorous light. It featured both Jews and non-Jews. * Rabbis who appeared in the seder. The Saturday Night Seder could be seen on BuzzFeed's Tasty YouTube Channel and was simulcasted on Saturday Night Seder's website and the CDC Foundation's website. In total, more than 1 million people watched the Saturday Night Seder. Following its broadcast, the program became notable for Cynthia Erivo and Shoshana Bean 's performance of " When You Believe " from

5880-547: The Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry . Brooks has said that the film "has to do with love more than anything else. I mean when that black guy rides into that Old Western town and even a little old lady says 'Up yours, nigger!', you know that his heart is broken. So it's really the story of that heart being mended." Brooks described the film as "a Jewish western with

6000-626: The Manhattan Marriage Bureau . Their son, Max Brooks , was born in 1972. In 2010, Brooks credited Bancroft as "the guiding force" behind his involvement in developing The Producers and Young Frankenstein for the musical theater, saying of an early meeting with her: "From that day, until her death ... we were glued together." He has remained single since she died, stating in 2023 that "Once you are married to Anne Bancroft, others don't seem to be appealing". According to David DeLuise on Wizards of Waverley Pod , Brooks

6120-583: The Manhattan Theatre Club . In 2018, Alexander played Olix the bartender in The Orville . The same year, he portrayed Gene Lundy, a drama teacher, on two episodes of Young Sheldon . In 2020, 2021 and 2022, he reprised the role of Gene Lundy on one episode. In 2019, Alexander appeared on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as Asher Friedman, a blacklisted Broadway playwright who is an old friend of Midge Maisel's father Abe Weissman. He won

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6240-681: The NBC sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series and was nominated for seven consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and four Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actor in Television . Alexander made his Broadway debut originating the role of Joe in Stephen Sondheim 's Merrily We Roll Along in 1981. He remained active on Broadway acting in

6360-824: The New York Friars Club Roast event honoring Jerry Stiller , who played his father on Seinfeld ; it featured appearances by Kevin James and Patton Oswalt , both Stiller's costars on The King of Queens . Alexander appeared in the 1999 Star Trek: Voyager episode " Think Tank " as Kurros, a genius alien trying to get Seven of Nine to serve on his ship. Despite a successful career in film and stage, Alexander did not repeat his Seinfeld -level of success in television. The year 2001 marked his appearance as inept womanizer Mauricio in Shallow Hal and his first post- Seinfeld return to prime-time television:

6480-601: The Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine). He had three older brothers: Irving, Lenny, and Bernie. His father died of tuberculosis of the kidney at 34 when Brooks was two years old. He has said of his father's death, "There's an outrage there. I may be angry at God, or at the world, for that. And I'm sure a lot of my comedy is based on anger and hostility. Growing up in Williamsburg, I learned to clothe it in comedy to spare myself problems—like

6600-690: The Roer River , later building bridges over the Rhine river . In April 1945, Brooks's unit conducted its last reconnaissance missions in the Harz mountains , Germany. With the end of the war in Europe , Brooks joined the Special Services as a comic touring Army bases and he was made acting corporal , put in charge of entertainment at Wiesbaden , and performed at Fort Dix. In June 1946, Brooks

6720-479: The San Francisco Giants and another with Trista Rehn of The Bachelorette . It was rumored that he quit doing these commercials due to KFC suppliers and slaughterhouses ' alleged cruelty to animals , but he denied that in an interview with Adweek , saying, "That's PETA bullcrap. I loved working for KFC. I was targeted by PETA to broker something between them. I think KFC really stepped up to

6840-676: The Texas Democrats with former Seinfeld colleagues Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Larry David. He endorsed Barack Obama in 2012 and Joe Biden in 2020 . Alexander has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration and he has ridiculed Donald Trump over his dancing. He has called Republican Party senator Ted Cruz a jerk from the "jerk store" in reference to a joke from Seinfeld . Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks ( né   Kaminsky ; born June 28, 1926)

6960-461: The Thomas Nelson audio Bible production The Word of Promise . The project featured a large ensemble of actors, including Jim Caviezel , Lou Gossett Jr. , John Rhys-Davies , Jon Voight , Gary Sinise , Christopher McDonald , Marisa Tomei , and John Schneider . In 2009, Alexander had a small role in the film Hachi: A Dog's Tale as a train station manager. He starred as Cosmo in

7080-713: The gargoyle Hugo in the Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and the 2002 sequel as well as the titular role in Duckman (1994–1997). For his role in Dream On (1994) he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series . He also acted in Curb Your Enthusiasm (2001, 2009), and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2019). Greenspan was born in Newark, New Jersey to

7200-669: The season four episode "Masterpiece" of the CBS show Criminal Minds as Professor Rothschild, a well-educated serial killer obsessed with the Fibonacci sequence who sends the team into a race against time to save his last victims. He returned in the same season to direct the episode "Conflicted", featuring the actor Jackson Rathbone . Alexander hosted the LOL Sudbury opening night gala in Sudbury , Ontario, Canada in 2008, which

7320-519: The 1960s. Interviewed by Dick Cavett in a series of ads, the Brewmaster (in a German accent, as opposed to the 2000 Year Old Man's Yiddish accent) said he was inside the original Trojan horse and "could've used a six-pack of fresh air". Brooks was involved in the creation of the Broadway musical All American which debuted on Broadway in 1962. He wrote the play with lyrics by Lee Adams and music by Charles Strouse . It starred Ray Bolger as

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7440-406: The 1980s. Among them were commercials for Hershey's Kiss ; Delta Gold potato chips ; Miller Lite beer; McDonald's McDLT hamburger; Pabst Blue Ribbon beer; Levi's 501 jeans; Sony Watchman TV; and Western Union wire transfer. Before Seinfeld , Alexander appeared in commercials for John Deere and McDonald's and in the short-lived CBS sitcom Everything's Relative (1987). Alexander

7560-460: The 1995 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series . Concurrently with his Seinfeld role, he had a part in the ABC sitcom Dinosaurs as Al "Sexual" Harris (who frequently engaged in sexual harassment ) as well as other characters from 1991 to 1994. Alexander voiced the lead character in the animated series Duckman (1994–1997) and voiced Catbert ,

7680-689: The 2004 musical adaptation of Charles Dickens 's A Christmas Carol , as Jacob Marley . Alexander's second chance as a TV series lead, the CBS sitcom Listen Up (2004–05), also fell short of a second season. Alexander was the principal executive producer of the series, based very loosely on the life of the popular sports-media personality Tony Kornheiser . He performed on the Family Guy: Live in Vegas 2005 album. Alexander continued to appear in live stage shows, including Barbra Streisand 's memorable birthday party in 2005 for Stephen Sondheim at

7800-535: The 2011 live action film A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! . In 2011, Alexander was the guest star in an episode of Harry's Law , playing a high school teacher bringing a wrongful dismissal suit. In 2015, he replaced Larry David as the lead in David's Broadway play Fish in the Dark . He co-starred opposite Sherie Rene Scott in the 2017 world premiere of John Patrick Shanley 's The Portuguese Kid at

7920-472: The 2024 Met Gala and by herself at the 35th National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, D.C. , both in May 2024. Jason Alexander Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander , is an American actor and comedian. Over the course of his career he has received an Emmy Award and a Tony Award as well as nominations for four Golden Globe Awards . He gained stardom for his role as George Costanza in

8040-438: The 23rd Floor (1993) is also loosely based on the production of the show, and the character Ira Stone is based on Brooks. Your Show of Shows ended in 1954 when performer Imogene Coca left to host her own show. Caesar then created Caesar's Hour with most of the same cast and writers (including Brooks and adding Woody Allen and Larry Gelbart ). It ran from 1954 until 1957. Brooks told The New York Times , "When I

8160-474: The December 21 primetime CBS special Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic , Alexander performed two songs in conjunction with dance-performers and closed the show with a spoken tribute to Van Dyke. Alexander has been married to Daena E. Title, cousin of director Stacy Title , since May 31, 1982. They have two sons, Gabriel and Noah. Alexander performed a mentalism and magic act at The Magic Castle in Hollywood, California, from April 24 to 30, 2006, and he

8280-487: The Hollywood Bowl, where he performed selections from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street with Angela Lansbury . He featured in the 2005 Monk episode " Mr. Monk and the Other Detective " as Monk's rival, Marty Eels . In a 2006 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! , Alexander demonstrated several self-defense techniques. Also that year, he hosted the PBS "A Capitol Fourth" celebrations in Washington, D.C., singing, dancing, and playing tuned drums. Alexander

8400-466: The Israel Defense Forces , a charity supporting the Israel Defense Forces. Musician Stevie Wonder cancelled his performance at the event following a recommendation from the UN, and a public petition from Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) requesting that he not attend the event. Alexander who was interviewed at the event by Jewish News Syndicate stated he supported the OneVoice Movement , and acknowledged an occupation of Palestine and called for

8520-411: The World, Part I (1981), Spaceballs (1987), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), and Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995). A musical adaptation of his first film, The Producers , ran on Broadway from 2001 to 2007 and earned Brooks three Tony Awards . The project was remade into a musical film in 2005 . He wrote and produced the Hulu series History of the World, Part II (2023). Brooks

8640-408: The ads as part of a way to raise money for Denise Faustman 's research on autoimmunity . Iacocca and Alexander both have loved ones whose lives have been adversely affected by autoimmunity. Alexander competed on televised poker shows and in various tournaments. He appeared twice on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown , winning the final table of the 8th season. Alexander won the $ 500,000 prize for

8760-448: The best reviews of Brooks's career. Even notoriously hard-to-please critic Pauline Kael liked it, saying: "Brooks makes a leap up as a director because, although the comedy doesn't build, he carries the story through ... [He] even has a satisfying windup, which makes this just about the only comedy of recent years that doesn't collapse." In 1975, at the height of his movie career, Brooks tried TV again with When Things Were Rotten ,

8880-710: The cast album of The Producers and for Best Long Form Music Video for the DVD Recording the Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks . He won his first of four Emmy awards in 1967 for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Variety for a Sid Caesar special, and won Emmys in 1997, 1998, and 1999 for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role of Uncle Phil on Mad About You . He won his Academy Award for Original Screenplay (Oscar) in 1968 for The Producers . He won his three Tony awards in 2001 for his work on

9000-621: The character Abis Mal in the 1994 film The Return of Jafar and the 1994-1995 TV series based on the 1992 film Aladdin . In 1997, he appeared in Cinderella , a remake of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, alongside Whitney Houston , Brandy Norwood , and Whoopi Goldberg . His other Disney voice work includes House of Mouse in 2001 and the 2012 video game Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance . He has dabbled in directing, starting with 1996's For Better or Worse and 1999's Just Looking . In 1999, Alexander presided over

9120-642: The charity of his choice, The United Way of America , to help benefit the New Orleans area. Alexander played in the 2007 World Series of Poker main event, but he was eliminated on the second day. He returned in 2009, making it to day 3 of the event and finishing in the top 30% of the field. Alexander has appeared on NBC's Poker After Dark in the "Celebrities and Mentors" episode, finishing in 6th place after being eliminated by professional poker player Gavin Smith . He signed with PokerStars , where he plays under

9240-804: The evening's delightful narrator, accomplishes the seemingly impossible: he banishes the memory of Zero Mostel from the role of Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum ". In addition to his roles as an insensitive, money-hungry lawyer in Pretty Woman in 1990, Alexander has appeared in Jacob's Ladder in 1990, The Last Supper in 1995, Dunston Checks In in 1996, Love! Valour! Compassion! in 1997, and Love and Action in Chicago in 1999. Alexander starred in several commercials during

9360-424: The event, Alexander stated, "They don’t understand first of all what [FIDF] is, and they see it as just a blanket support for Israeli military, and they don’t understand how I can say that I’m an advocate for both sides. And given the fact that there are eyes on this event tonight, I thought it was important to get up and say, 'This is why I can advocate for this group and I can advocate for Israel, and I’m not blind to

9480-475: The evil director of human resources, in the short-lived animated series Dilbert from 1999 to 2000, based on the then-popular comic strip. In January 1995, he did a commercial for Rold Gold pretzels to be broadcast during the Super Bowl . The commercial depicts him with Frasier dog Eddie jumping out of an airplane with a parachute over the stadium. After the commercial, the audience is brought back to

9600-615: The fact that we’re in conflict, and I hold everyone equally accountable, and I hold everyone equally to my heart.'" On November 6, 2015 he again emceed an event at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in California, which raised $ 31 million for the, "provid[ing] educational, cultural and recreational programs and facilities for IDF soldiers." Alexander is a supporter of the Democratic Party . Alexander supports same-sex marriage and an assault weapons ban . In 2020, he campaigned for

9720-689: The film's inside jokes, Ebert wrote that "the thing about Brooks's inside jokes is that their outsides are funny, too." High Anxiety (1977), Brooks's parody of Freudian psychoanalysis , as well as the films of Alfred Hitchcock , was written by Brooks, Ron Clark, Rudy De Luca , and Barry Levinson , and was the first movie Brooks produced himself. Starring Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman , Harvey Korman, Ron Carey , Howard Morris , and Dick Van Patten , it satirizes such Hitchcock films as Vertigo , Spellbound , Psycho , The Birds , North by Northwest , Dial M for Murder and Suspicion . Brooks plays Professor Richard H. (Harpo) Thorndyke,

9840-443: The first feature-length silent comedy in four decades. Silent Movie (1976) was written by Brooks and Clark, and starred Brooks in his first leading role, with Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman, Sid Caesar , Bernadette Peters , and in cameo roles playing themselves: Paul Newman , Burt Reynolds , James Caan , Liza Minnelli , Anne Bancroft , and the mime Marcel Marceau , who uttered the film's only word of audible dialogue: "Non!" It

9960-499: The full company sings, "next year, Blazing Saddles !" In 2010, Brooks confirmed this, saying that the musical could be finished within a year; however, no creative team or plan has been announced. In 2021, at age 95, Brooks published a memoir titled All About Me! . On October 18, 2021, it was announced that Brooks would write and produce History of the World, Part II , a follow-up TV series on Hulu to his 1981 movie . He received

10080-406: The heavily promoted but short-lived ABC sitcom Bob Patterson , which was canceled after five episodes. Alexander partially blames the show's failure on the country's mood after 9/11 . Alexander made cameo appearances as himself in 2001 in the second season of Curb Your Enthusiasm , and he appeared in the show's seventh season with his three principal Seinfeld co-stars. He was featured in

10200-526: The hit television comedy series Get Smart , which starred Don Adams and ran from 1965 to 1970. Brooks won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for The Producers (1967). He then rose to prominence becoming one of the most successful film directors of the 1970s with The Twelve Chairs (1970), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), Silent Movie (1976), and High Anxiety (1977). Later Brooks made History of

10320-579: The master inventor, in the animated film Robots (2005), and in the later animated film Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) he had a cameo appearance as Albert Einstein . He returned, to voice Dracula's father, Vlad , in Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015) and Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018). Brooks joked about the concept of a musical adaptation of Blazing Saddles in the final number in Young Frankenstein , in which

10440-425: The moderate financial success of the film The Producers , Glazier financed Brooks's next film, The Twelve Chairs (1970). Loosely based on Ilf and Petrov 's 1928 Russian novel of the same name about greedy materialism in post-revolutionary Russia, it stars Ron Moody , Frank Langella and Dom DeLuise as three men individually searching for a fortune in diamonds hidden in a set of 12 antique chairs. Brooks makes

10560-566: The musical The Producers , for Best Musical, Best Original Musical Score, and Best Book of a Musical. Brooks also won a Hugo Award and Nebula Award for Young Frankenstein . In a 2005 poll by Channel 4 to find The Comedian's Comedian , he was voted No. 50 of the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. The American Film Institute (AFI) lists three of Brooks's films on its AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs list: Blazing Saddles (#6), The Producers (#11), and Young Frankenstein (#13). On December 5, 2009, Brooks

10680-764: The musicals The Rink in 1984, Personals in 1985, and the Neil Simon play Broadway Bound in 1986. He then starred in Jerome Robbins' Broadway in 1989, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical . He appeared in the Los Angeles production of Mel Brooks 's The Producers . He was the artistic director of "Reprise! Broadway's Best in Los Angeles", where he has directed musicals. His film roles include Pretty Woman (1990), Coneheads (1993), North (1994), The Last Supper (1995), Dunston Checks In (1996), Denial (1998), Shallow Hal (2001), and Wild Card (2015). He voiced

10800-521: The nationwide college circuit , then in revivals and on home video. It premiered to a limited audience in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 22, 1967, before achieving a wide release in 1968. Peter Sellers personally championed the film, paying out of pocket to take out full page ads in Variety and The New York Times . Brooks, along with his collaborator Thomas Meehan , later adapted it into

10920-471: The network aired only five of the eleven produced episodes before canceling the series. During the next decade, Brooks directed Life Stinks (1991), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), and Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995). People magazine wrote, "Anyone in a mood for a hearty laugh couldn't do better than Robin Hood: Men in Tights , which gave fans a parody of Robin Hood , especially Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves ." Like Brooks's other films, it

11040-480: The pandemic at the time. This led to Erivo and Bean's rendition receiving a studio recording and being released as a single (alongside the program's closing number " Next Year "), on June 30, 2020, by Ghostlight Records . The proceeds from the digital purchases of both songs benefitted the Jews for Racial and Economic Justice organization. Erivo would go on to perform the song with her Wicked co-star Ariana Grande at

11160-481: The phone". Later in the episode, he is repeatedly harassed by a man named George. He appeared in " One Night at Mercy ", the first episode of the short-lived 2002 revival of The Twilight Zone , playing Death . He played the toymaker A.C. Gilbert in the 2002 film The Man Who Saved Christmas . He appeared in Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) commercials in 2002, including one with Barry Bonds of

11280-505: The plate; unfortunately PETA did not." In 2007, Alexander appeared in a commercial for the ASPCA that aired on cable TV stations. In 2018, Alexander portrayed Colonel Sanders in commercials for KFC , reprising his role from the 2002 campaign. In 2003, he was cast opposite Martin Short in the Los Angeles production of Mel Brooks 's The Producers . He appeared with Kelsey Grammer in

11400-649: The rights to 84 Charing Cross Road for his wife, Anne Bancroft, for many years. He also produced the comedy Fatso (1980) that Bancroft directed. In 1981, Brooks joked that the only genres that he hadn't spoofed were historical epics and Biblical spectacles. History of the World Part I was a tongue-in-cheek look at human culture from the Dawn of Man to the French Revolution . Written, produced and directed by Brooks, with narration by Orson Welles , it

11520-700: The score to a Broadway musical adaptation of Young Frankenstein , which he says is "perhaps the best movie [he] ever made". The world premiere was at Seattle's Paramount Theater, between August 7, 2007, and September 1, 2007, after which it opened on Broadway at the former Lyric Theater (then the Hilton Theatre), New York, on October 11, 2007. It earned mixed reviews from the critics. In the 2000s, Brooks worked on an animated series sequel to Spaceballs called Spaceballs: The Animated Series , which premiered on September 21, 2008, on G4 TV . Brooks has also supplied vocal roles for animation. He voiced Bigweld,

11640-521: The screen name "J. Alexander". In 2021, Alexander competed in a virtual National Poker Tournament, hosted by the Children's Tumor Foundation , to raise money for Neurofibromatosis research. Alexander has been a prominent public supporter of the OneVoice initiative, which seeks out opinions from moderate Israelis and Palestinians who want to achieve a mutual peace agreement, through what it states

11760-550: The second-highest US grossing film of 1974, grossing $ 119.5 million in the United States and Canada. It was nominated for three Academy Awards : Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Madeline Kahn, Best Film Editing , and Best Music, Original Song . It won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen ; and in 2006 it was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by

11880-429: The spring of 1974. It starred Wilder, Marty Feldman , Peter Boyle , Teri Garr , Madeline Kahn , Cloris Leachman and Kenneth Mars , with Gene Hackman in a cameo role. Brooks' voice can be heard three times: as the wolf howl when the characters are on their way to the castle; as the voice of Victor Frankenstein, when the characters discover the laboratory; and as the sound of a cat when Gene Wilder accidentally throws

12000-439: The summer camp slasher film The Burning . On Broadway he appeared in Stephen Sondheim 's Merrily We Roll Along in 1981, Kander & Ebb 's The Rink in 1984, Neil Simon 's Broadway Bound in 1986, Accomplice in 1990, and Jerome Robbins' Broadway in 1989, for which he garnered the 1989 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical . Frank Rich of The New York Times wrote of his performance "Jason Alexander,

12120-512: The time ... I never wanted to think about it ... Death is the enemy of everyone, and even though you hate Nazis, death is more of an enemy than a German soldier. Stationed in Saarbrücken and Baumholder , the battalion was responsible for clearing booby-trapped buildings and defusing land mines as the Allies advanced into Nazi Germany. Brooks was tasked with land mine location; defusing

12240-622: The top 15: Blazing Saddles at number 6, The Producers at number 11, and Young Frankenstein at number 13. Brooks was born Melvin James Kaminsky on a tenement kitchen table on June 28, 1926, in Brownsville, Brooklyn , to Kate ( née Brookman) and Max Kaminsky, and grew up in Williamsburg . His father's family were Polish Jews from Danzig (Gdańsk, Poland); his mother was a Ukrainian Jewish immigrant from Kyiv , in

12360-433: The world and showing courage". Brooks has consistently expressed pride in his Jewish identity. In 2021, Brooks told NPR's Terry Gross : "I love being a Jew, I love Jewish humor..." On Jewish cinema, Brooks said, "They can be anything and anywhere ... if there's a tribal thing, like, the 'please God, protect us' feeling ... we don't know where and how it's gonna come out. Avatar was a Jewish movie ... these people on

12480-582: Was honorably discharged from the Army as a corporal . After the war, Brooks's mother had secured him a job as a clerk at the Brooklyn Navy Yard , but Brooks "got into a taxi and ordered the driver to take him to the Catskills", where he started working in various Borscht Belt resorts and nightclubs in the Catskill Mountains as a drummer and pianist. When a regular comic at one of the clubs

12600-483: Was 14 he gained employment as a pool-side tummler (entertainer) at the Butler Lodge, a second-rate Borscht Belt hotel, where he met 18-year-old Sid Caesar . Brooks kept his guests amused with his crazy antics. In a Playboy interview, he explained that one day he stood at the edge of a diving board wearing a derby and a large alpaca overcoat with two suitcases full of rocks, and then announced: "Business

12720-430: Was a fledgling comedy writer working for Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows , our head writer was Mel Tolkin... I really looked up to him. (By the way, I was 5-foot-7 and he was six feet tall.) He was a bona fide intellectual, thoroughly steeped in the traditions of great Russian literature. One day he handed me a book. He said to me, 'Mel, you're an animal from Brooklyn, but I think you have the beginnings of something called

12840-413: Was a parody of the original novel.) Brooks created the musical adaptation of his film The Producers on the Broadway in 2001. The production starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick received critical acclaim and was a significant box office success. The New York Times theatre critic Ben Brantley praised the production writing, "Mr. Brooks has taken what could have been overblown camp into

12960-460: Was another modest financial hit, earning $ 31 million. It received mixed critical reviews. Critic Pauline Kael , who for years had been critical of Brooks, said, "Either you get stuck thinking about the bad taste or you let yourself laugh at the obscenity in the humor as you do Buñuel 's perverse dirty jokes." Brooks produced and starred in (but did not write or direct) a remake of Ernst Lubitsch 's 1942 film To Be or Not to Be . His 1983 version

13080-483: Was conceived by Brooks and directed by Ernest Pintoff . Brooks supplied running commentary as the baffled moviegoer trying to make sense of the obscure visuals. It won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film . With comedy writer Buck Henry , Brooks created a TV comedy show titled Get Smart , about a bumbling James Bond –inspired spy. Brooks said, "I was sick of looking at all those nice sensible situation comedies. They were such distortions of life... I wanted to do

13200-411: Was directed by Alan Johnson and starred Brooks, Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning , Tim Matheson , Jose Ferrer and Christopher Lloyd . It generated international publicity by featuring a controversial song on its soundtrack—" To Be or Not to Be (The Hitler Rap) "—satirizing German society in the 1940s, with Brooks playing Hitler. The second movie Brooks directed in the 1980s was Spaceballs (1987),

13320-404: Was done by a specialist. Brooks has stated that when he heard Germans singing over loudspeakers, he responded by singing into a bullhorn , Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' Bye!) by American-Jewish singer Al Jolson . Brooks spent time in the stockade after taking an anti-Semitic heckler's helmet off and smashing him in the head with his mess kit. His unit constructed the first Bailey bridge over

13440-522: Was featured as a recurring cast member in the second season of Everybody Hates Chris . He hosted the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner . He was the artistic director of Reprise Theatre Company in Los Angeles from 2007 until it went defunct in 2013, where he previously directed Sunday in the Park with George , and directed its 2007 revival of Damn Yankees . In 2007, Alexander was

13560-416: Was going to be." On one of these occasions, Reiner's suggestion concerned a 2000-year-old man who had witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus Christ (who "came in the store but never bought anything"), had been married several hundred times and had "over forty-two thousand children, and not one comes to visit me". At first Brooks and Reiner only performed the routine for friends but, by the late 1950s, it gained

13680-486: Was later named The Academy of Magical Arts Parlor Magician of the Year for this act. He won the academy's Junior Achievement Award in 1989. Alexander was the national spokesman for the Scleroderma Foundation, a leading organization dedicated to raising awareness of the disease and assisting those who are afflicted. In summer 2005, he appeared with Lee Iacocca in ads for DaimlerChrysler . Iacocca did

13800-563: Was married to actress Anne Bancroft from 1964 until her death in 2005. Their son Max Brooks is an actor and author, known for his novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (2006). In 2021, Mel Brooks published his memoir titled All About Me! . Three of his films are included on the American Film Institute 's list of the top 100 comedy films of the past 100 years (1900–2000) , all of which were ranked in

13920-656: Was one of five recipients of the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. He was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 23, 2010, with a motion pictures star located at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard . American Masters produced a biography on Brooks which premiered May 20, 2013, on PBS . The AFI presented Brooks with its highest tribute,

14040-744: Was recruited to take the Army General Classification Test , a Stanford-Binet -type IQ test . He made high scores and was sent to the Army Specialized Training Program at the Virginia Military Institute to be taught electrical engineering , horse riding, and saber fighting. In 1944, Brooks was drafted into the Army. Twelve weeks later, when he turned 18, he officially joined the United States Army at

14160-546: Was simulcast throughout Canada at 60 Cineplex theaters, a first for any comedy festival. He has lent his voice to several episodes of the Twilight Zone Radio Dramas . In 2008 and again in 2009, Alexander fronted Jason Alexander's Comedy Spectacular , a routine exclusive to Australia. The show consists of stand-up and improvisation and incorporates Alexander's musical talent. He is backed up by several well-known Australian comedians. His first time performing

14280-484: Was so brazen in its satire that major studios would not touch it, nor would many exhibitors. Brooks finally found an independent distributor who released it as an art film, a specialized attraction. At the 41st Academy Awards , Brooks won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film over fellow writers Stanley Kubrick and John Cassavetes . The Producers became a smash underground hit, first on

14400-690: Was too sick to perform, Brooks started working as a stand-up comic, telling jokes and doing movie-star impressions. He also began acting in summer stock in Red Bank, New Jersey, and did some radio work. He eventually worked his way up to the comically aggressive job of tummler at Grossinger's , one of the Borscht Belt's most famous resorts. In the years after the war, Brooks's hero was comedian Sid Caesar. Back in New York, Brooks would slink around trying to catch Caesar in between meetings to pitch him joke ideas. Eventually Caesar cracked and paid Brooks

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