The jelly jar was for tea, and yahrzeit glasses were for coffee.”īrooks’ father died when Mel was just two years old, leaving his mother with four young boys. “It’s like a big deal, second only to the Oscars,” he said of the AFI honor before quickly moving on to discuss his remembrances of things past: his mother and her friends drinking coffee from yahrzeit glasses “because coffee was always in a yahrzeit glass, never in a cup - ever. Still, his conversation with the Forward seemed less an opportunity to promote than to reminisce. Less than three weeks later, on June 6, the American Film Institute will honor Brooks with its Lifetime Achievement Award. On May 20, the Public Broadcasting Service will premiere “Mel Brooks: Make a Noise,” an extraordinary American Masters special that traces his remarkable career. But despite the accolades, the fame and the riches, he still seems to be that little boy from Brooklyn, just as curious about you as you are about him. “You got all the letters right,” he said, and laughed when I ask for extra credit for getting them in the proper order: “That’s funny.”īrooks, 86, is one of only 11 people to have won the grand slam of show business - an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. Then he wondered aloud how I spell my name, and he graded my response. Mel Brooks talks to Conan O'Brien about his Jewish rootsġ987: Comedian dies onstage, audience doesn't get it Ironically, it was Mel Brooks who asked the first question: “So, how long have you been working for the Jewish Daily Forward?”įrom Haifa suburb street punk to IDF combat soldier to modern dancer ![]()
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