We see that javascript is disabled or not supported by your browser - javascript is needed for important actions on the site. Read more

What's New - Home - Login

Member $avings: $81,544,558.98 | Books Available: 800,059 | Members Online: 239

Swap Used Books - Buy New Books at Great Prices!

How To Swap Books Sign Up Search submenu

PBS Market (New Books)

Gift Buying Guide

Book Browser Advanced Search Books Posted Today Member Book Reviews Award Winning Books NYT Best Sellers Amazon Best Sellers Most Traveled Copies Club Wish List

Discussion Forums Book Lists

Club Lists My Book Lists My Watched Lists Create a List

Blog Donations

School Donation Program In Memory of... Military Donation Program Friends of PBS

Box-O-Books Maps The Eclectic Pen Fun Stuff

20 Questions Sudoku Bookmark Creator

Top 100

Requests Posts Swappers Referrers Reviewers

Pulse of PBS Spread The Word

Invite Friends Bookmarks Facebook Page Facebook App More Ways...

Photo Gallery Recipes Club Tag Cloud Member Testimonials

Help Center submenu

How To Swap Books Browse Help Docs Ask the Librarian PBS Member Icons Live Help

Kiosk

PBS Market (New Books) Go Shopping Buy Credits Buy PBS Money Upgrade Membership Gift Certificates Transfer Credits

Need Help?

Search - Funny Man: Mel Brooks

Funny Man Mel Brooks
Author: Patrick McGilligan

A deeply textured and compelling biography of comedy giant Mel Brooks, covering his rags-to-riches life and triumphant career in television, films, and theater, from Patrick McGilligan, the acclaimed author of Young Orson: The Years of Luck and Genius on the Path to Citizen Kane and Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light. — Oscar, Emmy, T... more »ony, and Grammy award?winner Mel Brooks was behind (and sometimes in front the camera too) of some of the most influential comedy hits of our time, including The 2,000 Year Old Man, Get Smart, The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein. But before this actor, writer, director, comedian, and composer entertained the world, his first audience was his family.The fourth and last child of Max and Kitty Kaminsky, Mel Brooks was born on his family?s kitchen table in Brooklyn, New York, in 1926, and was not quite three-years-old when his father died of tuberculosis. Growing up in a household too poor to own a radio, Mel was short and homely, a mischievous child whose birth role was to make the family laugh. Beyond boyhood, after transforming himself into Mel Brooks, the laughs that came easily inside the Kaminsky family proved more elusive. His lifelong crusade to transform himself into a brand name of popular humor is at the center of master biographer Patrick McGilligan?s Funny Man. In this exhaustively researched and wonderfully novelistic look at Brooks? personal and professional life, McGilligan lays bare the strengths and drawbacks that shaped Brooks? psychology, his willpower, his persona, and his comedy. McGilligan insightfully navigates the epic ride that has been the famous funnyman?s life story, from Brooks?s childhood in Williamsburg tenements and breakthrough in early television?working alongside Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner?to Hollywood and Broadway peaks (and valleys). His book offers a meditation on the Jewish immigrant culture that influenced Brooks, snapshots of the golden age of comedy, behind the scenes revelations about the celebrated shows and films, and a telling look at the four-decade romantic partnership with actress Anne Bancroft that superseded Brooks? troubled first marriage. Engrossing, nuanced and ultimately poignant, Funny Man delivers a great man?s unforgettable life story and an anatomy of the American dream of success.Funny Man includes a 16-page black-and-white photo insert.

ISBN-13: 9780062560995
ISBN-10: 0062560999
Publication Date: 3/19/2019
Pages: 640
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Harper
Book Type: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 4
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Genres:

Arts & Photography >> Performing Arts
Biographies & Memoirs >> Arts & Literature >> Actors & Entertainers
Biographies & Memoirs >> Leaders & Notable People >> Rich & Famous
Humor & Entertainment >> Movies >> Genre Films >> Comedy

Back to the Top ↑

Search - Funny Man: Mel Brooks

Loading...