Welcome back to my blog. Here’s my recommendation of a movie to check out today and hope you punch your “Ticket to the Movies!” OK, today is June 28, 2026, and that makes it director Mel Brooks’ 100th birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mr. Brooks, who is responsible for generating so many laughs through so many movies during my cinematic formative years.
However, his ultimate showcase flick is the stunningly funny “Blazing Saddles” that is a social commentary mocking racism, but with one of cinema’s first scenes with audible flatulence (it is possible the first-ever, but I’m not gonna make that call); a whole shovel-full of racially charged dialogue and even a scene with a Brooks playing a Native American who speaks Yiddish with a Jewish accent; and the (fake) punching of a horse.
Brooks, whose birth name is Melvin James Kaminsky, was born in Brooklyn and he’s had two wives with the terrifically gifted Anne “The Graduate” Bancroft for 40 years from Aug. 5, 1964, until her death on June 6, 2005, and first to Florence Baum from Nov. 26, 1953, until their divorce on Jan. 20, 1962. Brooks and Bancroft had one child and he had three with Baum.
As for awards, Brooks is a two-time Oscar winner and three-time nominee as well as a four-time Golden Globe nominee. He is also a four-time Primetime Emmy winner and 10-time nominee; and is a three-time winner of Grammy awards and a nine-time nominee. Whew! A wonderful CV spanning both the big-screen as well as music (he, along with John Morris, earned an Oscar nomination for BS’ theme song). Click here to see a list of specifics about all of Brooks’ awards and nominations …
Brooks directed just 11 films (he has 69 acting credits including voicing characters in animated features) and the core is comprised of three from “The Producers” in 1967 to “Blazing Saddles” in 1974 and “Young Frankenstein” also in 1974. He would also do “Silent Movie,” “High Anxiety” and “History of the World: Part I.” His final effort as a director was for “Dracula: Dead and Loving It” in 1995. Wow, Mel hasn’t sat in the director’s chair for more than 30 years!
I’ll stop here because I’m not able to do a proper biography of Mr. Brooks. Suffice to write today: HAPPY 100th!
So, I say punch your “Ticket to the Movies!” and watch “Blazing Saddles” on this, Brooks’ 100th birthday. “Blazing Saddles” can be rented on a variety of streaming services. I have no doubt that you’ll thank me later when you watch “Blazing Saddles” today!
- CLICK to read … my review of “Blazing Saddles”
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