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, Tony, 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celebrated shows and films, and a telling look at the four-decade romantic partnership with actress Anne Bancroft that superseded Brooks’ troubled first marriage.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.

The funny man is a middling comic in an unnamed city. By day he takes care of his infant son, by night he performs in small clubs. His wife waits tables to support the family. It doesn't sound like much, but they're happy (more or less) - until the day he comes up with his magic gimmick. And what is it? He performs his set with his fist in his mouth. Jokes, impressions, commercials - all take place with his fist wrist-deep in his mouth. People are crazy for him, but he's tired of it. This brilliant debut documents one man's slide from everyman to monster.

“Her complexion was as though she had been immersed in a mixture of one part whisky and three parts white wine. (Would she have tasted like the cocktail as well? I don’t know, sir.) Her eyes, nose, lips and ears had all had their own pretty little stories to tell. Together, the sum total told a gargantuan story. Her hair was darker than the road under her feet and was oozing out of her cap like a cascade of crude oil. Her figure was like that of a balloon that was on a diet, if balloons dieted at all, and then tied in the middle with a string.” “Aren’t you a little too young to be acting funny with me?” What?? I saw that the silly girl had got it all wrong. The situation needed correction on an emergency basis. I immediately started nodding my head to convey to her that I indeed was younger than her but realised that the second part of the question about acting funny needed shaking of the head. So, I stopped the nodding halfway through and took up the shaking. This was a cross between nothing and nothing. I ended up making a complete fool of myself. The girl was getting impatient and had no time for my antics.” “To sit in the beautiful garden with a glass of chilled beer whenever a drizzle the size and sharpness of pine needles came down from the sky to ever-so-lightly caress us to the accompaniment of mournful songs from the HMV record player that was in the barracks was heaven on the Earth. Lord, did we savour the moments so very thoroughly! Nostalgia threatens to drown me as I relive those days sitting in my upright chair at home now”

The fourth estate.

Many times, I have been told that I should write a book about my life because I was different, unique, or profound. I had the highest grades in grade school and high school, and I drove myself to the first grade in the family car at six years old. My mother and father had a relationship that was not harmonious, as did the mothers and fathers of my friends. That set my objective to earn a PhD in relationship psychology.When World War II started, I also wanted to serve my country. A Unique Man's Journey through Life is the story of how I accomplished all that in spite of not having enough money and having medical problems. When I was told that was impossible, I did not listen, and I never had any doubt. I thought if I doubt myself, how could I get anyone else to believe me? I also helped many other people solve their problems to achieve what they wanted. I found the appreciation they had, and their thanks certainly were some of the greatest joys in my life. As my dad would say, "I appreciate their appreciation."