Like his incredible, decades-long Hollywood career, Mel Brooks has also had the time of his life being the loving father to his four kids. The American filmmaker, who is best known for The Producers, The Twelve Chairs and Blazing Saddles, passed his show business talent onto his children.
The Hollywood icon married Florence Baum in 1953. The former couple welcomed three kids together — Stephanie Brooks, Nicky Brooks and Eddie Brooks. Sadly, their union ended in divorce in 1962. Just two years later, Mel found love again with Anne Bancroft. They married in 1964 and had just one child together, Max Brooks, in 1972.
Since first becoming a dad so many years ago, Mel is still moving and grooving — despite the loss of his beloved. In 2005, his second wife tragically died of uterine cancer at the age of 73.
At the time, the Young Frankenstein star “was deeply wounded — he couldn’t get out of bed,” Patrick McGillgan, author of the biography Mel Brooks: Funny Man, told Closer. “But he slowly bounced back.” Now, Mel is “like the Energizer Bunny — he keeps going and going.”
The G.I. Jane actress was her husband’s biggest supporter and gave him some valuable advice that he has continued to live by.
“She always said, ‘Follow your heart. It will be a good adventure. What an adventure life turned out to be!” he told People in November 2021.
The EGOT winner leaned on his children during his time of grief after his wife’s passing. They have even been the inspiration behind some of his greatest works. In 2021, Mel authored his memoir, All About Me!, to give fans a deeper look at his biggest projects and his marriage to Anne. He has his son Max to thank for giving him the nudge to take his pen to the paper at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He said, ‘What are you going to do, dad, just sit around and wait for the pandemic to be over? Write a memoir!’” the legendary performer recalled in a December 2021 interview with The Orange County Register.
In addition to his role as a father, Mel also became a grandfather. In a September 2015 interview with USA Today, the film director revealed that he likes being called “Grandpa.”
“I insisted right away that I be called that,” he shared. “People don’t like to admit becoming grandparents. They want to be called Pappy, Pap, or Nick. Nothing with ‘grand’ in it. But I’m old-fashioned. I like it, I earned it and it’s my title.”
Keep scrolling to meet Mel’s four children.
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