According to his 1975 Playboy interview, Mel's favorite candy is Raisinets.
At the opening of the Broadway version of "The Producers", he was asked by a reporter if he was nervous about the play's reception, since it cost $40 million to produce. Brooks joked, "If it flops, I'll take the other sixty million and fly to Rio." He didn't have to worry, since the play was both a critical and financial success.
Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy", by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 63-66. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985." Pages 162-167. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.
Called his late wife Anne Bancroft his Obi-Wan Kenobi since she encouraged him to turn his movie The Producers (1968) into a Broadway musical.
Children from his first marriage: Stefanie Brooks (born 1956), Nicky Brooks (born 1957) and Eddie Brooks (born 1959). Son, Max Brooks, with Anne Bancroft was born in 1972.
Godfather of Alan Yentob's children.
Grandson Henry Michael Brooks (Max's son) born April 2005.
Has cited his favorite films as Bicycle Thieves (1948) (aka The Bicycle Thief) and Grand Illusion (1937).
Has directed three of the American Film Institute's 100 Funniest Movies: Blazing Saddles (1974) at #6, The Producers (1968) at #11 and Young Frankenstein (1974) at #13.
Has directed two performers to Oscar nominations: Gene Wilder (for The Producers (1968)) and Madeline Kahn (for Blazing Saddles (1974)).
He and Anne Bancroft met on the set of a TV talk show, and Mel later paid a woman who worked on the show to tell him which restaurant Bancroft was going to eat at that night so he could "accidentally" bump into her again and strike up a conversation.
He and Bancroft married at New York's Municipal Building, where a passer-by served as their witness.
He attended film director Alfred Hitchcock's funeral.
He is a close friend of Italian TV star Ezio Greggio, whose movies he inspired. Brooks is often a guest in Greggio's shows, and Brooks offered Greggio a small part in his Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), due to this friendship.
He produced and wrote the music, lyrics, and book for the Broadway musical "The Producers" (2001), the musical version of his earlier movie The Producers (1968). The Broadway hit musical then lead to the musical movie The Producers (2005).
He, Anne Bancroft and their son Max Brooks have all won Emmys.
His father died when Mel was age 2 and his impoverished childhood has been called 'Dickensian'.
His favorite song is "Yankee Doodle Dandy" by George M. Cohan.
His film The Producers (1968) was the inspiration for the title of U2's album "Achtung Baby".