SAVED: It was Mel Brooks’ 8-year-old grandson, the comic says, who brought him back from the loss of his wife, Anne Bancroft, eight years ago. (
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Not all Mel Brooks’ stories are funny.
The 86-year-old grand old man of movie comedy recalls being trapped in “an emotional pit” for more than a year after the death of his wife, Oscar-winner Anne Bancroft, in 2005.
“It took a lot out of me,” he says. “I couldn’t move.”
The legendary writer and producer of movies like “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein” (and co-creator of the TV series “Get Smart”) was married to the actress for 41 years before she died of uterine cancer eight years ago.
That kind of thing is not supposed to happen. The wife doesn’t go first, Brooks will tell you.
“I think what got me out of my depression were my grandchildren,” Henry Michael and Samantha, Brooks says.
“I am lucky. They like me.”
So do generations of comedy fans.
Brooks, born and raised in Brooklyn, is one of the rare entertainers to earn an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award.
His career — which spans more than six decades — gets the retrospective treatment on the “American Masters,” premiering next month on PBS.
“Now when my grandchildren have grandchildren, they can watch it and say, ‘Your great-great grandfather was really good looking,’” he says.
“Hopefully they will only be a little ashamed and very proud.”
Brooks is still not comfortable with his single life.
“I’m not really interested in dating,” he admits. “I haven’t run into anybody that has taken my fancy.”
His most important relationship, outside of family, is with best friend Carl Reiner, with whom he has done a stand-up comedy act, “The 2,000-Year-Old Man,” for more than half a century.
The pair meet up for dinner several times a week, Brooks says.
“He’s lost his wife. I lost my wife. So we are together. We are pals.”
Brooks spends time at the race track — eating scrambled eggs and betting on horses — or relaxing at home with an episode of “Girls,” his new favorite show, he says.
And he hasn’t given up on getting back to work.
“I wouldn’t mind writing and directing another movie,” he says. “I think I have another movie in me.” The most obvious choice, he says: “Mel Brooks’ History of The World: Part 2.”
“It is a natural. I know I would get a crowd for the first weekend. I would probably get very bad reviews. But I can handle that now.”