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Mel Brooks b. 1926

From the early TV sitcom Get Smart to the smash Broadway farce The Producers, the director and screenwriter Mel Brooks has provided some of the most laugh-inducing moments in American entertainment history. Born Melvin Kaminsky in Brooklyn, New York, Brooks is among the small number of artists who have won Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy Awards during his long career. The American Film Institute ranked three of his films-Blazing Saddles, The Producers, and Young Frankenstein-among the top twenty comedies of all time.