Mel Brooks, Mel Brooks during World War II, and Mel Brooks with Gene Wilder
The National Comedy Center will become home to Mel Brooks’ career archives.
The archive comprises nearly 150,000 creative and production documents; and more than 5,000 photographs. It offers an unparalleled record of Brooks’ creative life and the development of works that transformed American comedy and culture, including Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, The Producers, Silent Movie, History of the World, Part I, and Spaceballs. Also included is extensive materials from every feature film Brooks directed across his multifaceted career as a writer, performer, filmmaker and producer.
Spanning more than six decades, the archive begins with Brooks’ earliest handwritten comedic notes created during his service in the U.S. Army during World War II. It then moves through rare materials from his years writing for the legendary Sid Caesar on television series like Your Show of Shows, offering a vivid look into the formative creative environment that helped shape his voice. These early pages reveal the foundations of Brooks’ instinct for structure, rhythm and irreverence – instincts that would later define his revolutionary approach to satire and parody.
Brooks said, “I’ve always been proud to say that I make people laugh for a living. So, knowing that my work will have a home at comedy’s national archive and continue making people laugh leaves me with a deep sense of pride. I’m honored that my contributions will be preserved for future generations at the National Comedy Center – especially because it’s a place that was meaningful to my best friend Carl Reiner, who believed in the importance of preserving comedy’s history. I know he’d be happy that our work will be around for the next 2,000 years, or maybe even more.”
Among the collection’s most exceptional elements are rare and historically significant items from Brooks’ classic films, including his World War II–era comedy notebook; the original handwritten lyrics to the song “Springtime for Hitler” from The Producers; extensive storyboards and visual development materials from Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie and other films; and a remarkable assembly of never-before- or rarely-seen behind-the-scenes photographs capturing Brooks directing, rehearsing and collaborating throughout his career.
The National Comedy Center’s Carl Reiner Department of Archives & Preservation was named in honor of founding advisory board member Carl Reiner, whose own comprehensive career archives were added to the Center’s permanent collection in 2021.
The material from the Mel Brooks collection will be cataloged and curated before ultimately being displayed within the National Comedy Center exhibits.
For more information, visit comedycenter.org
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