Funny Man
Mel Brooks
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Hoye
About this listen
A deeply textured and compelling biography of comedy giant Mel Brooks, covering his rags-to-riches life and triumphant career in television, films, and theater, from Patrick McGilligan, the acclaimed author of Young Orson: The Years of Luck and Genius on the Path to Citizen Kane and Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light.
Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy award-winner Mel Brooks was behind (and sometimes in front of the camera, too) some of the most influential comedy hits of our time, including The 2,000 Year Old Man, Get Smart, The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein. But before this actor, writer, director, comedian, and composer entertained the world, his first audience was his family.
The fourth and last child of Max and Kitty Kaminsky, Mel Brooks was born on his family’s kitchen table in Brooklyn, New York, in 1926, and was not quite three years old when his father died of tuberculosis. Growing up in a household too poor to own a radio, Mel was short and homely, a mischievous child whose birth role was to make the family laugh.
Beyond boyhood, after transforming himself into Mel Brooks, the laughs that came easily inside the Kaminsky family proved more elusive. His lifelong crusade to transform himself into a brand name of popular humor is at the center of master biographer Patrick McGilligan’s Funny Man. In this exhaustively researched and wonderfully novelistic look at Brooks’ personal and professional life, McGilligan lays bare the strengths and drawbacks that shaped Brooks’ psychology, his willpower, his persona, and his comedy.
McGilligan insightfully navigates the epic ride that has been the famous funnyman’s life story, from Brooks’s childhood in Williamsburg tenements and breakthrough in early television - working alongside Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner - to Hollywood and Broadway peaks (and valleys). His audiobook offers a meditation on the Jewish immigrant culture that influenced Brooks, snapshots of the golden age of comedy, behind-the-scenes revelations about the celebrated shows and films, and a telling look at the four-decade romantic partnership with actress Anne Bancroft that superseded Brooks’ troubled first marriage.
Engrossing, nuanced, and ultimately poignant, Funny Man delivers a great man’s unforgettable life story and an anatomy of the American dream of success.
©2019 Patrick McGilligan (P)2019 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Fabulous book about Rodgers & Hammerstein!!!
- By BigWally on 06-27-18
By: Todd S. Purdum
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Steve McQueen
- A Biography
- By: Marc Eliot
- Narrated by: Marc Eliot
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and '70s with now-classics such as The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Bullit, Steve McQueen is renowned as one of the most exciting actors ever to come out of Hollywood. Now, in Steve McQueen: A Biography, best-selling author Marc Eliot gives unique insight into McQueen's life, from his films to his three marriages, many affairs, and struggles with addictions.
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Snooze
- By Cill on 10-27-11
By: Marc Eliot
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Street Gang
- The Complete History of Sesame Street
- By: Michael Davis
- Narrated by: Caroll Spinney
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Abridged
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When the first episode aired on Nov. 10, 1969, Sesame Street revolutionized the way education was presented to children on television. It has since become the longest-running children's show in history, and today reaches 8 million pre-schoolers on 350 PBS stations and airs in 120 countries. Street Gang is the compelling and often comical story of the creation and history of this media masterpiece and pop culture landmark.
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An important subject, but hardly gripping
- By Scott T. Hards on 09-24-10
By: Michael Davis
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The Comedians
- Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels and the History of American Comedy
- By: Kliph Nesteroff
- Narrated by: Kliph Nesteroff
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Comedians, comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff brings to life a century of American comedy with real-life characters, forgotten stars, mainstream heroes and counterculture iconoclasts. Based on over 200 original interviews and extensive archival research, Nesteroff's groundbreaking work is a narrative exploration of the way comedians have reflected, shaped, and changed American culture over the past 100 years.
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Performance issues
- By E. A. Smith on 09-02-19
By: Kliph Nesteroff
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Caddyshack
- The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story
- By: Chris Nashawaty
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Caddyshack is one of the most beloved comedies of all time, a classic snobs vs. slobs story of working-class kids and the white-collar buffoons that make them haul their golf bags in the hot summer sun. It has sex, drugs, and one very memorable candy bar, but the movie we all know and love didn't start out that way, and everyone who made it certainly didn't have the word classic in mind as the cameras were rolling.
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Not Really About Caddyshack Until Hour 5
- By William M. on 07-01-18
By: Chris Nashawaty
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Seven Dirty Words
- The Life and Crimes of George Carlin
- By: James Sullivan
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In Seven Dirty Words, journalist and cultural critic James Sullivan tells the story of Alternative America from the 1950s to the present, from the singular vantage point of George Carlin, the Catholic boy for whom nothing was sacred.
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Carlin's CV with no Depth or Insight
- By Dubi on 01-23-14
By: James Sullivan
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Orson Welles's Last Movie
- The Making of The Other Side of the Wind
- By: Josh Karp
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In the summer of 1970, legendary but self-destructive director Orson Welles returned to Hollywood from years of self-imposed exile in Europe and decided it was time to make a comeback movie. It was about a legendary self-destructive director who returns to Hollywood from years of self-imposed exile in Europe. Welles swore it wasn't autobiographical.
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Engaging and human portrait of Welles
- By TrevorTrujillo on 06-20-20
By: Josh Karp
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Best. Movie. Year. Ever.
- How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen
- By: Brian Raftery
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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From a veteran culture writer and modern movie expert, a celebration and analysis of the movies of 1999 - arguably the most groundbreaking year in American cinematic history.
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Like talking about movies with a friend
- By Shawn Inmon on 05-30-19
By: Brian Raftery
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Razzle Dazzle
- The Battle for Broadway
- By: Michael Riedel
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Razzle Dazzle is a provocative, no-holds-barred narrative account of the people, money, and power that reinvented an iconic quarter of New York City, turning its gritty back alleys and sex shops into the glitzy, dazzling Great White Way - and bringing a crippled New York from the brink of bankruptcy to its glittering glory.
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Too long and boring in spite of a vibrant subject
- By harry rohme on 03-04-18
By: Michael Riedel
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Without Lying Down
- By: Cari Beauchamp
- Narrated by: Holly Palance
- Length: 20 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Cari Beauchamp masterfully combines biography with social and cultural history to examine the lives of Frances Marion and her many female colleagues who shaped filmmaking from the early teens through the 1940s. Frances Marion was Hollywood's highest paid screenwriter - male or female - for almost three decades, wrote almost 200 produced films and remains the only woman to win two Academy Awards for original screenwriting (The Big House and The Champ).
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A Must Read
- By Robert Wallace on 03-19-19
By: Cari Beauchamp
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You Might Remember Me
- The Life and Times of Phil Hartman
- By: Mike Thomas
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Both joyous tribute and serious biography, Mike Thomas' You Might Remember Me is a celebration of Phil Hartman's multi-faceted career and an exhaustively reported, warts-and-all examination of his often intriguing and sometimes complicated life - a powerful, humor-filled and disquieting portrait of a man who was loved by many, admired by millions and taken from them far too early.
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I Will Remember You Phil Hartman
- By Roxanna on 12-19-14
By: Mike Thomas
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Dangerously Funny
- The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'
- By: David Bianculli
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Decades before The Daily Show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour proved there was a place on television for no-holds-barred political comedy with a decidedly antiauthoritarian point of view. In this explosive, revealing history of the show, veteran entertainment journalist David Bianculli tells the fascinating story of its three-year network run---and the cultural impact that's still being felt today.
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Poor narration
- By Jane on 01-20-11
By: David Bianculli
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The Speed of Sound
- Hollywood and the Talkie Revolution 1926 - 1930
- By: Scott Eyman
- Narrated by: Adams Morgan
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In this mixture of cultural and social history that is both scholarly and vastly entertaining, Eyman dispels the myths and gives us the missing chapter in the history of Hollywood, the ribbon of dreams by which America conquered the world.
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Better than nothing!
- By Colin Barton on 08-31-11
By: Scott Eyman
What listeners say about Funny Man
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jeremy Lynn Hagman
- 09-10-21
Great life story
Loved it. It was a great and illuminating tale of one of my favorite artists.
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- Dave Michaels
- 08-16-19
Rushed and opinionated
I appreciate the honesty of this biography. Mel Brooks is an extremely funny man, but he does have a large ego and he treats business as business. The early part of his career felt very in-depth. The second act of his life and career felt rushed and it felt like a rinse and repeat for each movie or project he was involved with. The author is very honest and I like that, but I don't like how he throws in his own opinions. He tends to make sure to touch upon the bad parts of Mel Brooks after a triumph to remind us that Mel is a flawed person, but he seems to do that at odd times, almost like he never wants to give the subject a win.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 04-20-19
Warts and all story of a comic legend.
No holds barred coverage of a legendary writer and performer. Well researched and detailed telling of a fascinating life story. Plenty of behind the scenes stories to whet any fan's interest.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Gwendolyn L. Gerardi
- 06-21-23
Mel Brooks :Funny Man
This book was well written, and illumonated much about Mr. Brooks’ personality which is not common knowledge to even his most ardent fans. I enjoyed the book very much,
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- Robert
- 04-18-19
Narrator is distractingly awful
He reads every sentence as it if were a standalone item -- no context or consideration for what came before it or after it. Very, very odd.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Arthur Glauberman
- 04-27-19
Fascinating Biography of Mel Brooks
Funny Man is a brutal biography of Mel Brooks. While the author, Patrick McGilligan demonstrates Brooks’s genius as a gifted writer, comedian, song writer and producer, McGilligan also unveils how Mel Brooks used people, abused and cheated on his first wife and refused to support her and their three children. I found the narrative a little too brutal but I also felt that the author felt He needed to unmask who the “ real Mel Brooks is”! I think the book is worth reading.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-01-19
Great story but no love letter.
No hold bared."I didn't get a harumph out of that guy" "WATCH YOUR ASS!" .. love you no matter what Mel!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Ruth Gillis
- 06-03-21
Dud!
Big disappointment about the actual story! Well spoken though! Never knew Mel was so insecure.
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- Michael Grant White
- 03-31-23
Not recommended.
Too much negativity around a very funny man. More like a tabloid than a biography.
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- Owen
- 12-20-19
Mel Minus Joy
While in theory bound by the facts of an individual's life, a biographer enjoys discretion in how or even whether these facts are presented. The choices of which facts to emphasize and the context in which to present them can skew perception of the subject or even strongarm the audience into conforming with the author's perception, In this way an author can tacitly turn a biography into an op-ed.
In "Funny Man," a title I guess used ironically in reference to the man himself, the listener is force fed like foie gras the many flaws of Mel Brooks. Infidelity! Deceit! Litigation! Oh My! We stew in it ad nauseam, and it bastes our vision. Brooks' professional triumphs and cultural legacy are soured and minimized by the constant focus on his awfulness.
It's Mel minus joy, and objective it ain't. It's hard to escape the feeling that the author just doesn't really care for Mel Brooks. As a big fan of his work, I can stomach the truth of his disputes and foibles, but not at the expense of diving into what his work means to people and how much happiness he has brought into the world. I wasn't hoping for a hagiography, but I also wasn't hoping for the National Enquirer.
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9 people found this helpful