Mel Brooks opens up about grieving Anne Bancroft in '99 Year Old Man!' Bryan Alexander, USA TODAYJanuary 22, 2026 at 5:30 AM 0 Putting Mel Brooks in front of a camera guarantees some version of his signature screwball brilliance. That manic, mischievous comedic genius is on full display in archival moments throughout HBO's "Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!" However, the twopart documentary (premiering Jan. 22 and 23, 8 p.m. ET/PT) looks behind the perpetually smiling mask of the comedy legend, who turns 100 on June 28.
- - Mel Brooks opens up about grieving Anne Bancroft in '99 Year Old Man!'
Bryan Alexander, USA TODAYJanuary 22, 2026 at 5:30 AM
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Putting Mel Brooks in front of a camera guarantees some version of his signature screwball brilliance. That manic, mischievous comedic genius is on full display in archival moments throughout HBO's "Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!"
However, the two-part documentary (premiering Jan. 22 and 23, 8 p.m. ET/PT) looks behind the perpetually smiling mask of the comedy legend, who turns 100 on June 28. Directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio, the in-depth examination shows the power of Brooks' big life loves − his wife Anne Bancroft and best friend Carl Reiner.
And the pain in losing them.
"Mel is someone who always been hilarious everywhere, but we haven't seen him really talk about his life, his feelings and what this journey's been like," says Apatow, who interviewed Brooks over five days at the icon's Los Angeles home. "The challenge was to get somebody that hides behind his schtick to drop it. And Mel was ready to open up."
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Judd Apatow (right) with Mel Brooks in "The 99 Year Old Man!" During 10 hours of interviews with Brooks, Apatow was able to show the legend behind the mask.
Brooks speaks colorfully and candidly, starting with his impoverished Brooklyn childhood, raised with three brothers by his mother after his father died of tuberculosis. Despite the hardships, the loving childhood environment propels young Melvin Kaminsky to break out into show business, change his name, and seek global adoration.
"Mel received so much love as a kid that he didn't want it to stop, he tried to make it continue on a worldwide level," says Bonfiglio. "And with Mel Brooks, love of humanity comes through his works. That's part of who he is."
The documentary covers Brooks' triumphs as the wonderkid writer on Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows," his 1974 movie breakouts "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein," and his theatrical rebirth with the 2001 Broadway production of "The Producers."
But it's most moving discussing Brooks' enduring partnership with Reiner, who died in 2020 at 98, and his nearly 41-year marriage to Bancroft, who died in 2005 at 73.
Actress Anne Bancroft with husband Mel Brooks in "The 99 Year Old Man!"Mel Brooks on wife Anne Bancroft: 'She gets me'
The love story between the mischievous, short-statured Brooks and the glamorous Bancroft is especially touching. Bancroft supported Brooks when the comedy writer was struggling, before his movie success. The actress was the household breadwinner, slipping money under the table to her husband so that he could still pay for dinner. The couple raised a son, Max (Brooks also has three children from his first marriage), and starred in movies such as 1983's "To Be or Not to Be."
On camera, Brooks allows himself to go uncharacteristically deep when Apatow says of their pairing, "She got you."
"Exactly, she got me," Brooks responds, closing his eyes. "She gets me."
Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft arrive for the screening of his film "Life Stinks" during Cannes on May 15, 1991.
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Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft arrive for the screening of his film "Life Stinks" during Cannes on May 15, 1991.
">Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft arrive for the screening of his film "Life Stinks" during Cannes on May 15, 1991.
" src=https://ift.tt/ODXNsZg class=caas-img>Anne Bancroft, one of the stars of "Great Expectations," poses with husband Mel Brooks at the film's premiere.
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Anne Bancroft, one of the stars of "Great Expectations," poses with husband Mel Brooks at the film's premiere.
">Anne Bancroft, one of the stars of "Great Expectations," poses with husband Mel Brooks at the film's premiere.
" src=https://ift.tt/pE7bVNz class=caas-img>Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks pose for photographers at Time magazine's 75th anniversary party in New York City's Radio City Music Hall on March 3, 1998.
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Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks pose for photographers at Time magazine's 75th anniversary party in New York City's Radio City Music Hall on March 3, 1998.
">Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks pose for photographers at Time magazine's 75th anniversary party in New York City's Radio City Music Hall on March 3, 1998.
" src=https://ift.tt/vFI9gMU class=caas-img>Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft arrive at the 55th annual Tony Awards on June 3, 2001, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
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Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft arrive at the 55th annual Tony Awards on June 3, 2001, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
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" src=https://ift.tt/45WB3Yo class=caas-img>Mel Brooks hams it up as he arrives with Anne Bancroft for opening night of his musical "The Producers" on May 29, 2003, in Hollywood.
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Mel Brooks hams it up as he arrives with Anne Bancroft for opening night of his musical "The Producers" on May 29, 2003, in Hollywood.
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" src=https://ift.tt/sjn8UiP class=caas-img>Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks attend the opening night party for "Squeeze Box" on July 27, 2004, at West Bank Cafe in New York City.
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Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks attend the opening night party for "Squeeze Box" on July 27, 2004, at West Bank Cafe in New York City.
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1 / 6Relive Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft's lasting love story
Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft arrive for the screening of his film "Life Stinks" during Cannes on May 15, 1991.
When asked what he misses about Bancroft, Brooks waxes reverently and spontaneously.
"Too many things. Things that nobody in the world would understand," Brooks says. "When faced with an unhappy moment, the look on her face. When making up her mind to go somewhere, how fast she turned and moved. It's hard to explain, there are some things that stay with you forever."
Even two decades after Bancroft's death, Brooks was "instantly overcome with grief," says Apatow. "It was so poetic and heartbreaking. He loves her so much. And it's like there's no words he could tell us that would make us understand."
The relationship stands as one of the most of Hollywood's most hallowed.
"How many marriages last 41 years, especially where the two are so deeply and madly in love with each other?" says Bonfiglio. "It's inspiring and beautiful."
Carl Reiner was Mel Brooks' 'best friend in the world'
Mel Brooks puts his arm around Carl Reiner in a candid photo from HBO's "The 99 Year Old Man!"
"The 99 Year Old Man!" dives into the decades-long bromance between Brooks and Reiner, who Brooks calls "my best friend in the world." After meeting the star and fellow writer on "Your Show of Shows," Brooks had his first acting success in the duo's famed comedy routine "The 2000 Year Old Man," which was made into a series of records.
"It started off as this funny thing they did at parties, and one day (TV personality) Steve Allen said, 'You should make an album out of this,' " Apatow says. "And this made Mel Brooks a star. No one knew this Hollywood writer before that album."
Filmmaker Rob Reiner makes a powerful posthumous appearance in the documentary, with an interview framing the relationship between Brooks and his father, Carl.
"My father was like a second banana. He never felt like he needed to be the star," Rob Reiner says in the documentary. "He would push Mel into a corner that would make Mel explode with creativity and humor."
There was no jealousy in the perfect comedy pairing. Brooks, who lost his dad when he was 2, saw the kindly Reiner as a father figure, even though he was only four years older than Brooks.
"Off camera, Mel talked about Carl, too," Apatow says. "Mel told me that Carl was so nice, 'He was as funny as me, yet he played the straight man. And he let me get all the laughs. How amazing of a guy is that?' "
In their later years, the two widowers (Reiner's wife, Estelle, died in 2008) would spend every evening together at Reiner's home, watching television and dining off TV trays.
Brooks painfully discusses discovering Reiner collapsed in his home in June 2020.
"I was surprised he went into such detail. We were talking about Carl and their deep friendship and then (Brooks) just went into the story of the moment that Carl passed," says Apatow. "So much of this documentary is about these two love affairs in Mel Brooks' life − Carl and Anne."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mel Brooks HBO doc deals with losing Anne Bancroft, Carl Reiner
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Source: Entertainment
Published: January 22, 2026 at 12:45PM on Source: ANDY MAG
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