Mel Brooks Donates Historic Career Archives to the National Comedy Center

Ahead of his 100th birthday next month, Mel Brooks, the Tony-winning comedy writer and performer behind The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein, has placed his career archives at the National Comedy Center, the United States’ museum and national archive dedicated to comedy.

The archive offers an extensive record of Brooks’ creative life and the development of his works, including Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, The Producers, Silent Movie, History of the World, Part I, and Spaceballs. Also included are materials from every feature film Brooks directed across his career as a writer, performer, filmmaker and producer. The collection totals nearly 150,000 creative and production documents and over 5,000 photographs, many never-before-seen.

“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,” said Brooks in a statement.

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, before moving through his years as a television writer. As the collection progresses into Brooks’ film career, many documents chronicle his artistic evolution, including drafts, revisions, production documents, notes and visual materials.

Collection highlights include 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 an assembly of rare behind-the-scenes photographs of Brooks.

The material from the Mel Brooks collection will be catalogued and curated before ultimately being displayed within the National Comedy Center exhibits in Lucille Ball’s hometown of Jamestown, NY.

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. 

Mel Brooks is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, songwriter, and playwright. With a career spanning seven decades, Brooks has reached the rare accomplishment of winning an Emmy, GRAMMY, Tony Award, and Academy Award®. In addition, he has received a Kennedy Center Honor, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, AFI Life Achievement Award, and an Academy Honorary Award® in 2024. His film and TV work span decades, including “The Twelve Chairs,’ “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Silent Movie,” “History of the World Part 1,” “To Be or Not to Be,” “High Anxiety,” “Spaceballs,” “Mad About You,” “Get Smart,” and much more. He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller “All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of HBO