Mel Brooks Almost Made it to 100 Without Publicly Defending Woody Allen

It’s hard not to love Mel Brooks, considering that he gave us classic movies like The Producers, Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs. And with the possible exception of the time he accused Monty Python of stealing a sketch idea that they came up with more than a decade earlier he did, the comedy legend seems like a genuinely good person. 

So it’s more than a little disappointing that now, at the age of 99, Brooks has decided to publicly defend his old co-worker, Woody Allen. 

Brooks and Allen famously worked together, along with other future stars such as Neil Simon and Carl Reiner, on the classic Sid Caesar-led variety program Your Show of Shows. “Woody got into the swing of the writers’ room very easily right from the start,” Brooks wrote in his memoir All About Me! “He didn’t just write funny jokes, he wrote characters, behavior, funny situations.”

Brooks also recalled that Allen would walk him home after tough days working for the severely alcoholic Caesar. “I don’t know whether it was just for the good talk, or if he thought at least he’d be there to call 911 if I collapsed,” Brooks joked. “I appreciate the memory of his friendship and entertaining chatter on those long walks home.”

But Mel may have simply been diplomatic in his fond reminiscences of Allen. According to The Unruly Life of Woody Allen by Marion Meade, the 24-year-old Brooks used to refer to the 19-year-old Allen as “that rotten little kid.” In a 1997 interview with Meade, Brooks said that Allen “never communicated anything memorable,” adding that he must have been “truly hiding his light under a bushel.”

As pointed out in Funny Man: Mel Brooks by Patrick McGilligan, beginning in the ‘70s, a number of film critics framed the two writer-director-performers as rivals, since they were “both Jewish New Yorkers” and “both graduates of the Sid Caesar college of comedy.” In 1980, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert dedicated an episode of their show to a debate over “who’s funnier, Mel Brooks or Woody Allen?”

But Brooks seemingly never weighed in on Allen’s many scandals, including the allegations that he sexually abused his daughter Dylan Farrow when she was seven. Even in recent years, after renewed interest in Farrow’s accusation sparked a cultural reappraisal of the filmmaker, Brooks mainly stuck to describing their earlier relationship, although he did say that they would “send each other letters” occasionally over the years during a 2021 interview with The Guardian.

Now, just a week after Scarlett Johansson defended her former collaborator, Brooks has similarly publicly knocked Allen’s critics. In an interview with Jewish News, Brooks reflected on his long career, including his time on Your Show of Shows.

On the bright side, Brooks recalled an amusing incident in which the House Un-American Activities Committee questioned the show’s staff, only to be trolled by Carl Reiner. “McCarthy’s people came to question us,” Brooks explained. “Carl said, ‘Come in! Have a coffee!’ They asked if we knew any communists. Carl said, ‘Many – but I didn’t know they were communists, they were just in showbusiness.’ He was brilliant. I thought, ‘Might as well make them laugh – it’s our best defense.’”

But then Brooks addressed Allen. ​​“The wonderful thing about Woody,” he said, “was that after working on Caesar’s show, he’d always walk me home, all the way uptown, just walking and talking. It’s a pity he’s being crucified now for no reason.”

Of course, it’s arguable that Allen, who continues to make films and recently published a novel, is “being crucified,” and that the public scrutiny against him isn't well-earned – even putting aside the most heinous allegations, so many of the uncontested facts about Allen’s life are creepy as Hell. 

Brooks randomly defending Allen might be the most depressing celebrity interview of the week not involving Judi Dench and Harvey Weinstein.