Mel Brooks, 99, and his family opened up in the new two-part documentary “Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!,” sharing how difficult it’s been to heal from the death of the comedian’s beloved wife, Anne Bancroft.
Bancroft, who had a profound acting career from the ‘50s all the way up until her death, died of uterine cancer in 2005, People reported at the time. Having been married for 41 years before she passed at the age of 73, Brooks opened up about how difficult life has been without her for 20 years.
Mel Brooks Misses Wife Anne Bancroft Dearly
When asked during the documentary, premiering on HBO Max on Jan. 22, what he missed most about the actress, Brooks responded, “too many things,” as reported by People. “Things that nobody in the world would understand. When faced with an unhappy moment, the look on her face,” he added. “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.”
Bancroft’s 53-year-old son, Max Brooks, described his mom’s passing as an awful experience, noting how she beat the cancer before it returned to take her life. “It was a slow, horrible, lingering time, and anybody who has ever lost a loved one to cancer knows exactly what I’m talking about,” he explained. “We got a bad break, and that’s how [my dad] refers to it.”
‘He Just Worshipped her’
Getty“She was his best friend. It was the two of them against the world,” Max added. “My dad was the water, and my mother was the glass, and when the glass shattered, I was worried the water was going to go everywhere.”
Edward Brooks, 66, son of Brooks’ first wife, Florence Baum, explained how his dad drastically changed after losing the love of his life. “All the light went out. He was not in a good place,” Edward said. “We never dreamed that Anne would ever get sick or ultimately pass away. He just worshiped her.”
“The 2000 Year Old Man” co-creator met Bancroft, who won an Oscar for her role as Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller’s life-changing teacher in the 1962 film “The Miracle Worker,” during a rehearsal for “The Perry Como Show” in 1961. During their prosperous marriage, Brooks acted in, wrote and produced the bulk of his career work. In the upcoming documentary, he and his children credit his success to the late Bancroft.
“She was incredibly supportive of these chances that he was taking, and she was the one to say, ‘I believe in it. I believe in you. Of course you can write the songs; you’re a songwriter,’” Edward said. “If it came from her, it was like the gospel.”
They were the most wonderful couple