Q 01/05

What was Mel Brooks's birth surname?

A) Brookman

B) Konigsberg

C) Kaplan

D) Kaminsky

Answer · why

D) Kaminsky

Mel Brooks was born Melvin Kaminsky in 1926; he took Brooks by shortening his mother's maiden name, Brookman, partly to avoid confusion with the jazz ...

Q 02/05

In which New York borough was Mel Brooks born and raised?

A) The Bronx

B) Queens

C) Brooklyn

D) Manhattan

Answer · why

C) Brooklyn

Mel Brooks was born in Brooklyn in 1926, in Brownsville, and raised in the borough's Williamsburg neighbourhood; his father died of kidney disease whe...

Q 03/05

Which jazz drummer taught the teenage Mel Brooks to play drums?

A) Gene Krupa

B) Buddy Rich

C) Max Roach

D) Art Blakey

Answer · why

B) Buddy Rich

Buddy Rich, the jazz drummer, gave Mel Brooks drum lessons as a teenager; Brooks earned money as a drummer from 14 and got his first comedy break fill...

Q 04/05

In which December 1944 German offensive did Mel Brooks serve as a combat engineer?

A) The Battle of the Bulge

B) The Battle of Anzio

C) The Battle of Iwo Jima

D) Operation Market Garden

Answer · why

A) The Battle of the Bulge

Brooks, a corporal combat engineer, saw action in the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944–January 1945), clearing mines and booby-trapped buildings; he...

Q 05/05

Mel Brooks began his writing career on which comedian's 1950s TV show?

A) Milton Berle

B) Jackie Gleason

C) Ernie Kovacs

D) Sid Caesar

Answer · why

D) Sid Caesar

Brooks joined Sid Caesar's writing staff on Your Show of Shows (1950–54) and followed him to Caesar's Hour, after the two had met in the Catskills whe...