On his 100th birthday, the American Film Institute handed Mel Brooks the one prize that had eluded him for a quarter century: the top spot on its ranking of the funniest films ever made.
The AFI announced Sunday that it was proclaiming Blazing Saddles the funniest film of all time, advancing the 1974 Western comedy from its long-held position at number six to number one in an honorary reorganization of its signature 100 Years…100 Laughs list. The film displaces Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot, which had held the top position since the list was first unveiled in 2000.
AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale acknowledged that Brooks had long argued his film was funnier than the Wilder comedy. “He’s right!” Gazzale said. “We’re happy to right this wrong as Mel celebrates his centennial. It’s good to be the king, and may he live to be a 2,000-year-old man.”
Brooks is the only filmmaker with all three of his entries in the list’s top 15 — Blazing Saddles now at number one, The Producers at number 11, and Young Frankenstein at number 13. The sheer density of his presence on the list reflects a career built on satirizing power structures — from Hollywood Westerns to science-fiction blockbusters — with a comedic sensibility that borrowed equally from vaudeville, stand-up, and outright anarchy.
Born Melvin James Kaminsky in Brownsville, Brooklyn, on June 28, 1926, Brooks is one of only 28 people to have won the EGOT — Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. He has previously credited his sense of humor as the key to his longevity, saying that laughing keeps him healthy and happy.
The centennial comes with new work on the horizon. Brooks is reprising his role as Yogurt in Spaceballs: The New One, the long-awaited sequel to his 1987 Star Wars parody, with returning cast members including Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, and George Wyner alongside newcomers Josh Gad, Keke Palmer, Lewis Pullman, and Anthony Carrigan. The film is set for release on April 23, 2027.
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An HBO documentary, Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!, was released in January, and Brooks appeared last month at the AFI salute to Eddie Murphy.
