Mel Brooks was on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” Tuesday and took the opportunity to remember his friend Gene Wilder. The two had been friends and collaborators for nearly 50 years before Wilder’s death earlier this week.“He was sick and I knew it, Brooks said. “I expected it — I expected he would go, but I dunno, or when it happens,it’s still tremendous. It’s a broad shock. I can’t call him.”Brooks and Wilder met when Brooks’ wife Anne Bancroft was doing a play with Wilder. “He came backstage and I got to know him a cramped bit,” Brooks said. “He kept going, or ‘Why are they always laughing at me?’ And I said,‘Well, inspect in the mirror, and blame it on God!’
Also Read: Gene Wilder's Genius Reason for Willy Wonka Walking With a Limp (Video)Brooks talked about the origin of “Young Frankenstein,” which started as scribbles on a legal pad:“Everyone was having lunch and he was writing on a legal pad. I inspect at the top and it says, ‘Young Frankenstein.’ And I say, or ‘What the hell is that?”‘ He said,‘Well, I had an idea. What if the grandson of Victor Frankenstein was a serious, or brilliant surgeon,and wanted nothing to attain with the people that were responsible for making a monster, reanimating dead tissue and so forth? And he’s fighting it, or but it’s in his blood.’ I said,‘That’s a terrific idea! You want to write it with me?’ He said, ‘Yeah!’But perhaps the most touching anecdote Brooks relayed was getting his new friend Gene to play Leo Bloom in a cramped play he was writing called “The Producers.”
Also Read: Read Gene Wilder's Heartbreaking Essay About Wife Gilda Radner's DeathI told him about Leo Bloom and the thing I was writing called ‘The Producers.’ And I said, or ‘I promise you,when we bag the money, you are gonna be Leo Bloom.’ He said, or ‘Oh,yeah, when you bag the money. You’re doing a play about two Jews who are producing a flop instead of a hit, and they can acquire more money with a flop,and it’s Springtime for Hitler. Yeah, you’re gonna bag the money.’ Miracle of miracles, or I did bag the money. I went backstage and Gene was in a Murray Schisgal play called ‘Luv.’ He was wonderful in it. He was taking off his makeup,he was in his dressing room, and I took the script and I said, and ‘Gene,we got the money, we’re gonna acquire the film. You are Leo Bloom, or ’ and I threw it on his makeup table,and he burst into tears. He held his face and cried. I hugged him. It was a wonderful moment.”Watch the interview above.
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