Mel Brooks says ‘it’s hard to keep going’ following death of close friends
Mel Brooks has said he sometimes finds it “hard to keep going” when remembering the friends he’s lost.
The comedian, 95, reflected on the death of his best friend Carl Reiner, who died in June 2020, aged 98.
He has now written a memoir, which includes funny tales about Reiner as well as actor Gene Wilder and his wife Anne Bancroft, all of whom have died.
“When I look back at people like Gene, who I loved so much and miss so much, and my adventures with Carl, and, of course, my wife who was my great love and support, it was hard to keep going sometimes,” he told The Guardian of his experience writing the book.
Brooks said he now struggles to do activities he would have done with Reiner, whom he described as “the most wonderful friend a person could ever have”.
“It’s over for me,” he stated. “All the stuff I used to do with Carl is still around, but I don’t enjoy it if I don’t share it with Carl. It’s as simple as that.”
Brooks and Reiner met in 1950 when Reiner appeared on Your Show of Shows.
He said this Bancroft’s death from uterine cancer in 2005 when she was 73 “still hurts too much” for him write about, adding: “I don’t decide to turn on one of her movies, but if one is on when I turn on the TV, then I’m caught, and I’ll stay until the end and cry.
“I’ll see her energy, her joie de vivre. She was just amazing. I don’t think there was anybody better.”
All About Me! by Mel Brooks is published by Cornerstone.
