From the Huffington Post
Mel Brooks has made audiences laugh for more than a half century, but it was his wife, the late Anne Bancroft, who made him smile.
It's been nearly five years since the actress passed away, but not a day goes by that Brooks doesn't think about her.
"I had 45 of the greatest years of my life," Brooks says.
During a recent interview, the 83-year old Brooks recalled their first meeting in 1961. It was on the set of "The Perry Como Show" in New York, where Bancroft was performing a song called "Married, I Could Always Get." After she finished, she was greeted by Brooks who proclaimed, "I'm Mel Brooks and I'm going to marry you."
Bancroft responded: "Hey, I have your record." She was referring to the classic comedy album Brooks did with Carl Reiner, "The Two-Thousand Year Old Man."
"The album came out in 1960, and this was Feb. 5, 1961," Brooks recalls. "From that day, until her death on June 5, 2005, we were glued together."
The Brooklyn-born Brooks began his career as a writer for Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows." Alumni from that classic TV program included Reiner, Larry Gelbart, Neil Simon and Woody Allen.
After the success of his comedy record, Brooks established a long career as a writer, director and actor. His first feature film, 1968's "The Producers," won an Academy Award for best screenplay. It became a Broadway hit in 2001.
"Anne was responsible," Brooks says of turning his Oscar script into a Tony-winning musical.
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