Giving Hollywood the finger: Mel Brooks pulls joke in cement ceremony

Mel Brooks is known for being a practical joker and now he has made sure people will be laughing at him long after he has gone. The 88-year-old “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein” director added an extra finger to his handprints as he cemented his place in Hollywood history outside the TCL Chinese Theatre, formerly Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, in Los Angeles. The star wore a prosthesis on his left hand as he received the rare honour reserved for the elite of cinema.

I decided to pep it up a little bit, do something different in the forecourt, here in the cement, so I put an extra finger on my left hand, just in case somebody from Des Moines, Iowa, says ‘Harry, Harry, look, Mel Brooks had six fingers on his left hand!’

Mel Brooks

With dozens of hits to his name, including “Spaceballs”, “Silent Movie” and “History of the World: Part 1”, Brooks is considered one of the best comedy film directors of all time. He is one of the few artists to ever have received an Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy award, and although he retired from filmmaking in the 1990s, he still makes appearances as a comic actor occasionally.

A great loss. A great loss. Sorely missed. Maybe the bravest comic that ever lived. I mean, she was like an explorer. She went into areas of dangerous comedy that nobody would dare to tread on, and she was in person, privately, the sweetest, nicest person you’d ever want to meet in your life.

Mel Brooks, speaking about the death of Joan Rivers

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