Mel Brooks fell in love with pet fish – only for his mother to kill it and cook it
- Mel Brooks says his mother would bring home fish and kill them to eat for dinner
- Actor admitted that he and his brother even fell in love with one of them
He’s one of the most decorated Hollywood personalities and has a bank balance topping £100million.
But Oscar-winner Mel Brooks has revealed that as a child growing up in Brooklyn, New York, his family was so hard up that his mother would bring home fish and kill them to eat for dinner.
Brooks, now 96, admits that he and his brother even fell in love with one of them – and named it Arty.
However, his mother Kate Kaminsky – a low-paid garment worker who raised her four sons alone after her husband Melvin died when Brooks was just two years old – later served it up on a plate for her children.
Oscar-winner Mel Brooks (pictured in 1996) has revealed that as a child growing up in Brooklyn, New York, his family was so hard up that his mother would bring home fish and kill them to eat for dinner
Brooks (pictured) has previously spoken of how he grew up in a tough area and often felt like an outsider for being Jewish, short and unathletic so he used comedy from a young age to defend himself
Speaking to The River Cafe owner Ruth Rogers on her podcast Ruthie’s Table 4, the American actor, comedian and filmmaker said: ‘My mother would just get a live fish.
‘My brother Bernie and I, we called him Arty. We fed him breadcrumbs and chased him around the bath tub.
‘But it was unspeakable. My brothers Irving and Lenny held us back as she killed Arty. Then we ate him. She said we had to eat.’
Brooks, who made his name with movies such as The Producers, Blazing Saddles and The Twelve Chairs, was born on a table in a $16-a-month tenement in Brownsville, Brooklyn in 1926.
He has previously spoken of how he grew up in a tough area and often felt like an outsider for being Jewish, short and unathletic so he used comedy from a young age to defend himself.
During the podcast, he also spoke of how despite falling in love with Broadway at an early age, he was sent off to join the American military.
Brooks, who was married to Anne Bancroft until her death in 2005, also discussed his friendship with legendary actor Cary Grant who took him under his wing when he was still a fledging star.
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