Mel Brooks To Receive 41st AFI Life Achievement Award

By Newsroom America Staff at 5 Oct 2012

(Newsroom America) -- The American Film Institute has announced Mel Brooks will be presented with the 41st AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film.

Chair of the American Film Institute's Board of Trustees, Sir Howard Stringer, said Mel Brooks is America's long-reigning king of comedy – and as he taught us long ago, it's good to be the king.

"He's a master of an art form that rarely gets the respect it deserves, and it is AFI's honor to shine a bright light on laughter by presenting Mel Brooks the 41st AFI Life Achievement Award," he said.

Reflecting his range of mastery in the entertainment arts – from writing, directing and producing to acting and composing – Brooks is only one of 14 people who have won the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award.

Brooks is best known for his comedy films including THE PRODUCERS (1968), BLAZING SADDLES (1974), YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974), SILENT MOVIE (1976), HIGH ANXIETY (1977), HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART 1 (1981), TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1983), SPACEBALLS (1987), LIFE STINKS (1991), ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS (1993) and DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT (1995) – and he was also executive producer on the Academy Award-winning THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980).

His films have been recognized by the American Film Institute as among the funniest American movies of all time, with three films in the top 15 of AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs list: BLAZING SADDLES at #6, THE PRODUCERS at #11 and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN at #13.

The 41st AFI Life Achievement Award tribute special will premiere on TNT in late June 2013, followed by encores on its sister network, Turner Classic Movies (TCM).

The highest honor given for a career in film, the AFI Life Achievement Award was established by the AFI Board of Trustees on February 26, 1973. It is presented to a single honoree each year based on the following criteria as mandated through a resolution passed by the AFI Board of Trustees:

"The recipient should be one whose talent has in a fundamental way advanced the film art; whose accomplishment has been acknowledged by scholars, critics, professional peers and the general public; and whose work has stood the test of time."

The award will be presented to Brooks at a gala tribute on Thursday, June 6, 2013 in Los Angeles, CA.