This is from Douglas McEwan…
I have to thank you for posting that notification two days ago about the unveiling of Mel Brooks's star in front of the Egyptian Theater. I am just home from attending it. I had met both Mel and Carl before, Mel a couple times in 1973 and 1974, including sneaking onto the set when he was shooting Young Frankenstein at the Mayfair Music Hall (the "Puttin' on the Ritz" scene), and spending a day watching him shoot that wonderful movie. Carl, I got to work with in an ever-so-humble capacity in 1980 and again in a different minor capacity in 1984, and both times he treated like an equal and a friend. Look up mensch in the dictionary; it will say "Carl Reiner."
Well today, I watched Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner hugging and cheek-kissing from about six yards away. I laughed at the many funny things they said. (Mel: "A few minutes ago they said: 'Mel Brooks to makeup and hair.' Then they said, 'Carl Reiner to makeup.'") When the guy with Johnny Grant's old job was thanking Mel for all the laughs he's given us, Mel interrupted him to say: "And we have to thank Adolf Hitler, without whom I'd have had no career."
But the best moment of all came when, while signing my stuff, he had another Hitler attack, pulled out the black comb he carries for this sole purpose, stuck it under his nose, and began sig heiling us. He was two feet away from me. I called out: "Look! It's the Pope!"
AND MEL BROOKS LAUGHED!!!!!! I made Mel Brooks laugh!
I am so happy right now, I am euphoric. A great day. I made Mel Brooks laugh!
I wouldn't have been there, nor even known about it if you hadn't posted it, so I owe this great day entirely to you.
So thank you. Thank you very much. What a great day.
Thanks for the report, Douglas. Those star ceremonies are often fun but they aren't well-publicized since most can barely accommodate the crowds that hear about them from word-of-mouth. The next one up is Julia Louis-Dreyfus on May 4. And I'll add that my own encounters with Mel and Carl have been like yours…two very nice, funny men.