Honoring his long career, comedy legend Mel Brooks gave the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony a twist when he imprinted his hands with an extra prosthetic finger last Tuesday. The star has enjoyed an almost five decade-long career in film behind him as an actor, writer, director, producer and even lyricist.
Mr. Brooks, a star who has obviously never lost his famous sense of humor, said to the cameras that he wanted his print to be a wink to the more perceptive walking tourist, so someone from "Des Moines, Iowa" (the example he gave CBS News) would see the print in detail and would go "Harry, look, Mel Brooks had SIX fingers on his left hand! I wonder if anybody knew that?"
On a taping for Conan O'Brien's talk show later that day, he simply said that he wanted to do something "a little different, I didn't know what ... so, I got another finger!"
His star on the famous boulevard comes late to Brooks, a man who has been given almost every big prize in show business, as he's been on the receiving edge in the ceremonies of the most important awards: Grammy, Emmy, Tony and even the Oscar, a feat which puts him in a select group of people who have been recognized by the four industries of American entertainment. Only eleven other people share this honor, between them John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Rita Moreno, Whoopi Goldberg, Marvin Hamlisch, Liza Minnelli, Christopher Plummer and James Earl Jones.
Brooks, besides his wild success in every area he's tapped, has also written some of the funniest comedy classics in film history, such as 'Blazing Saddles', the Leslie Nielsen version of 'Dracula' and 'History of the World, Part. I'; also, he was a guest star on the '90s TV show 'Mad About You'.
This year also marks the 40th anniversary of Brooks' classic horror parody comedy, 'Young Frankenstein', which starred Gene Wilder and Cloris Leachman.
