![]() Few people realized that Brooks was an intellectual who loved Russian writers or that his artistic sensibilities were forged in early grief: The death of his father when he was just 2 years old, his childhood in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, bullied relentlessly for his small stature, his ill health. ![]() ![]() Getty ImagesĪs Sanger recounts in his recent book, “ Making the Elephant Man,” Brooks had recently set up his own production company in hopes of redefining himself as more than a satirist. ‘Jimmy Stewart on Venus’ Joseph Merrick, aka The Elephant Man. So began the creation of an unlikely cinematic masterpiece. “Well, I think this is great,” Brooks said. “Oh, that’s ‘The Elephant Man,’ ” Sanger said. Sanger showed it to a few trusted colleagues - but not to Brooks, who got hold of it anyway.Īfter reading, Brooks immediately called Sanger. The co-author was Sanger’s babysitter’s boyfriend. ![]() Sanger’s passion project, however, seemed a non-starter: a dramatic script, with no pedigree, about a gravely deformed 19th century Londoner. ![]() “Making the Elephant Man: A Producer’s Memoir” by Jonathan Sanger (McFarland) Their current project was “Fatso,” a comedy starring, written and directed by Brooks’ wife, Anne Bancroft. In 1979, Jonathan Sanger, a young film producer from Brooklyn, found himself working with the great Mel Brooks. ![]()
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