60 Years Ago, Mel Brooks Made a Mistake on TV That Still Haunts Him Today
· Vice
While being interviewed for the August 2010 issue of GQ, comedy legend Mel Brooks recounted what he says was the most embarrassing moment of his life (for the record, Brooks turned 100 this past June).
As Brooks tells it, he was asked to be a special celebrity guest on the popular game show Eye Guess back in October 1966. Hosted by Bill Cullen, the series combined typical quiz show questions with a Concentration-style memory test. During his five-episode run, Brooks was paired with actress Julia Meade.
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At the end of one show, Brooks approached the podium that Cullen was always seated behind while they were on the air. Cullen then stood up and started walking across the stage in a way that initially confused Brooks. “I don’t know what he’s doing. His feet are flopping. His hands are flying everywhere,” Brooks explained. “He’s doing this kind of wacky walk-of-the-unfortunates that Jerry Lewis used to do. So I figured, what the hell, I’ll join him.”
Mel Brooks Once Accidentally Mocked a Disabled Game Show Host on Live TV
Brooks went on to do what he called a “multiple-sclerosis walk,” à la Lewis, not knowing that Cullen wasn’t doing the same. Meanwhile, Meade tried to point out to Brooks that Cullen was actually disabled. As it turns out, Cullen had been stricken with polio at a young age and developed a prominent limp as a result.
But despite what must’ve appeared to Cullen like a cruel gag on Brooks’s part, Cullen embraced the unintended mockery, telling Brooks, “You’re the only comic who’s ever had the nerve to make fun of my crippled walk.”
“And I realize, ‘Oh, my God, this guy is really crippled!’” Brooks recalled. However, according to Brooks, Cullen was relieved by the whole thing because he said it made him feel worse to see people being so careful around him all the time. Yet still, Brooks considers it his “worst moment” all these years later. “And if you weren’t me,” he added, “[it’s] probably the funniest thing that ever happened.”
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