On this date in 1947, actor and comedian Albert Brooks (né Albert Lawrence Einstein) was born to show business parents in Beverly Hills, Calif. His grandparents were Russian and Austrian Jewish immigrants. His actress mother Thelma Goodman performed as Thelma Leeds, and his father Harry Einstein, who died when Brooks was 11, was a comedian who often performed as “Parkyakarkus,” a Greek immigrant.
His best friends at Beverly High were Joey Bishop’s son Larry and Rob Reiner. He dropped out of college after a year to focus on his comedy career and changed his professional name to Albert Brooks, joking that “the real Albert Einstein changed his name to sound more intelligent.”
Brooks gained exposure on variety and talk shows in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” He recorded two successful albums before deciding to try his hand at making short films. He directed six of them for the first season of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”
His first mainstream film role was in Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” (1976). He directed his first feature film, “Real Life,” in 1979, with co-writer Harry Shearer. A sendup of the PBS documentary “An American Family,” it’s seen as foretelling the emergence of reality TV. He also appeared in “Private Benjamin” (1980), starring Goldie Hawn.
Brooks co-wrote, directed and starred in the 1980s and 1990s in comedies depicting his neurotic and self-obsessed character such as “Modern Romance” (1981) and “Lost in America” (1985). In “Defending Your Life” co-starring Meryl Streep (1991), he plays a character in the afterlife put on trial to defend his life and determine if he’ll be reincarnated on Earth.
“Brooks doesn’t believe in immortality, in life or on film,” later wrote Adrienne LaFrance, The Atlantic executive editor. “Plenty of writers and directors fool themselves into believing that what they make will last forever.” (The Atlantic, June 2024) Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson called “Defending Your Life” one of “the most insightful things” he’s ever seen. (Kveller, Jan. 4, 2024)
Brooks garnered positive reviews for “Mother” (1996), portraying a middle-aged writer moving back home to resolve tensions between himself and his mother, played by Debbie Reynolds. There was no such tension between him and his mother, who lived to be 95. He had numerous film and TV screen voice-over roles, including the film “Finding Nemo” (2001) and seven on “The Simpsons,” including the villain Hank Scorpio.
Brooks was a bachelor until he and artist Kimberly Shlain married in 1997. They have a son Jacob and daughter Claire. Interestingly, in an interview asking him when he got married, Brooks replied “in my 40s.” He was technically correct, being four months shy of his 50th birthday.
The last movie he made, 2005’s “Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World,” wasn’t widely released and received mixed reviews. Reiner directed the documentary “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” that was released in 2023 on Max. It includes interviews with entertainment colleagues such as Sarah Silverman and Larry David.
PHOTO: Brooks at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in 2012 in Hollywood, Calif.; Shutterstock.com photo by Kathy Hutchins
