- - Meet Mel Brooks' 4 Kids! All About Max, Nicky, Eddie and Stefanie

Julie TremaineJanuary 23, 2026 at 7:00 AM

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Michael Kovac/WireImage -

EGOT winner Mel Brooks is a father of four

He welcomed his oldest three children, Stefanie, Nicky and Eddie, with his first wife Florence Baum

Brooks later welcomed his youngest son, Max, with his second wife, Anne Bancroft

Ahead of Mel Brooks' 100th birthday, the history-making actor appeared in Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man!, which premiered on Jan. 22 on HBO Max.

Throughout his storied career, Brooks has starred in, written and directed some of the greatest comedies of all time, including Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles and The Producers — both the movie and the Broadway musical. So it should come as no surprise that his four kids — Stefanie, Nicky, Eddie and Max — have all followed in his creative footsteps, working in the film industry and other artistic fields.

Brooks, who achieved EGOT status in 2001, was married to Broadway dancer Florence Baum from 1953 to 1962. They had three kids: Stefanie, Nicky and Eddie. Brooks later married Oscar-winning actress Anne Bancroft. They remained together until her death in 2005 and shared one son, Max.

"She always said, 'Follow your heart. It will be a good adventure,' " Brooks wrote in his 2021 memoir All About Me!. "What an adventure life turned out to be!" It seems that Bancroft passed her encouraging nature on to their son; when Brooks was hesitant to write the memoir in the first place, Max encouraged him to do it.

"He said, 'What are you gonna do, Dad, just sit around and wait for the pandemic to be over? Write a memoir!' " Brooks recalled to The Orange County Register. "'Just tell the stories you told me when I was growing up.' "

Here's everything to know about Mel Brooks' four children: Stefanie, Nicky, Eddie and Max.

Stefanie Brooks, 69

Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty Mel Brooks, Stefanie Brooks, Anne Bancroft

Stefanie Brooks was born on Feb. 21, 1956, in New York City. She was the first child born to Brooks and his first wife Florence Baum. In 1978, Brooks told The New Yorker that his eldest was taking film courses at New York University.

Stefanie has worked in film, both in front of and behind the camera. According to Turner Classic Movies, she had a role in Human Traffic in 1999. She also worked as a production assistant on Tootsie and I, The Jury and as a casting assistant for Speed.

Nicholas "Nicky" Brooks, 68

Chance Yeh/Getty Nicholas Brooks and Mel Brooks

Nicholas "Nicky" Brooks was born on Dec. 13, 1957, in N.Y.C. to Brooks and Baum. He had a role in the 1971 film Who Says I Can't Ride a Rainbow!, but he has since focused on writing and producing films. Like his sister Stefanie, Nicky studied film at NYU.

He wrote the screenplay for the 2016 movie Sam, for which his father was an executive producer (per Variety), and has produced several short films, including Beautiful and Confession on Pleasant Street.

Edward "Eddie" Brooks, 66

Bennett Raglin/WireImage Mel Books with son Edward Brooks and granddaughter Samantha Brooks

Edward "Eddie" Brooks was born on May 24, 1959, in N.Y.C. to Brooks and Baum. As a child, he made an appearance in the 1970 movie Where's Poppa? directed by his father's friend Carl Reiner. In 1978, The New Yorker reported that Eddie was studying music in Manhattan.

As an adult, Eddie has stayed behind the scenes. He directed the short films The Green Room and Of the Woods: Prologue. He and his wife Sarah have a daughter, Samantha Brooks, who is a journalist.

Samantha interviewed her grandfather in November 2022, and the two touched on everything from dating tips to Brooks' Hulu series History of the World: Part II.

Maximillian "Max" Brooks, 53

Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic Max Brooks and Mel Brooks

Maximillian "Max" Michael Brooks was born on May 22, 1972, in N.Y.C. He's the only child of Brooks and Bancroft. After Max's birth, the couple moved to California.

Max graduated with a bachelor's degree in history from Pitzer College and a master's degree in film from American University, according to the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity.

He acted throughout the 1990s, appearing in episodes of Melrose Place, 7th Heaven and Roseanne. Max was a writer on Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2003, but he hit a new level of success with his novel World War Z, which was adapted into a movie starring Brad Pitt and Mireille Enos in 2013. Max has also written several other novels, comic books and screenplays. In 2010, he spoke at his father's Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brooks and Max shared a video about the importance of social distancing. "Hi, I'm Max Brooks, I'm 47 years old. This is my dad, Mel Brooks, he's 93," Max said, standing outside as Brooks stood behind a glass door. "If I get the coronavirus, I'll probably be okay. But if I give it to him, he could give it to Carl Reiner, who could give it to Dick Van Dyke, and before I know it, I've wiped out a whole generation of comedic legends. When it comes to coronavirus, I have to think about who I can infect. And so should you."

Later in the year, Max appeared in a video with Brooks to endorse Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. In 2026, Max spoke out about how his mother's 2005 death affected his dad in the HBO Max documentary Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man!.

“She was his best friend. It was the two of them against the world," he said. "My dad was the water, and my mother was the glass, and when the glass shattered, I was worried the water was going to go everywhere.”

Max married playwright Michelle Kholos in 2003. They have one son, Henry.

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