Dave Chappelle revealed the Oscar-winning actor he insulted with a “f–ing terrible” joke. The comedian made the revelation in the new HBO documentary, Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man! (via Entertainment Weekly), which debuts on Jan. 22.
Dave Chappelle Insulted Mel Brooks’ Wife, Anne Bancroft
In the documentary, directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio, Chappelle reflects on his decades-old relationship with Brooks. The famous filmmaker gave Chappelle one of his first Hollywood roles, directing him in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). “Sometimes he’d take me to lunch, and his old friend Carl Reiner was directing a movie on the next soundstage, and then at some point,” Chappelle recalled, “the two of them started doing the ‘2000 Year Old Man,’ the greatest comedy routine by two of the greatest comics, and me as the audience. I’ll never forget it.'”
But despite their close friendship, things didn’t go well when Chappelle met Brooks’ Oscar-winner wife, Anne Bancroft. Bancroft won a Best Actress trophy for her legendary role of Mrs. Robinson, the married mother who seduces Dustin Hoffman’s college boy in The Graduate (1967). “Then I met his wife. She comes and says, ‘Oh, Mel says so many wonderful things about you,'” Chappelle explained. “She goes on and on and gushes about how much she likes me.”
‘That Was Really Terrible’
Somewhat starstruck, Chappelle tried to rally with a reference to Bancroft’s most famous film.“I go, ‘Oh, you’re not trying to seduce me, are you, Mrs. Robinson?’ Not thinking that she’s heard that joke a million times. Nothing. Silence,” Chappelle said. “All you could hear was [Men in Tights co-star] Dom DeLuise’s labored breath. That was really f–ing terrible and hilarious.”
Despite her elder reputation, Bancroft was only 36 when she starred in The Graduate. She and Brooks met in 1961 when they both appeared on an episode of Kraft Music Hall. The couple married in 1964 and share one child—World War Z author Max Brooks, born in 1972. Bancroft went on to appear in a number of Brooks’ features, including Blazing Saddles (1974), Silent Movie (1976), To Be or Not to Be (1983), and Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995). She also appeared opposite Brooks, playing versions of themselves, on the fourth season of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm.
