AFI will honor Mel Brooks

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41st AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks will be honored with the 41st AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film. The award will be presented to Brooks at a gala tribute on Thursday, June 6, 2013 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, CA.

"Mel Brooks is America's long-reigning king of comedy – and as he taught us long ago, it's good to be the king," said Sir Howard Stringer, Chair of the American Film Institute's Board of Trustees. "He's a master of an art form that rarely gets the respect it deserves, and it is AFI's honor to shine a bright light on laughter by presenting Mel Brooks the 41st AFI Life Achievement Award."

Reflecting his range of mastery in the entertainment arts – from writing, directing and producing to acting and composing – Brooks is only one of 14 people who have won the Emmy®, Grammy®, Oscar® and Tony® Award. Brooks is best known for his comedy films including THE PRODUCERS (1968), BLAZING SADDLES (1974), YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974), SILENT MOVIE (1976), HIGH ANXIETY (1977), HISTORY OF THE WORLD – PART 1 (1981), TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1983), SPACEBALLS (1987), LIFE STINKS (1991), ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS (1993) and DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT (1995) – and he was also executive producer on the Academy Award®-winning THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980). His films have been recognized by the American Film Institute as among the funniest American movies of all time, with three films in the top 15 of AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs list: BLAZING SADDLES at #6, THE PRODUCERS at #11 and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN at #13.

The 41st AFI Life Achievement Award tribute special will premiere on TNT in late June 2013, followed by encores on its sister network, Turner Classic Movies (TCM).

For more information or to reserve tables, please contact acam...@AFI.com