Max Brooks: Difference between revisions
cite for American University. Citre need for UVI -- WP:BLP vio meanwhile. Yale cite gives no graduation year for Pitzer. Commenting out some personal-life claims until they can be verified -- more BLP vios. |
→Early life: Brooks on his dyslexia |
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His father is [[American Jews|Jewish]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/16/mel-brooks-is-always-funny-and-often-wise-in-this-1975-playboy-interview.html |title=Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview|website=The Daily Beast|date= |accessdate=July 4, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/The-cinematic-Zionism-of-Mel-Brooks |title=The cinematic Zionism of Mel Brooks|publisher=The Jerusalem Post |date=August 12, 2012 |accessdate=January 31, 2017}}</ref> and his mother was of Italian descent and Catholic. |
His father is [[American Jews|Jewish]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/16/mel-brooks-is-always-funny-and-often-wise-in-this-1975-playboy-interview.html |title=Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview|website=The Daily Beast|date= |accessdate=July 4, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/The-cinematic-Zionism-of-Mel-Brooks |title=The cinematic Zionism of Mel Brooks|publisher=The Jerusalem Post |date=August 12, 2012 |accessdate=January 31, 2017}}</ref> and his mother was of Italian descent and Catholic. |
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Brooks is [[dyslexic]]<ref name="Yale">{{cite web | url=http://dyslexia.yale.edu/maxbrooks.html | title=Max Brooks, Author |
Brooks is [[dyslexic]],<ref name="Yale">{{cite web | url=http://dyslexia.yale.edu/maxbrooks.html | title=Max Brooks, Author |publisher=The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity | accessdate=March 19, 2016 | author=Glader, Sue}}</ref> and recalled that at this time, |
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{{quote|...they didn't even call it a disability back then; it was just "laziness," "goofing off," "you're not trying hard enough." "You can do it but you don't want to do it" — that was a big one of my teachers. And my mother, one of the greatest, most successful actresses of her day, gave up her career, put her career on the shelf, to raise me, to be my educational advocate and to teach herself about dyslexia. ... She took, every year, all of my school books that I had to read to the Institute for the Blind and had them all read onto audio cassette so I could listen to my reading list. And if I hadn't been able to do that, I wouldn't have graduated high school. I can literally say that not only did my mother give me my life, she saved my life.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.npr.org/2017/08/15/543614192/novelist-max-brooks-on-doomsday-dyslexia-and-growing-up-with-hollywood-parents|title=Novelist Max Brooks On Doomsday, Dyslexia And Growing Up With Hollywood Parents|publisher=[[NPR]]| date=August 15, 2017|accessdate=March 17, 2020|archivedate=March 11, 2020|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20200311062712/https://www.npr.org/2017/08/15/543614192/novelist-max-brooks-on-doomsday-dyslexia-and-growing-up-with-hollywood-parents|url-status=live}}</ref>}} |
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Brooks attended [[Crossroads School (Santa Monica, California)|Crossroads School]] in [[Santa Monica, California]]. He studied at [[Pitzer College]] in [[Claremont, California]], where he earned a [[bachelor's degree]] in history.<ref name="Yale" /> <!--He spent a semester at the [[University of the Virgin Islands]].--> He also attended graduate school, studying film at [[American University]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="Yale" /> |
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==Career== |
==Career== |
Revision as of 14:06, 17 March 2020
Max Brooks | |
---|---|
![]() Brooks at BookExpo in 2019 | |
Occupation | Author, actor |
Alma mater | Pitzer College (B.A.) American University |
Spouse | Michelle Kholos (m. 2003) |
Children | 1 |
Parent | Mel Brooks Anne Bancroft |
Writing career | |
Genre | Humor, horror |
Max Brooks is an American actor and author. He is the son of comedy filmmaker Mel Brooks and actress Anne Bancroft. Much of Brooks's writing focuses on zombie stories. He is a lecturer at the Modern War Institute at West Point, New York.[1]
Early life
Brooks is the son of actress Anne Bancroft and director, producer, writer, and actor Mel Brooks.[2] His father is Jewish[3][4] and his mother was of Italian descent and Catholic.
Brooks is dyslexic,[5] and recalled that at this time,
...they didn't even call it a disability back then; it was just "laziness," "goofing off," "you're not trying hard enough." "You can do it but you don't want to do it" — that was a big one of my teachers. And my mother, one of the greatest, most successful actresses of her day, gave up her career, put her career on the shelf, to raise me, to be my educational advocate and to teach herself about dyslexia. ... She took, every year, all of my school books that I had to read to the Institute for the Blind and had them all read onto audio cassette so I could listen to my reading list. And if I hadn't been able to do that, I wouldn't have graduated high school. I can literally say that not only did my mother give me my life, she saved my life.[6]
Brooks attended Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California. He studied at Pitzer College in Claremont, California, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history.[5] He also attended graduate school, studying film at American University in Washington, D.C.[5]
Career
Writing
From 2001 to 2003, Brooks was a member of the writing team at Saturday Night Live.[citation needed]
His first book, The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), published by Three Rivers Press, describes in depth the origin and lives of zombies. The book was followed up by The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks (2009), a graphic novel depicting several of the events detailed in the first book's latter section.
In 2006, Brooks followed with World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, which deals with the war between the human race and zombies. Paramount Pictures acquired the movie rights, and Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment, produced the film. In the October 2006 issue of Fangoria Magazine, Brooks stated that he would not be writing the screenplay for the motion picture, as he felt he was not an accomplished enough screenwriter to "do it right" (J. Michael Straczynski wrote the first version of the screenplay).[7]
In 2013, Cemetery Dance published a new limited edition of the World War Z novel. Jeremy Caniglia created all new artwork for this special release to coincide with the film release.
Brooks wrote the introduction for the hardcover collected edition of Dynamite Entertainment's zombie miniseries Raise the Dead (comics)|Raise the Dead, released in 2007.[8]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/MaxMelBrooksApr10.jpg/220px-MaxMelBrooksApr10.jpg)
The New Dead (2010), an anthology of previously unpublished zombie stories edited by Christopher Golden, contains an additional World War Z story titled "Closure, Limited".
In 2010, Brooks wrote the IDW comic book mini-series G.I. Joe: Hearts & Minds.[9]
In 2011, he wrote the foreword for Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Zombies, a 300-page fiction book written by Matt Mogk.
In 2012, he published Closure, Limited and Other Zombie Tales, featuring the story of that name from The New Dead, along with three other short stories set in the World War Z universe.[10]
In 2013, Avatar Press released The Extinction Parade, a comic book series based on Brooks' 2011 short story.
In 2014, Broadway Books published The Harlem Hellfighters, a graphic novel which portrays a fictionalized account of the entirely African American 369th Infantry Regiment's experiences in World War I, written by Brooks and illustrated by Caanan White.[11] Sony Pictures has purchased the rights to create a film of the novel, with Caleeb Pinkett and James Lassiter producing on behalf of Overbrook Entertainment.[12]
He wrote the story for the 2016 film The Great Wall, starring Matt Damon.[13]
In 2016, Brooks was invited to MineCon 2016 and announced that he was working on a new novel based on Minecraft.[14] The book, Minecraft: The Island, was published in July 2018.
In August 2019, Brooks' new book was announced which is titled Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre. It is about the cryptid Bigfoot. It is set to be released on May 12, 2020.[15]
Acting and voice-over work
Brooks has a number of other creative credits. As an actor, he has been seen in Roseanne, To Be or Not to Be, Pacific Blue, and 7th Heaven. He also has a career voicing animation; his voice has been featured in the animated shows Batman Beyond, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Justice League and All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series. During the start of the 3rd season of Lost Tapes, he was cast as himself in the zombie episode, telling the audience about how zombies come to be. He also appeared on Spike TV series Deadliest Warrior, in which he represented the zombie team in the "Vampires vs Zombies" episode, as one of the Zombie experts along with Matt Mogk the Founder of the Zombie Research Society.[16] He also appeared on the Discovery Channel's Sons of Guns in a zombie gun build off ("Civilian vs. Military").
Personal life
Brooks has been married to playwright Michelle Kholos since 2003. They have one son, Henry Michael Brooks (born March 2005), and live in Venice, California.[17]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | To Be or Not to Be | Rifka's Son | Movie |
1992 | The Public Eye | Teen at Thompson Street | Movie |
1992 | Roseanne | Snarky Customer | Ep.: "Terms of Estrangement: Part 1" |
1997 | Pacific Blue | Marty Rosen | Episode: "Avenging Angel" |
1999 | 7th Heaven | Waiter | Episode: "It Happened One Night" |
1999 | Melrose Place | Messenger | Ep.: "How Amanda Got Her Groove Back" |
1999 | The Wild Thornberrys | Lead Dog | Voice; Episode: "Polar Opposites" |
2000 | Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles | Lt. Bernstein (voice) | Episode: "Swarm" |
2000 | Godzilla: The Series | Voice; Ep.: "Underground Movement" | |
2000 | Batman Beyond | Howard Groot / Drew | Voice; 6 Episodes |
2000 | Buzz Lightyear of Star Command | Tech #2 / Ranger #2 / Punk-Goon #2 | Voice; 2 Episodes |
2001 | Justice League | Howie | 2 Episodes |
2004 | Seen | Short | |
2010 | Satan Hates You | Reporter | Movie |
2010 | Lost Tapes | Himself | Episode: Zombies |
Bibliography
Prose
- The Zombie Survival Guide (2003)
- World War Z (2006)
- The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks (2009)
- Closure, Limited and Other Zombie Tales (2011)
- Minecraft: The Island (2018)
- Devolution (2020)
Comics
- G.I. Joe: Hearts and Minds (2010)
- The Harlem Hellfighters (2014)
- The Extinction Parade (2014)
- A More Perfect Union (2016)
- Germ Warfare: A Very Graphic History (2019)
References
- ^ "Max Brooks". Modern War Institute. April 7, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
- ^ Brodesser-Akner, Taffy (June 21, 2013). "Max Brooks Is Not Kidding About the Zombie Apocalypse". The New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
- ^ "Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview". The Daily Beast. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
- ^ "The cinematic Zionism of Mel Brooks". The Jerusalem Post. August 12, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
- ^ a b c Glader, Sue. "Max Brooks, Author". The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
- ^ "Novelist Max Brooks On Doomsday, Dyslexia And Growing Up With Hollywood Parents". NPR. August 15, 2017. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- ^ Fangoria Magazine (Oct. 2006).
- ^ "'Raise the Dead' Series Collected in Hardcover with Forward by Max Brooks". Comic Book Resources. August 10, 2007.
- ^ Manning, Shaun (April 1, 2010). "Brooks Wins 'Hearts and Minds'". Comic Book Resources.
- ^ Horror Novel Reviews Max Brooks ‘Closure, Limited and Other Zombie Tales’ Review Retrieved August 14, 2015
- ^ Lo Wang, Hansi (April 1, 2014). "The Harlem Hellfighters: Fighting Racism In The Trenches Of WWI". NPR. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
- ^ Ford, Rebecca (March 7, 2014). "Sony Nabs Max Brooks' WWI Graphic Novel 'The Harlem Hellfighters'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
- ^ "The Great Wall". Retrieved December 4, 2017.
- ^ "Max Brooks is writing a Minecraft novel! Oh yes!". mojang.com. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
- ^ Squires, John (August 29, 2019). "'World War Z' Writer Max Brooks Returning With Sasquatch Massacre Novel 'Devolution'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
- ^ "Deadliest Warrior Comic-Con 2011 Panel – Episode 300a"[permanent dead link]. Spike. July 22, 2011
- ^ Brodesser-Akner, Taffy (June 21, 2013). "Max Brooks Is Not Kidding About the Zombie Apocalypse". The New York Times. pp. 2–3. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- Official website
- Max Brooks at IMDb
- Interview: Max Brooks discusses "The Harlem Hellfighters," World War I and his own life on the 7th Avenue Project radio show
- Townsend, Allie (July 26, 2010). "Q&A: Zombie-Survival Expert Max Brooks". Time. Archived from the original on July 28, 2010.</ref>
- Max Brooks at the Grand Comics Database
- Max Brooks at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- 1972 births
- American comics writers
- Humorists
- American male television actors
- American male writers
- American people of Jewish descent
- American people of Italian descent
- American television writers
- American University alumni
- Crossroads School alumni
- Living people
- Male actors from New York City
- Male actors of Italian descent
- Male television writers
- Pitzer College alumni
- Primetime Emmy Award winners
- Screenwriters from California
- Screenwriters from New York (state)