Mel Brooks’ Wives: All About His First Marriage to Florence Baum and ‘Love at First Sight’ Romance with Anne Bancroft

A living legend and one of entertainment’s biggest comedic influences, Mel Brooks was married twice: to Broadway dancer Florence Baum and actress Anne Bancroft.

The creative force behind comedy classics like The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs and Young Frankenstein, Mel has become as well-known as a comedian on-camera and as a writer and a director behind the scenes, achieving EGOT status in 2001. He was married to Broadway dancer Florence Baum from 1953 to 1962, with whom he welcomed three children — Stefanie, Nicholas “Nicky” and Edward “Eddie” Brooks.

After their divorce, Mel wed actress Anne Bancroft in 1964, and the couple had a son, Maximillian “Max” Brooks, together. They remained together until her death from cancer in 2005, and he hasn’t been publicly linked to anyone romantically since.

“We never dreamed that Anne would ever get sick or ultimately pass away,” Eddie said in Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!, which debuted on HBO Max on Jan. 22. “[Mel] just worshiped her.”

Here’s everything to know about Mel Brooks’s two wives, Florence Baum and Anne Bancroft.

Florence Baum

Baum was already an accomplished Broadway dancer when she met Mel, appearing in shows like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Mel and Baum connected while they were working on Your Show of Shows, where he was a writer and she was a dancer.

“I got to meet her, and I got to like her very much,” Mel said in Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!. “And she got to like me, and when I was 23 or 24 we got married.”

At the time the couple got together, Baum’s career was thriving.

“My mom, at one point, was dancing for the Colgate Comedy Hour … and Dean Martin had such a case of the hots for her, just loved her,” Nicholas said in the docuseries, adding that the singer described Mel, who had only started his career, as “a dead-ender.” “My mom said, ‘I’m sorry but I really like him, I really dig him,’ so she took a pass.”

The couple married in 1953 and welcomed three children. Their daughter, Stefanie, was born on Feb. 21, 1956, followed by Nicholas “Nicky” on Dec. 13, 1957, and Edward “Eddie” on May 24, 1959. All three children were born in New York City.

When asked if Baum wanted a big family in the docuseries, Mel said, “Not particularly. She had it thrust upon her by her ever-loving husband.”

Continuing to have kids meant that Baum had to put her career on hold for a time. “I married her out of show business because I kept getting her pregnant, and that meant that she could not pursue her career when I could pursue mine,” he said.

Adding to that tension, Mel was struggling financially and with his mental health after Your Show of Shows ended in 1954, he said in the docuseries.

“The marriage suffered because I was very difficult to live with, because I was just disgusted of reaching a dead end to my creativity,” he continued. “I don’t blame her for divorcing me. It was just hell living with me.”

Mel and Baum ultimately divorced in 1962.

Anne Bancroft

Bancroft already had a thriving Hollywood career when she and Mel met in 1961 as Bancroft was rehearsing for an appearance on The Perry Como Show.

“She was just incredibly beautiful,” Mel wrote in his 2021 memoir All About Me!: My Incredible Life in Show Business. “When the song was over, I leapt to my feet, applauded madly, and shouted, ‘Anne Bancroft! I love you!’ She laughed and shouted back, ‘Who the hell are you?’ ”

In the days that followed, Mel enlisted friends to alert him of her scheduled appearances so he could “accidentally” run into her.

“By the end of the week I said to her, ‘It’s amazing! We’re always showing up at the same places! It’s kismet!’ ” he wrote. “She laughed and shouted back, ‘It’s not kismet. You’re stalking me! If you wanna see me why don’t you be brave and ask me for a date?’ So I did.”

In archival footage shown in the docuseries, Bancroft recalled their first few encounters, saying, “It just went on and on, the man never left me alone. Thank God.”

Both Bancroft and Mel later said that it was love at first sight. “I was in love with him instantly,” Bancroft said in footage in the docuseries. “He looked like my father and he acted like my mother.”

The couple married in 1964, and had one son, Maximillian “Max,” who was born on May 22, 1972.

During this time, Bancroft’s star only continued to rise, portraying the iconic Mrs. Robinson in 1967’s The Graduate and appearing in films like 1975’s Prisoner of Second Avenue and 1980’s The Elephant Man. But in the first years of their marriage, Mel was struggling in his career, still years away from his huge hits like Blazing Saddles.

“I was penniless for a while,” he said in the docuseries. “Anne kept me going.”

The couple remained strong. “When I hear his key in the lock at night my heart starts to beat faster,” Bancroft once said, according to Vanity Fair. “I’m just so happy he’s coming home. We have so much fun.”

Bancroft died in 2005 from uterine cancer at age 73. Mel never remarried.

“Living this life without her is not easy,” he told PEOPLE in November 2021. “There were a lot of great kisses and great spaghetti.”

In the docuseries, Mel recalled his strong connection with Bancroft. “She got me,” he said. “She gets me.”