It was comedy that got Mel Brooks his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and it was comedy that he put on display during the unveiling ceremony.
Brooks unveiled a deep, dark secret during that ceremony: the sixth finger on his left hand, one he had managed to keep a secret for the entirety of his career in show business.
Spoiler alert: It was, in typical Brooksian fashion, a prosthesis.
After the hand printing, Brooks went on Conan O’ Brien’s show to talk about his decision.
“I wanted to do something a little different,” he told Conan. “I didn’t know what. So I got another finger. Somebody’s going to come in from Des Moines, Iowa, and say, ‘Mother, did Mel Brooks have six fingers?’”
Well-played, Mr. Brooks. Well-played indeed.
Brooks received his star in conjunction with the 40th anniversary edition DVD release of Young Frankenstein. He was reunited with Frankenstein stars Terri Garr and Cloris Leachman at the Chinese Theater in Los Angeles.
