Albert Brooks

Albert Brooks has got into bother with his new film Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. It appears that the use of the word ‘Muslim’ has set distributor Sony into a flap.

If ya don’t know Albert Brooks is a comedian and film maker who has been consistently making his own movies for decades. His real name is Albert Einstein (seriously) and he began his career as a stand-up comedian. I once saw his bad ventriloquist routine Danny and Dave on The Ed Sullivan Show and it was one of the funniest things I’ve seen.

As well as making his own films such as Real Life (1979), Lost in America (1985), Mother (1996) and The Muse (1999) he has also appeared in many films by other directors. His most notable roles have been in Taxi Driver (1976) and Broadcast News (1987). For the latter he was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor. For me he provided a star turn as Ripley in Out of Sight (1998).

He ahs also appeared as a voice on The Simpsons several times playing memorable characters such as Jacques, the bowler who tries to seduce Marge, Brad Goodman the Self Help Guru who believes in bringing out the inner child in all of us and my personal favourite Hank Scorpio boss of Globex.

Here’s a lengthy interview with him as he promotes The Muse. And finally an interview with him in Playboy magazine.