Albert Brooks

Albert has a brother named Bob Einstein, who is also a well-known comedian. Bob is well-known for his character ‘Super Dave’. His mother, who had given up acting post marriage has also appeared in few of Brook’s films.

It was rumoured that Albert had an affair with actress Kathryn Harrold. He was even linked to other actresses such as Carrie Fisher and Julie Hagerty. However, Brooks got married to Kimberly Shlain in 1997, who was then a web designer. The couple have two kids, son Jacob, and daughter Claire.

Albert Brooks was born on 22 July 1947 to Harry Einstein and Thelma Leeds in Beverly Hills, California. Albert’s mother was an actress, whereas his father was a comedian who performed in radio shows. His original name was Albert Einstein, which he changed later.

Brooks lost his father to a heart attack, when he was barely eleven years old. Later, he pursued his primary education at the ‘Beverly Hills High School’, which boasts of celebrity alumni such as actors Angelina Jolie and Rob Reiner.

Brooks then moved to the prestigious ‘Carnegie Mellon University’ to pursue further studies, through a scholarship he had won for acting. However, Brooks dropped out of college within a year since he was interested in pursuing acting full-time.

After appearing on a variety of talk shows through the 1960’s decades, Brooks made his first major television appearance in 1969 on a Dean Martin Variety show.

Albert Brooks’ first major appearance for TV was in the famous American television talk show ‘The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson’. His performance on the show influenced many others to turn comedians, including famous actor Steve Martin.

The early 1970’s saw the release of Albert Brooks’ two comedy albums ‘Comedy Minus One’ and ‘A Star is Bought’. Both these albums were equally successful. After these two works, Albert bid a temporary farewell to stand-up comedy.

In 1975, Brooks ventured into filmmaking, and went on to make six short films for the TV show ‘Saturday Night Live’, which was in its first season back then. ‘The Impossible Truth’, ‘Heart Surgery’, and ‘Sick’ are few of the short films he made for this television show, which was aired on CBC.

One of Albert’s most memorable roles was the character he portrayed in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Taxi Driver’. Released in 1975, the movie influenced Albert to relocate to Los Angeles.

Though Brooks couldn’t have got a bigger break than his role in the Martin Scorsese film ‘Taxi Driver’, it was the 1987 film ‘Broadcast News’ which made him very popular. His role as a funny reporter in the movie, won Brooks an Academy Award.

Albert Brooks work was highly appreciated in the 2011 film ‘The Drive’. Though the movie starred popular actor Ryan Gosling in the lead, it was being claimed that Brooks’ portrayal of Bernie Rose is what stole the hearts of the critics and audiences alike. Brooks was nominated for and won many awards for the movie