Throughout the '60s, Mel Brooks had already made a name for himself on TV with a little series known as Get Smart. Meanwhile, actor Gene Wilder had been in a few stage performances, small TV roles and minor spots in feature films. But the two had not yet become big Hollywood players. They met each other in 1963 while Wilder starred in a production of Mother Courage and Her Children.
Brooks told Wilder about this idea he had for a movie. As Brooks remembered on The Tonight Show on Tuesday, Wilder looked at him and said, "You're doing a play about two Jews who are producing a flop instead of a hit, knowing they can make more money with a flop, and the big number in it is 'Springtime for Hitler.' Yeah. You're going to get the money."
Then, a few years pass, and Brooks somehow gets the money and goes back to Wilder.
"I took the script and I said to Gene, 'We got the money. We're going to make the movie. You are Leo Bloom.' And I threw it on his makeup table. And he burst into tears, and held his face, and cried, and then I hugged him."
That movie, of course, was The Producers, which became a comedy classic and launched Brooks' and Wilder's film careers. And from there, it was comedy history.
