Mel Brooks once tried to play the legendary western star John Wayne in one of his classic comedies.
At a recent Q&A following the 50th anniversary of the Brooks’ 1974 classic Blazing Saddles in Los Angeles, the 98-year-old director recalled trying — and failing — to convince Wayne, who died in 1979 at age 72, to join his production as the Waco Kid.
“I wanted authenticity. I wanted the Waco Kid to actually be a Western actor, so it would give the film some kind of authentic character,” Brooks told the audience at the event, IndieWire reports.
The legendary comedian and filmmaker said he got the inspired casting idea when he found himself sitting near Wayne in a coffee shop at the Warner Bros.’ studio plot.
“So I walked up and said, ‘Mr. Wayne.’ I shot a film called Blazing Saddles. It’s a comedy, but it has a lot of heart. There’s a great role in it that I’d like you to play,” Brooks recalled. “He said, ‘OK. You know what? I know you. I saw Producers and I laughed my head off. You are a very funny guy. I’d love to read it.’ ”
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‘Blazing Saddles’.
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After Brooks helped Wayne get the script for the movie, he recalled that Wayne asked to meet again in the same place just a day later. “I met him, he said, ‘I laughed, but I didn’t make it. It’s too dirty,'” Brooks recalled Wayne saying when turning down the role.
Brooks then enlisted another Oscar winner in Gig Young to star Blazing Saddles‘ the main role. Young accepted, but left the production soon after filming began as he struggled with alcohol addiction, as Mercury News reported back in 2016. Desperate for a definitive replacement, Brooks enlisted his friend and Producers collaborator Gene Wilder, who ultimately turned the role into an iconic comedic performance.
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Mel Brooks, Cleavon Litle and Harvey Korman in Blazing Saddles 1974 FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images
Flaming Saddles — which follows the trials and tribulations of a newly appointed black sheriff in the frontier town of Ridge Rock — was nominated for three Oscars. In 2006, the beloved comedy was added to the Library of Congress’ Film Preservation List, which recognizes images that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically” significant.
During Brooks’ recent Q&A about the film, the EGOT recipient also recalled that then-Warner Bros. head Ted Ashley once told Brooks to edit the film significantly after a screening of the film. “Why listen to anything? I’d have an 11-minute movie,” he said. “And so he left, I crumpled up his notes, threw them in the wastebasket.”
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