ACTOR · BORN 1947
Albert Brooks
- Born
- 22 July 1947
25 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
All facts (25)
- #001
Albert Brooks appeared as a guest voice actor on The Simpsons (1989) six times. With one exception, he played a different character each time, and as of 2018 he had made more guest appearances on the show than anyone else. He was credited each time as "A. Brooks" and had no relation to James L. Brooks.
- #002
He changed his surname to "Einstein" because there was already a highly famous theoretical physicist named Albert Einstein.
- #003
On one occasion, on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), he performed a five-minute stand-up comedy routine with no jokes that drew not a single laugh until the punchline — he explained to the audience that he had been working as a stand-up comedian for five years and had run out of material. Johnny Carson swore that the amusement following this setup lasted a full minute.
- #004
He is the brother of Clifford Einstein and Bob Einstein, the latter best known for the character "Super Dave" Osbourne.
- #005
Albert's father, the vaudeville/radio/film comedian Harry Einstein (also known as Parkyakarkus), died of a heart attack in 1958, when Albert was 11 years old. Parke collapsed next to Milton Berle at a Friars roast in Los Angeles held in honor of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
- #006
He turned down the lead role in When Harry Met Sally… (1989) because he thought it was too similar to a Woody Allen screenplay. Albert has been described as the West Coast Woody Allen.
- #007
He turned down the lead role in Big (1988).
- #008
His mother, the singer and actress Thelma Leeds, had a brief career before she decided to marry Albert's father and start a family. She occasionally returned to appear in her son Albert's films.
- #009
His paternal grandfather, Chaskel (Charles) Einstein, was an Austrian Jewish immigrant, and his paternal grandmother, Sarah Klayman, was a Russian Jewish immigrant. His maternal grandparents, Joseph Goodman and Katie Leventhal, were also Russian Jewish immigrants.
- #010
As of 2021, he had appeared in three films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Taxi Driver (1976), Terms of Endearment (1983) and Broadcast News (1987). Terms of Endearment (1983) won in that category.
- #011
Brooks was romantically linked to the singer Linda Ronstadt and the actresses Carrie Fisher, Julie Hagerty and Kathryn Harrold before he married the artist Kimberly Shlain.
- #012
Brooks attended Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, but dropped out after a year to focus on comedy.
- #013
He turned down the role of Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman (1990), and Richard Gere ultimately got the part.
- #014
He appeared in two films selected by the Library of Congress for the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Taxi Driver (1976) and Broadcast News (1987).
- #015
He is the son of Thelma Leeds and Harry Einstein (the comedian known as "Parkyakarkus").
- #016
He is a good friend of Debbie Reynolds.
- #017
He attended the same high school as Angelina Jolie, Michael Klesic, Nicolas Cage, Lenny Kravitz, David Schwimmer, Jonathan Silverman, Gina Gershon, Rhonda Fleming, Jackie Cooper, Rob Reiner, Antonio Sabato Jr., Pauly Shore, Michael Tolkin, Betty White, Corbin Bernsen, Elizabeth Daily and Crispin Glover.
- #018
He is a friend of Richard Lewis.
- #019
Brooks was honored by the American Film Institute with a retrospective screening of his work at the first US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado.
- #020
Following Reiner's untimely death in December 2025, he helped organize the first of several memorials held for Rob Reiner.
- #021
Biography: "Who's Who in Comedy", Ronald L. Smith, pp. 61-62. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387.
- #022
Albert Brooks appeared in two films whose end title sequences feature the song "Beyond the Sea": My First Mister (2001) and Finding Nemo (2003).
- #023
Albert Brooks is the nephew of Zeke Manners.
- #024
Albert Brooks is the son of Harry Einstein and Thelma Leeds. He is the father of Jake Brooks and Claire Brooks.
- #025
Albert Brooks lives in Santa Monica, California.
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