Mel Brooks: My mother brought home live fish to kill for dinner

He is one of Hollywood’s most decorated personalities and has more than £100 million in the bank.

But Oscar winner Mel Brooks has revealed that growing up in Brooklyn, New York, his family fought so much that his mother would bring home fish and kill them for dinner.

Brooks, now 96, admits he and his brother even fell in love with one of them – naming him Arty.

His mother, Kate Kaminsky — a low-wage textile worker who raised her four sons alone after her husband Melvin died when Brooks was just two — later served it on a plate to her children.

Brooks (pictured) previously shared how growing up in a tough neighborhood and often feeling like an outsider because he was Jewish, short and unathletic, he used comedy to defend himself from an early age

Speaking to Ruth Rogers, owner of River Cafe, on her podcast Ruthie’s Table 4, the American actor, comedian and filmmaker said: “My mum will only get a live fish.

“My brother Bernie and I called him Arty. We fed him breadcrumbs and chased him through the bathroom.

But it was unspeakable. My brothers Irving and Lenny stopped us when she killed Arty. Then we ate it. She said we should eat.’

Brooks, known for such films as The Producers, Blazing Saddles and The Twelve Chairs, was born in 1926 on a table in a $16-a-month tenement in Brownsville, Brooklyn.

He previously spoke about how he grew up in a tough area and often felt like an outsider because he was Jewish, small and unathletic, so he defended himself with comedy from a young age.

During the podcast, he also opened up about how, despite falling in love with Broadway at a young age, he was drafted into the US Army.

Brooks, who was married to Anne Bancroft until her death in 2005, also spoke about his friendship with legendary actor Cary Grant, who took him under his wing as a rising star.