Brooks takes on role of humor ambassador

In his latest film, “Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World,” Albert Brooks stars as himself -- albeit a somewhat fictional version of himself. At the outset of “Muslim World,” Brooks is having a hard time getting an acting job. Penny Marshall even turns him down for the remake of “Harvey” because she is looking for a Jimmy Stewart type.

But his luck changes when he’s summoned to Washington, D.C, by former senator, now “Law & Order” star Fred Dalton Thompson, who wants Brooks to spend a month in India and Pakistan to find out what makes 300 Muslims laugh. And they want him to write a 500-word report for the U.S. government.

With dreams of earning a Medal of Freedom and better acting assignments, Brooks agrees to help the U.S. in the new diplomatic effort. And he nearly causes a war between India and Pakistan in the process.

“Muslim World” isn’t the first time that Brooks has played a fictionalized version of himself. He first took his own moniker in his feature film directorial debut, 1979’s “Real Life.” And the reel-life Brooks was an obnoxious, self-important filmmaker who dreams not just of winning an Oscar but a Nobel Peace Prize. To achieve his goal, he persuades a Phoenix family to let him film its everyday life.

Coincidentally, Brooks’ dad, Harry Parke (born Harold Einstein), also appeared as “himself” in several films in the 1930s and 1940s, under his stage name “Parkyarkarkus.” A comedian and radio performer, he is probably best remembered for his performances on Eddie Cantor’s radio show. He made his film debut as Parkyarkarkus in 1936’s “Strike Me Pink.”

Like his son, Parkyarkarkus also looked for humor to the Muslim world, in the long-forgotten 1942 film “A Yank in Libya.” In this World War II action-adventure, he plays the film’s comic relief role, an American stand-up comic, lost in the country, who helps an intrepid American reporter. At the film’s finale, it’s revealed that Parkyarkarkus is actually a U.S. military intelligence agent.

Parkyarkarkus died a true performer’s death in 1958. Directly after he performed at a Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Friars Club Roast, he sat down at the dais next to Milton Berle and suffered a fatal heart attack.

-- Susan King