Actor recalls days of filming

Joyce Rudolph

Kenneth Mars remembers the day Mel Brooks called him to play a

role in his new movie “Young Frankenstein.”

Mars was doing a play in Buffalo, N.Y., and the snow was thigh

high. The stage manager came into his dressing room and said Brooks

was on the phone.

“I said, ‘Hello, Mel,’ ” Mars said. “He said, ‘Let me ask you

something, first of all, what are you doing in Buffalo?’ ”

“Nome (Alaska) was too warm,” Mars quipped back.

Then Brooks said, “Do you think an eye patch with a monocle on top

of it is too much?”

“I said no, and that was my audition,” Mars said.

Mars was in “The Producers,” written and directed by Brooks, so

Brooks was familiar with Mars’ work. He played Franz Liebkind, a

German man who has written the world’s worst script.

In “Young Frankenstein,” being screened twice today at The Alex

Theatre in Glendale, Mars plays the chief of police who has a wooden

arm.

“I invented ways of moving the arm and the audience got a kick out

of it,” the Granada Hills resident said.

He has seen the movie twice, he said, and enjoyed watching the

audience reaction to his portrayal.

His lines, written by Brooks and Gene Wilder, were funny enough,

Mars said, and didn’t call for much embellishment.

Mars attributes two reasons the movie continues to charm

audiences.

“People get a kick out of seeing something that is basically a

horror film treated in a comical way,” he said. “And Teri Garr is so

adorable. And, Marty Feldman is cute as a bug. He was a wonderfully

funny guy.”

Off camera, Mars said, Feldman was a dear fellow who got such a

bang out of life. Mars often would join him for an evening out.

They’d go to dinner and dancing, and Feldman would wear long gowns

and draw a lot of public attention. People loved him, they would

follow after him and call his name. He’d always stop and sign

autographs. Many people don’t know he was a jazz musician, too.

“He was an off-beat guy,” Mars said. “Nothing he did was on beat.”

Mars also complimented Brooks for his recent success as “The

Producers” has been such a huge smash on Broadway.

“I think it’s great. I love to see Mel have success like that,” he

said. “It opens the doors for people who like wacky comedy like the

Marx Brothers used to do, which was a staple on Broadway for a long

time. Those shows became movies. The door was closed to shows like

that on Broadway as musical theater became more popular.”

Mars continues acting and doing voice-over work on animated

features like “The Little Mermaid.” He can be seen on “Malcolm in the

Middle” beginning with the season premiere Nov. 3.

He will be playing the role of Otto, another German character.

“I’ve had a patent pending on German characters for years. I’m the

only one who can play them. The patent finally came through. I’m

joking, of course.”