Purely by coincidence, I read Mel Brooks' autobiography, All about Me, right after I read Gerald Durrell's semi-autobiographical My Family and other animals. In many respects the two men could not be more different, although I cannot escape noticing some striking similarities. Born within a year of each other but on opposite sides of the world, they grew up without their fathers. Both of them the youngest of four children, each had an eldest brother who took on the role of father. Both had highly intelligent mothers with charismatic personalities. And, obviously, both produced works of great humor and intelligence. Both men had uneven formal educations, relying on mentors to help them learn and develop. Their childhood and early adult years turned them into autodidacts.
They both took big risks, fighting for something they believed in. While Brooks' risk-taking behavior paid off, launching him into a wildly successful Hollywood career, Durell's risks had, at times, the opposite effect.
Gerald Durrell grew up on the Greek island of Corfu in the 1930s, a small, rustic, and remote place. He loved studying plants and animals, spent his days exploring the fields and forests of his homeland, learned from first-hand observation, and from the mentoring of a kind-hearted Greek scientist and tutor. He became a self-taught naturalist and kept a mini-zoo starting from his time in Corfu and continuing through most of his life.
Brooks grew up in a working class neighborhood in Brooklyn, returned after WWII with ambitions of working in show business, and made connections that led him to write for Sid Ceasar on the 50s comedy T.V. show Your show of shows. He then made the transition to working on movies. When first released,his movie The Producers proved only moderately successful, but then Blazing Saddles launched his career as a writer/director and started him on the path to making genre satires for which he is best known, but the success of Blazing Saddles looks certain only in hindsight. He made a decision to break boundaries and not to worry about the consequences, telling his team of writers "We're all going to jail for making this film, so write anything you want." Taking on racism, racist tropes, and stereotypes in the 1970s did not look like a safe way to make a living in show business, but it paid off. Many people came to see Mel Brooks as a visionary.
Durrell loved animals above all else, which led to conflict with many of the zoo keepers he encountered. Looking at Durrell's vision of what zoos should be, I find it striking that zoos in the 21st century have nearly universally adopted his principles. In the mid-20th century the philosophy of most zoos emphasized making money by entertaining people -- the needs of the animals only secondary. Durrell believed that zoos should focus on conservation, saving species from extinction, and returning animals to the wild as much as possible. Secondary to this was education, while entertainment and profit did not enter into his philosophy. As a result of his conflict with "mainstream" zookeepers, the British Zoo community blackballed Durrell, making it impossible for him to find employment at any zoo in the U.K. However, with the success of his first book, My family and other animals, he was able to fund his own expeditions and set up his own zoo. Starting in the late 1950s, he finally gained attention for his efforts and by the 60s, he had become a popular television personality in the UK, appearing in numerous nature and conservation documentaries through the 70s and 80s. Belatedly, many people came to see Gerald Durrell as a visionary as well.
Gerald Durrell's three books about his childhood in Corfu contain a compilation of many hilarious stories -- all greatly exaggerated and embellished I'm sure. His books proved so popular, humorous and entertaining that they have inspired 2 television series and a T.V. movie.
I have to wonder what might have happened had these two men, with very similar lives, childhoods and senses of humor, had met. What would a movie directed by Brooks about Durrell’s life in Corfu have looked like?
Books and movies by Mel Brooks in the MI Library collection.
All of the Books by Gerald Durrell in the MI Library collection.
A collective biography of the Durrell family by Michael Haag: The Durrells of Corfu
