As of 2007, he is one of six directors who has directed his wife to a Best Actress Oscar nomination (Jean Simmons in The Happy Ending (1969)). The other five are Joel Coen directing Frances McDormand in Fargo (1996), John Cassavetes directing Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence (1974) & Gloria (1980), Blake Edwards directing Julie Andrews in Victor Victoria (1982), Paul Czinner directing Elisabeth Bergner in Escape Me Never (1935) and Paul Newman directing Joanne Woodward in Rachel, Rachel (1968). Jules Dassin also directed his future wife
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 3, 1991-1993, pages 73-75. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001.
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 167-172. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.
Daughter, with Jean Simmons, is Kate Brooks.
Directed 10 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Lee J. Cobb, Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor, Burt Lancaster, Shirley Jones, Ed Begley, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight, Jean Simmons and Tuesday Weld. Lancaster, Jones, and Begley won Oscars for their performances in one of Brooks' movies.
Ex-stepfather of Tracy Granger.
Graduate of West Philadelphia HS and Temple University.
Was a close friend of writer/director Samuel Fuller, who knew him from the days when they were both reporters in New York.