Actors - Milton Berle

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	Actors - Milton Berle

Milton Berle (b. Milton Berlinger, (July 12, 1908, New York City; d.March 27, 2002, Los Angeles, California) was an American comedian and---after a career spanning vaudeville, film, and radio---became television's first true superstar. As the manic host of the legendary Texaco Star Theater (NBC, 1948 to June 14, 1955 he became known as Uncle Miltie to millions. The show was also known as the Buick-Berle Show when Buick became its sponsor in 1953 and The Milton Berle Show in its final season). Berle's freewheeling, wildly antic style ensured his legend would outlive the show (which once owned America's home audience on Tuesday nights) and, some feel, his talent.

The Porn Business Kid

Born in a five-story walkup at 68 West 118th Street in New York, Berle had the entertainment itch in early childhood, beginning his long career in 1913 by winning a contest with an impersonation of silent comic genius Charlie Chaplin. Despite his many genuine achievements, Berle padded his résumé by falsely claiming to have worked as a child actor in silent films, including The Perils of Pauline and Tillie's Punctured Romance. It has been established since that Berle—who later included a reputation for joke-stealing as part of his act—did not appear in these films.

But he did pay his dues in film, stage, and radio work, building a following, and in the fall of 1948 Berle finally caught his biggest break, when NBC—reviving its radio vehicle Texaco Star Theater yet again (it was, formerly, the vehicle through which Ed Wynn and, especially, Fred Allen refined and advanced the styles that made them radio legends), with Berle as its host—decided to bring it to television in the fall of 1948, after Berle had spent the summer as one of the tryout show's rotating hosts.

Mr. Television

"I'd rather be a has-been than a might-have-been, by far; for a might have-been has never been, but a has was once an are," Milton Berle was once quoted as saying. It turned out that he got his wish—perhaps a little sooner that he might have wished to get it. NBC took the chance and named Berle the permanent host of Texaco Star Theater—and launched an American icon. The show and its host owned Tuesday nights for the next several years, hitting the number one slot in the Nielsen ratings and keeping it with as much as an 80 percent share of the recorded viewing audience. Berle individually and the show itself each won Emmy Awards after the first season. Theaters, restaurants, and other businesses either closed completely or simply shut down for the hour so their customers wouldn't miss Berle's antics. He was credited with a huge spike in television set sales (many believe Berle helped sell more television sets in the U.S. than anyone else in the medium's early years), and between that and his stature as the medium's first superstar Berle earned the nickname "Mr. Television."

He earned his slightly more familiar nickname after ending a 1949 broadcast with a brief remark to children watching the show: "Listen to your Uncle Miltie and go to bed." And he was so popular, at the height of the show's success, that NBC signed him to an exclusive, thirty-year contract in 1951.

Shooting Star

The only problem with that deal was that NBC (and practically everyone else) couldn't know just how short would be the average lifespan of any comedian on television, compared to radio comics whose careers went on for two decades and often longer. In part, this was due to the more ephemeral nature of visual comedy: they who don't adapt faster don't survive longer. And, indeed, Berle ended up wearing out his welcome almost as rapidly as he had built it up in the first place. Texaco pulled out of sponsorship of the show in 1953; Buick picked it up, prompting the renaming to The Buick-Berle Show, but Berle's ratings continued to fall and Buick pulled out after one season. By the time the again-renamed Milton Berle Show finished its one full season under that name, Berle already seemed like ancient history—though this final season did provide some of the earliest television appearances by a young rock and roll singing star named Elvis Presley.

NBC had no choice but to cancel the original Berle show at last. He later appeared in the Kraft Music Hall series, but NBC was finding increasingly fewer roles for its one-time superstar. By 1960, he was reduced to hosting a game show, Jackpot Bowling, delivering his quips in-between the on-screen efforts of bowling contestants.

Trying to Live Up to His Legend

Unable to find or accept other television work, Berle played Las Vegas, made nightclub appearances, appeared on Broadway in Herb Gardner's The Goodbye People in 1968, and appeared in many films (mostly as himself). These included Always Leave Them Laughing (1949) with Virginia Mayo and Bert Lahr, Let's Make Love, with Marilyn Monroe and Yves Montand (1960); It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
(1963); The Loved One (1965); The Oscar (1966); Lepke (1975); Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose
(1984); and Driving Me Crazy (1991). He also had guest roles on television series such as The Jack Benny Show, Make Room for Daddy, The Lucy Show, Batman, The Big Valley, Get Smart, The Mod Squad, Ironside, Mannix, McCloud, The Love Boat, CHiPs, Fame, Fantasy Island, Gimme a Break, Diff'rent Strokes, Matlock, Murder, She Wrote, Beverly Hills 90210, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Nanny, Roseanne, Sister, Sister, and many others.

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