Biography
Known as "The Thief of Bad Gags," Milton Berle built his livelihood around appropriating jokes from fellow performers, a habit that became the most persistent feature of his frenetic stage character. Delivering punch lines in rapid succession, akin to rounds from a machine gun, sustained a career that endured nearly his entire lifetime.
Born Milton Berlinger in New York City on July 12, 1905, he benefited from the total involvement of his mother, Sarah Berlinger, whose single-minded focus on his professional ascent outstripped that of any rival stage parent in determination and persistence. When Bob Hope charged Berle with taking his material, Sarah retorted, "My son would never stoop so low. My son stoops high!" Long before the boy could talk or walk with any steadiness, she secured modeling jobs for him, most memorably as the child in the Buster Brown shoe advertisements, an image that persisted into the late '50s. He entered motion pictures at age five in Pearl White's serial The Perils of Pauline. As a juvenile actor he appeared repeatedly in the role of the rescued youngster in several Douglas Fairbanks productions. After arriving in Hollywood, Berle immediately secured parts with Charlie Chaplin in the Mack Sennett feature Tillie's Punctured Romance and in two Mary Pickford vehicles, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Little Lord Fauntleroy. His first stage appearance came in 1920 during a revival of Floradora; thereafter he accepted any part that kept him employed in the theater. As George Burns recalled in All My Best Friends, Berle mastered singing, toe dancing, acrobatics, trampoline work, juggling, unicycling, card tricks, and even a distinctive ventriloquism in which he supplied the voices for other writers' material. By fourteen he was performing next-to-closing at the Palace.
Once he outgrew juvenile routines and the so-called flash acts of vaudeville, Berle restarted at the bottom of the bill in lesser venues. Brief associations followed with a quick-change specialist, then with Blossom Seeley and Benny Fields. He also shared bills with Phil Silvers, then a song plugger who would rise from the audience on cue to perform the newest number. Stand-up comedy eventually restored his momentum, and by the close of his teens he had returned to Broadway in the Ziegfeld Follies while headlining leading nightclubs.
During the late '30s and into the next decade, Berle attempted radio. His polished act, built on successive rapid jokes, invited comparison with Bob Hope's established radio style, yet he never located a suitable format. Early efforts included the panel program Stop Me If..., the variety series The Three Ring Show, the show Kiss and Make Up, and three additional programs that achieved only modest results. Nightclub audiences adored him, but radio listeners complained that the act required visual presence. His opportunity arrived with another medium.
Berle continued filling nightclub dates, accepting occasional film roles such as those in Sun Valley Serenade and Always Leave 'Em Laughing (widely regarded as his strongest screen performance), and pursuing every available entertainment avenue. He also composed songs on occasion, including "Leave the Dishes in the Sink, Ma," which earned additional royalties after appearing as the B-side of Spike Jones' million-selling recording of "Cocktails for Two."
In 1948 Berle emerged as the first major star of the rapidly expanding medium of television. Through Texaco Star Theater, Kraft Music Hall, and later The Milton Berle Show, his unrelenting pace helped other comedians adapt to the demands of the new format. He soon earned the enduring nickname "Mister Television," and Tuesday evenings became known as "Berle nights," with much of the country pausing to watch. His presence spurred television-set purchases more effectively than any other factor at the time; neighbors crowded around the sole receiver on the block, and passersby gathered outside store windows to view his antics. Loud, swift, and unrestrained, he suited the medium perfectly. Willing to don a dress and heels or a caveman costume for a laugh, Berle's boisterous, unsubtle approach proved ideal for family viewing and kept audiences anticipating his next surprise. Those eight years elevated him from a highly paid nightclub act to a national institution. Although subsequent television success never matched that peak (by 1960 he hosted a bowling program), his standing among the medium's pioneers remained secure, and he continued guest appearances on variety and dramatic programs into the '80s and beyond. He estimated having performed more than 10,000 benefits, on one occasion appearing at seven separate events in a single night. Berle takes pride in founding the Berle Foundation for Crippled Children, serving as mayor of Meding Heart, FL, home of the National Children's Cardiac Home, raising substantial funds, and hosting numerous telethons. At the time of this writing he markets books and exercise videos as well as video compilations of his classic television routines. Now in his nineties, Mister Television continues to deliver laughs.
Born Milton Berlinger in New York City on July 12, 1905, he benefited from the total involvement of his mother, Sarah Berlinger, whose single-minded focus on his professional ascent outstripped that of any rival stage parent in determination and persistence. When Bob Hope charged Berle with taking his material, Sarah retorted, "My son would never stoop so low. My son stoops high!" Long before the boy could talk or walk with any steadiness, she secured modeling jobs for him, most memorably as the child in the Buster Brown shoe advertisements, an image that persisted into the late '50s. He entered motion pictures at age five in Pearl White's serial The Perils of Pauline. As a juvenile actor he appeared repeatedly in the role of the rescued youngster in several Douglas Fairbanks productions. After arriving in Hollywood, Berle immediately secured parts with Charlie Chaplin in the Mack Sennett feature Tillie's Punctured Romance and in two Mary Pickford vehicles, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Little Lord Fauntleroy. His first stage appearance came in 1920 during a revival of Floradora; thereafter he accepted any part that kept him employed in the theater. As George Burns recalled in All My Best Friends, Berle mastered singing, toe dancing, acrobatics, trampoline work, juggling, unicycling, card tricks, and even a distinctive ventriloquism in which he supplied the voices for other writers' material. By fourteen he was performing next-to-closing at the Palace.
Once he outgrew juvenile routines and the so-called flash acts of vaudeville, Berle restarted at the bottom of the bill in lesser venues. Brief associations followed with a quick-change specialist, then with Blossom Seeley and Benny Fields. He also shared bills with Phil Silvers, then a song plugger who would rise from the audience on cue to perform the newest number. Stand-up comedy eventually restored his momentum, and by the close of his teens he had returned to Broadway in the Ziegfeld Follies while headlining leading nightclubs.
During the late '30s and into the next decade, Berle attempted radio. His polished act, built on successive rapid jokes, invited comparison with Bob Hope's established radio style, yet he never located a suitable format. Early efforts included the panel program Stop Me If..., the variety series The Three Ring Show, the show Kiss and Make Up, and three additional programs that achieved only modest results. Nightclub audiences adored him, but radio listeners complained that the act required visual presence. His opportunity arrived with another medium.
Berle continued filling nightclub dates, accepting occasional film roles such as those in Sun Valley Serenade and Always Leave 'Em Laughing (widely regarded as his strongest screen performance), and pursuing every available entertainment avenue. He also composed songs on occasion, including "Leave the Dishes in the Sink, Ma," which earned additional royalties after appearing as the B-side of Spike Jones' million-selling recording of "Cocktails for Two."
In 1948 Berle emerged as the first major star of the rapidly expanding medium of television. Through Texaco Star Theater, Kraft Music Hall, and later The Milton Berle Show, his unrelenting pace helped other comedians adapt to the demands of the new format. He soon earned the enduring nickname "Mister Television," and Tuesday evenings became known as "Berle nights," with much of the country pausing to watch. His presence spurred television-set purchases more effectively than any other factor at the time; neighbors crowded around the sole receiver on the block, and passersby gathered outside store windows to view his antics. Loud, swift, and unrestrained, he suited the medium perfectly. Willing to don a dress and heels or a caveman costume for a laugh, Berle's boisterous, unsubtle approach proved ideal for family viewing and kept audiences anticipating his next surprise. Those eight years elevated him from a highly paid nightclub act to a national institution. Although subsequent television success never matched that peak (by 1960 he hosted a bowling program), his standing among the medium's pioneers remained secure, and he continued guest appearances on variety and dramatic programs into the '80s and beyond. He estimated having performed more than 10,000 benefits, on one occasion appearing at seven separate events in a single night. Berle takes pride in founding the Berle Foundation for Crippled Children, serving as mayor of Meding Heart, FL, home of the National Children's Cardiac Home, raising substantial funds, and hosting numerous telethons. At the time of this writing he markets books and exercise videos as well as video compilations of his classic television routines. Now in his nineties, Mister Television continues to deliver laughs.
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