Milton Berle

At 93 years old, Milton Berle physical status not available right now. We will update Milton Berle's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Career

Berle made his stage debut in a revival of the musical comedy Florodora in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which later moved to Broadway, about 1920. By the time he was 16, he was serving as a master of ceremonies in vaudeville, vaudeville. He is also known to have appeared in several silent films in the 1910s and 1920s, but his presence in some of them is uncertain (see Filmography, below). He appeared in Earl Carrol's "Vanities," a Broadway musical, in 1932. He was a good stand-up comedian by the 1930s, patterned after Ted Healy, one of vain's best comedians.

Berle was hired by producer Jack White in 1933 to appear in the Cork, a controversial musical comedy about Prohibition's repeal. Berle also co-wrote the script for this film, which was released by Educational Pictures. Berle continued to dabble in songwriting: with Ben Oakland and Milton Drake, he wrote the title song for RKO Radio Pictures' Li'l Abner (1940), a parody of Al Capp's comic strip starring Buster Keaton as Lonesome Polecat. "Leave the Dishes in the Sink, Ma," Berle wrote on Spike Jones' Spike Jones B-side.

Berle appeared on The Rudy Vallee Hour from 1934 to 1937 and gained a following as a regular on The Gillette Original Community Sing, a Sunday night comedy-variety show on CBS from September 6, 1936, to August 29, 1937. He was the host of Stop Me If You've Heard This One in 1939, when panelists began spontaneously ending jokes sent in by listeners.

He cut back-paying nightclub appearances to boost his radio career in the late 1940s. Three Ring Time, a comedy-variety show sponsored by Ballantine Ale, was followed by a 1943 program sponsored by Campbell's Soups. Let Yourself Go (1944–1945) may best be described as "slapstick radio" with studio audience members acting out long-awaited urges, many of whom were even directed at host Berle. The contestants' problems were determined by a jury from the studio audience, with Berle as the judge. Berle has appeared on several comedy-variety radio shows in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Milton Berle Show was also scripted by Hal Block and Martin Ragaway, and it was later seen as a familiar face as Berle's TV sidekick. Pert Kelton, Mary Schipp, Jack Albertson, Arthur Q. Bryan, Ed Begley, Brazilian singer Dick Farney, and announcer Frank Gallop were among the cast members. It was sponsored by Philip Morris from March 11, 1947, to April 13, 1948.

"The best radio show I ever did" was described by Berle later in this series as "the best radio show I ever did." It served as a springboard for Berle's ascension as the nation's first major actor.

Berle first appeared on television in 1929 in Chicago's first experimental broadcast where he hosted in front of 129 people. He would return to television 20 years later.

Berle would revive the basic and routines of his vaudeville performance on commercial television, hosting The Texaco Star Theatre on June 8, 1948, over the NBC Television Network. They did not decide on Berle as the permanent host straight away; he was actually part of a rotation of hosts (Berle himself had only worked for four weeks). In August, Jack Carter was the host. Berle was named as the permanent host for the fall. Berle's soaring visual style, which was characterized by vaudeville slapstick and outlandish costumes, was perfect for the new medium. Berle based the show's design and skits after his vaintueville shows, as well as retaining writer Hal Collins to revive his old habits.

Berle ruled television for the next few years, claiming the number one spot in the Nielsen polls with as much as 97% of the viewing audience. After the first season, Berle and the show team received Emmy Awards. On Tuesdays, only fewer movie tickets were available. Any theaters, restaurants, or other companies that have closed for the evening have closed for the hour or closed to ensure that their patrons will not miss Berle's antics. According to Berle's autobiography, "an investigation was launched in Detroit when the water levels reached a dramatic decline in the reservoirs between 9 and 9 05" during Tuesday nights. Everyone waited until the end of the Texaco Star Theatre before going to the bathroom, as it turned out."

Since the debut of Texaco Star Theatre in 1949, television sales have more than doubled, surpassing two million. Berle's reputation as the medium's first celebrity earned him the osmoset "Mr. Television." After ending a 1949 broadcast with a brief ad-libbed remark to children watching the show, he gained a new nickname: "Listen to your Uncle Miltie and go to bed." Near You, by Francis Craig and Kermit Goell, became Berle's most popular theme song.

When Berle threatened to discourage black stars from appearing on his program, he put him on his own.

Sadie Berle's mother, Sadie, was often in the audience for his shows; she had long served as a "plant" to encourage laughter from his stage show audiences. Berle's unique, "piercing, roof-shaking grin" would stand out, especially when she made an appearance in an outrageous costume. After feigning surprise, he'd "ad-lib" a response, such as: "Lady, you've got all night to make a fool of yourself."

I've only got an hour!"

Berle begged NBC to switch from live broadcasts to film, which may have resulted in future reruns (and residual income from them), but the network refused; he was furious when the network refused. However, NBC did agree to produce a kinescope of each show. Irving Berlin Kahn, the company's founder, had a 25% stake in the TelePrompTer Corporation, if he wanted to replace cue cards with the latest version on his site. He turned down the bid.

Berle, a regular user of tranquilizers, favored Miltown on his radio and became one of America's top advocates in 1950s America. Berle was dubbed "Uncle Miltown" by Time magazine because of the drug's promotion.

In 1960, Berle was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to television.

The show's imperious, abrasive, and commanding demeanor was the inspiration for Bronson's 1957 CBS Playhouse 90 production of "The Comedian." Mickey Rooney plays egocentric television comedian Sammy Hogarth, who ruled his weekly show through tumultuous tantrums, coercion, and cruelty. Ernest Lehman had been hired to interview Berle for a newspaper and had so much admired the magazine's decision not to run it, but instead suggested he fictionalize it and recast it as a novella. Rod Serling penned the script as it was shown on the television when it was picked up for the show. The live performance wrangled acclaim, according to John Frankenheimer. Edmond O'Brien, Kim Hunter, and jazz guitarist Mel Torme appeared in his first dramatic role, portraying Hogarth's spineless brother Lester. Although some speculated that the play was based on Jackie Gleason's loud, controlling person, Berle, who was aware that the result matched his own reputation, was quoted as saying, "I wasn't that bad." Two Emmy Awards were given to the episode.

In 1951, NBC agreed Berle to a multi-year exclusive television deal worth a million dollars per year.

Buick dropped out of sponsorship of the show in 1953, but Buick picked it up, resulting in the renaming of the Buick-Berle Exhibition. The backstage planning for the variety show was also included in the program's structure. Critics generally approved of the changes, but Berle's ratings continued to decline, and Buick pulled out after two seasons. In addition, "Berle's persona" had evolved from the original, arduous and aggressive style of the Texaco Star Theater days to a more mature yet less personal person, leaving many viewers unsatisfied."

Berle's last season, which culminated in the absence of a full season (1955–56), was already legendary—though his last season was host to two of Elvis Presley's oldest television appearances, on April 3, 1956. The last straw in the last season may have been delivered by CBS' programming The Phil Silvers Show opposite Berle and Belze could have been the final straw. In an appearance on Berle's site, Silvers was one of Berle's most prominent show business and he had to be spotted by CBS. Nat Hiken, Bilko's editor-producer, had been one of Berle's radio journalists.

Before Presley appeared, Berle knew that NBC had already decided against NBC. He hosted the first television version of the famous radio variety show The Kraft Music Hall from 1958 to 1959, but NBC was finding fewer venues for its one-time superstar. He was limited to hosting a bowling program, Jackpot Bowling, delivering his quips and interviewing celebrities between the two teams' attempts this week.

Berle played to packed showrooms at Caesars Palace, the Sands, the Desert Inn, and other Las Vegas casinos. In the late 1940s, Berle had worked at the El Rancho, one of the first Vegas hotels. Berle appeared in Herb Gardner's The Goodbye People in 1968, in lieu of regular club appearances. He also became a commercial spokesman for the burgeoning Lum's restaurant chain.

He appeared in numerous films, including Always Leave Them Laughing (which came shortly after his television debut in 1949); Let's Make Love with Marilyn Monroe and Yves Montand; Who's Minding the Mint? ; Lepke's Broadway debut; Woody Allen's Broadway debut; and Driving Me Crazy.

Berle was released in part from his NBC employment as part of his NBC service and moved to ABC's new weekly variety series. After one season, the show was unable to please a large audience and was cancelled after one season. Louie the Lilac, ABC's guest star, appeared on ABC's Batman series later this year. Other appearances included stints on The Barbara Stanwyck Show, The Lucy Show, The Jackie Gleason Exhibition, Get Smart, Laugh-In, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, The Hollywood Palace, Ironside, F Troop, Fantasy Island, The Muppet Show, and The Jack Benny Project.

Berle, a contemporary Jackie Gleason, was known for many such appearances, most notably in his lead role in "Doyle Against the House" on The Dick Powell Show in 1961, which earned him an Emmy Award. In addition, he was involved in a blind survivor of an airplane crash in Seven in Darkness, the first in ABC's Movie of the Week series. He appeared as a talent agent in The Academy (1966) and was one of the few actors in the film to receive raves from critics.

Berle was selected for the most number of charity appearances made by a show-business entertainer during this period. Berle did more shows over a period of 50 years than Bob Hope's high-profile shows to entertain the troops, but on a lower-profile basis. In comparison to visiting foreign bases during World War II and the Vietnam War, Berle was given an award for entertaining at stateside military bases in World War I as a child performer. Berle hosted the first charity telethon (for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation) in 1949. He was a permanent fixture at charity services in the Hollywood area and was instrumental in raising millions of dollars for charitable causes.

Berle appeared on NBC's Saturday Night Live on April 14, 1979. Berle's long history of owning a complete television show — whether you were encouraged to do so or not — was a point of worry on the set. In addition, he seemed skepticism about the show's satirical bent. Rosie Shuster, one of the show's writers, referred to the preparations for the Berle SNL show and the telecast as "watching a comedy train accident on a loop." Berle's appearance, camera mugging, filming old joke bits, and climaxing the performance with a maudlin performance of "September Song" ending with a pre-arranged standing ovation, which had never barred the show from being revived. Because Michaels believed the show brought down the show's image, it was also forbidden from being rerun until surfacing in 2003.

Berle was memorably upstaged by Statler and Waldorf, who appeared as a guest star on The Muppet Show. The Statler and Waldorf puppets were inspired by Sidney Spritzer, a tenacious comedian who yelled Berle from a box seat during 1960s ABC broadcasting. Milton Berle appeared in The Muppet Movie as a used car dealer, swapping Fozzie Bear's 1951 Studebaker for a station wagon.

When both appeared as guests on The Mike Douglas Show in 1974, Berle had a minor altercation with younger actor/comedian Richard Pryor. Berle was debating the emotional consequences of an abortion for a woman with whom he was not married, and he was deciding whether or not they would keep the child at that time. Pryor let out a joking about a laugh during his address, but Berle refused to disagree and confronted him, adding, "I wish, Richard, that I should have laughed at that time when I was younger, the way you laugh now." I told you this nine years ago, and now I'll tell you on the air in front of millions of people: Choose your spots, baby." In a Humphrey Bogart voice, Pryor mumbled back, "All right, sweetheart."

When Berle and Martha Raye were the presenters of the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in 1982, another well-known case of upstaging occurred. Berle was reluctant to give the award's recipients from Second City Television, and he interrupted actor/writer Joe Flaherty's acceptance address several times. Berle sarcastically replied, "That's funny!" after Flaherty made a quip. Flaherty's response, "Sorry, Uncle Miltie, go to sleep," flustered Berle, is a bit sad. "You'll never ruin another acceptance speech, Uncle Miltie," Flaherty beats up a Berle look-alike. SCTV later produced a parody sketch of the incident in which Flaherty beats up a Berle look-alike, yelling, "You'll never ruin another acceptance speech."

Berle appeared in drag in 1984's video for "Round and Round" by the 1980s metal band Ratt (his nephew Marshall Berle was then their boss). In addition, he appeared in the band's "Back For More" video as a motorcyclist for a short time.

In 1985, he appeared on NBC's Amazing Stories (created by Steven Spielberg) in an episode called "Fine Tuning." Friend aliens from space are sent television signals from Earth of the 1950s and Hollywood in the search of their heroes, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, The Three Stooges, Burns, and Allen, and Milton Berle. Uncle Miltie is oblivious as he realizes that the aliens are doing his old stuff: "Stealing from Berle."

Is that even possible?")

Berle is the only one who can actually communicate with the aliens by gibberish.

Max Jakey, one of his most popular shows in his later years, appeared in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1992 as a womanizing, wise-cracking patient. The bulk of his speech was improvised, and he shocked the studio audience by mistakenly yelling out a curse word. He appeared in a celebrated and Emmy-nominated appearance on Beverly Hills, 90210, as an elderly comedian befriended by Steve Sanders, who idolizes him, but is concerned with his bouts of senility due to Alzheimer's disease. He also appeared as Prince of Darkness, the main antagonist in Au Clair De La Lune's Canadian animated television anthology special. In 1995, he appeared as a guest star on a Nanny episode as her advocate and great uncle.

Berle released "Milton Berle's Low Impact/High Comedy Workout," a fitness videotape aimed at seniors in 1994.

When RuPaul replied to Berle's claim of wearing dresses more often (during his old television days) with the quip that Berle now wore diapers, he was back to an onstage rant at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. "Oh, we're going to a lib," Berle said on a line he had delivered to Henny Youngman on his Hollywood Palace show in 1966: "Oh, we're going to ad lib?" I'll check my brain and we'll get to it even faster."

Source

Honors and awards

• Berle won the Emmy for Most Outstanding Kinescoped Personality in 1950, the same year his show, the Texaco Star Theater, won the Emmy for Best Kinescope Show. He was twice nominated for Emmys for his acting, in 1962 and 1995. In 1979, Berle was awarded a special Emmy Award, titled "Mr. Television."
• The Hollywood Walk of Fame, on February 8, 1960, inducted Berle with two stars, for television and radio.
• Berle was in the first group of inductees into the Television Hall of Fame in 1984.
• On December 5, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Berle into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.