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Milton Berle: Television
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One of television's first superstars, Milton Berle is honored by his peers and those he has influenced including such entertainment luminaries as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley. This star-studded and clip-filled show is ... available on a DVD that offers a biography of Berle as well as a photo gallery.
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Synopsis: Watch the comedy unfold as Milton Berle trades wisecracks with his hilarious guests on this videotape. Some of the funniest people in show business are featured in this collection hosted by "Mr. Television" himself. Pat Buttran, Dick Martin, Mort Sahl, and Eddie Quillon are interviewed. Footage ofRead More
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Mar 27, 2002 | Milton Berle, the acerbic, cigar-smoking vaudevillian who eagerly embraced a new medium and became "Mr. Television" in the dawn of the video age, died Wednesday, a spokesman said. He was 93.
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By then, of course, television was on the horizon, and Berle took the idea for a new hour-long comedy-and-vaudeville hour to Philip Morris president, Alfred Lyon, and to Milton Biow, who headed the Biow advertising agency that handled the PM account. Neither of the men expressed much enthusiasm for either the show or the new video medium -- and they wound up cancelling the Berle radio show as well. A few weeks later, Texaco not only signed him to star in their radio program, but announced plans for a new weekly TV show. They invited Berle to headline the first one -- on June 6, 1948. A handful of other entertainers each hosted subsequent episodes throughout the summer, but none compared with Berle. He was signed to be the program's permanent host -- and officially became the star of the show on September 21, 1948.
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Few actors and entertainers have contributed as much to as many facets-or entire eras-of show business as Milton Berle. In a life that has filled most of the twentieth century and a career that has spanned over 80 years, Berle applied his enormous energy and talent to every area of show business except burlesque. Never afraid of change, he took professional risks that other stars avoided. Acknowledging his accomplishments is to chronicle the evolution of entertainment, particularly comedy in twentieth century America. His career began as a child actor in silent movies and plays on the stage, and proceeded to vaudeville and night clubs where he developed an original style that made his name in comedy. Known as "Mr. Television," Berle is credited for bringing entertainment into the living rooms of America, and doing more than any other single person to make television the medium of choice.
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NBC had meant to use a rotation of hosts on its "Texaco Star Theatre" when it was launched in 1948, but Berle was such an instant success that he became the sole host. Audiences loved his sight gags, puns, funny ways of walking, and outlandish costumes. His popularity faded in the mid-1950s... as television viewers grew more sophisticated. "Texaco Star Theatre," which had been renamed "The Milton Berle Show" in 1954, ended in 1956. Berle continued to make guest appearances on similar programs during the mid-1960s, and an attempt in 1966 to revive his variety show was unsuccessful.
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