Home> Facts and Trivia > Stars > Milton Berle
Milton Berle Facts
| Sign | Cancer |
| Born |
Jul 12, 1908 New York City, NY |
| Died |
Mar 27, 2002 Los Angeles, CA |
| Age | Died at 93 |
| Total Facts | 33 |
Milton Berle described a brief affair with Aimee Semple McPherson in 1930 in his 1975 autobiography titled, "Milton Berle: An Autobiography".
Adopted son, Bill, with Ruth Berle.
Always opened his show by making an entrance in a different costume each week.
Appeared for the first time on television in an experimental TV broadcast in 1929, and sometimes is credited with being the first person to appear on television, possibly because a film of the broadcast has survived. On April 7, 1927, an image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover was transmitted by AT&T in the first successful long distance demonstration of TV. Later that day, AT&T broadcast other material, including vaudeville comedian A. Dolan. WRNY (Coytesville, NJ) became the first standard radio station to transmit a television image, the face of Mrs. John Geloso, on Aug. 13, 1928 in a process resembling early Web "broadcasts," with a delay of a few seconds between image and voice, while on Aug. 22, 1928, WGY simultaneously broadcast Al Smith accepting the Democratic presidential nomination on radio and TV. "The Queen's Messenger" was the first play broadcast by television, on Sept. 11, 1928 by W2XAD, an event that made the front page of the NY Times. Thus, Berle cannot be considered the first "television performer" in history.
Appears on a 44¢ USA commemorative postage stamp, issued 11 August 2009, in the Early TV Memories issue honoring "Texaco Star Theater" (titled "The Buick-Berle Show" (1948), 1954-1956).
Berle co-wrote, with Ben Oakland, the title song for the 1940 film Li'l Abner (1940).
Berle was famed in Hollywood for the alleged size of an "unmentionable" portion of his anatomy. An often recounted (and possibly apocryphal) story was that when he was once challenged to a "face-off" with another man to prove who had the larger one, a friend said, "We're in a hurry, Milton, just take out enough to win.".
Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald S. Smith, pg. 46-48. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
Brother of Phil Berle.
Changed his name to Berle from Berlinger in 1920.
Credits his survival as a television icon with his 30 year contract with NBC (Groucho Marx once joked about this saying: "30 years with NBC? That's not a contract. That's a sentence!").
Father: Moses Berlinger
Godfather of musician Billy Sherwood.
Had a long-time joking rivalry with Bishop Fulton J. Sheen ("Uncle Fultie"), whose TV show was on opposite his for many years ("He stayed on longer than I did because, let's face it, he had better writers. Mark, Luke ...").
Has written three books over the years: Two volumes of autobiography, "Milton Berle" and "B.S.: I Love You," and "The Best Of Milton Berle's Private Joke File," a compendium of many of the 1000+ jokes he's been collecting over almost 80 years in show business.
He adopted a daughter, Victoria, in 1946.
He became a vegetarian in the early 1940s.
He died the same day as Dudley Moore and Billy Wilder.
He was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 6771 Hollywood Boulevard and for Television at 6263 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
His mother, Sarah Berlinger (later called Sandra Berle), was often shown on camera as she sat in the audience for "The Buick-Berle Show" (1948).
In 1947, Berle founded the Friars Club of Beverly Hills at the old Savoy Hotel on Sunset Boulevard. Other founding members included Jimmy Durante, George Jessel, Robert Taylor, and Bing Crosby. The club, which moved to Beverly Hills in 1961, is a private show business club famous for its celebrity members and roasts, where a member is mocked by their club friends in good fun.
In 1962, NBC tried to develop a TV series around incidents in his life, but the series never got beyond the planning stage.
In 1984 he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame, and in 1991 became the first entertainer inducted into the International Comedy Hall of Fame.
In May 1949, he hosted the world's first charity telethon, benefiting the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund. The program lasted 24 hours.
Milton Berle had begun his professional career at age five, working in motion pictures at the American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Mother: Sarah (died 31. May 1954)
Siblings: Phil (b. 1901), Francis (b. 1904), Jack (b. 1905), Rosalind (b. 1913) (all deceased)
Stepfather-in-Law of Richard Moll.
Suffered a mild stroke at his home in California. [5 December 1999]
Uncle of Warren Berlinger.
Was a regular on the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts".
Was diagnosed with a slow-growing cancerous tumor in his colon. Doctors said he did not need surgery and the cancer would take 10 to 12 years to affect him. This turned out to be incorrect, as Berle died less than a year later. [April 2001]
Was well-known as an outrageous joke thief, which frequently rankled some of his fellow performers. One time, he said to Groucho Marx, "You know, Groucho, I've stolen some of my best jokes from you." Without missing a beat, Groucho replied, "Then you weren't listening."