His mother, Sarah, was a classic stage mother, constantly pushing her child to be a performing success. Berle became a regular on the vaudeville circuit and also appeared in several silent films. In , he played the Palace Theater in New York, becoming the youngest master of ceremonies on Broadway.
Even before his television success, he was reportedly one of the highest-paid comedians in show business, even if he wasn't much of a name to most of America. He was called the "Thief of Bad Gags" -- an appelation given by newspaper columnist Walter Winchell -- for his predilection for stealing jokes, a habit he readily admitted. He won an Emmy award in and was given another Emmy for lifetime achievement in I Love You," the latter a collection of stories and anecdotes.
Berle married four times, including twice to Broadway showgirl Joyce Mathews. After their second divorce, he married Ruth Cosgrove and was with her for more than 35 years, until her death in He married his fourth wife, Lorna Adams, in His survivors include two adopted children. Berle was also the father-in-law of "Night Court" actor Richard Moll. Search CNN. A Time Warner Company.
In Britain he is familiar to us only from cameos - late in life, he appeared as himself, and as Cinderella, in Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose By the late s, he was known in the United States as Mr Television. He was a figure of awe to year-old Allen Konigsburg Woody Allen , who - along with some friends at New York's celebrated Circle Magic shop - introduced himself to Berle, another customer, as somebody nifty with cards.
In his nervousness Allen fumbled the cards, and missed the chance of a TV spot. But from Berle he learnt the knack of manipulating an audience. Later, as a stand-up comedian, Allen said: "I find Berle hysterically funny. He's one of the few people I've gone to see in years. There's a certain kind of broadness one associates with television presentations like the old Milton Berle Show, as opposed to, say, a much tighter kind of thing like Mike Nichols and Elaine May or Sid Caesar.
Berle came from the Bronx - his yearning for the stage abetted by an imperious mother who was "five foot eight and statuesque, which was the popular shape of the day". His parents were eastern European immigrants, his father a painter, his mother a store detective.
When the child Mendel Berlinger, as he was, found himself at Hallowe'en without a decent costume, he improvised a Chaplinesque one of his own. In fact, he was running a Chaplin contest in Mount Vernon. There was only a tin cup as a prize; it was many hours' walk there and back; but to Berle "this was show business" - and he won.
His mother, who attended his every performance for decades, made sure he took up an opportunity from the fledgling movie industry, a part in the movie, The Perils Of Pauline I bet there are a lot of comedians around today who are sorry about that. He was sacked from one, as an urchin, when it was found that in every scene he had flashed the ring given him by his proud parents.
Berle got to Broadway, in April , in a baby sextette for a revival of Floradora, produced by the Shuberts. His canny mother told him to keep one foot out of step on the first night, which reduced the audience to paroxysms. Shubert, amazed, came back: "Can you do it again tomorrow night? He acquired a punishing betting habit and was relieved of his virginity at A voracious dancer sidled into the dressing room declaring him very well-endowed.
It was like a pepperoni. At which point Gilda [Radner] opens the door to the dressing room. Your email address will not be published.
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