Star Facts
  • Category Radio

    Address 6771 Hollywood Blvd.

    Ceremony date 02/08/1960

  • Category Television

    Address 6263 Hollywood Blvd.

    Ceremony date 02/08/1960

About
Milton Berle
Born:
1908-07-12,
Manhattan,
New York,
USA
Education:
NA
Ethnicity:
Caucasian
Death Date:
-0001-11-30
Addition Websites

Milton Berle

Milton Berle was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC’s Texaco Star Theater, in 1948 he was the first major star of US television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr. Television to millions during TV’s golden age.

Milton Berlinger was born to a Jewish family in a five-story walkup at 68 West 118th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, he chose Milton Berle as his professional name when he was 16. His father, Moses Berlinger, was a paint and varnish salesman. His mother, Sarah Glantz Berlinger, eventually became stagestruck and changed her name to Sandra Berle when Milton became famous.

Berle entered show business at the age of five when he won an amateur talent contest. He appeared as a child actor in silent films, beginning with The Perils of Pauline, filmed in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The director told Berle that he would portray a little boy who would be thrown from a moving train. In Milton Berle: An Autobiography, he explained, “I was scared shitless, even when he went on to tell me that Pauline would save my life. Which is exactly what happened, except that at the crucial moment they threw a bundle of rags instead of me from the train. I bet there are a lot of comedians around today who are sorry about that.”

By Berle’s account, he continued to play child roles in other films: Bunny’s Little Brother, Tess of the Storm Country, Birthright, Love’s Penalty, Divorce Coupons and Ruth of the Range. Berle recalled, “There were even trips out to Hollywood—the studios paid—where I got parts in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, with Mary Pickford; The Mark of Zorro, with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and Tillie’s Punctured Romance, with Charlie Chaplin, Mabel Normand and Marie Dressler.”

amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0";amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true";amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "hwof05-20";amzn_assoc_search_bar_position = "bottom";amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "search";amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart";amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon";amzn_assoc_region = "US";amzn_assoc_title = "Shop Milton Berle";amzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = "Milton Berle";amzn_assoc_default_category = "All";amzn_assoc_linkid = "d2550c12a7013b253ec4240ca7e8e1a5";