Trivia

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.".

Awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame--for Television at 6263 Hollywood Blvd. and for Radio at 6771 Hollywood Blvd.

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.". One of Berle's nicknames was "The Thief of Bad Gags.".

In 1947 he 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.

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!".

He died on the same day as Dudley Moore and Billy Wilder. Coincidentally, Berle and Moore both made guest appearances in Le Muppet Show (1976).

Parents were Moses Berlinger (1873-1938) and Sarah/Sadie (Glantz) Berlinger (1877-1954). His father was born in New York, to German Jewish immigrants, and his mother was also born in NY, to Russian Jewish parents.

Known to younger generations for his infamous pairing with drag queen RuPaul at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. The two got along very poorly on-camera, spending more time going off-script and lobbing harsh potshots and verbal low blows at each other than actually presenting an award. They also got along just as poorly backstage, if not more so. RuPaul claimed Berle was acting rude and sexually inappropriate towards him, even allegedly touching RuPaul's false breasts at one point. This incident prompted RuPaul to end what was, until then, a very prosperous professional relationship with MTV.

Changed his name to Berle from Berlinger in 1920.

Was a regular on the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts".

In May 1949 he hosted the world's first charity telethon, benefiting the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund. The program lasted 24 hours.

Had a longtime joking rivalry with Bishop Fulton J. Sheen ("Uncle Fultie"), whose television 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 ...").

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 4/7/927 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 (Coatesville, NJ) became the first standard radio station to transmit a television image, the face of Mrs. John Geloso, on 8/13/1928 in a process resembling early Web "broadcasts", with a delay of a few seconds between image and voice, while on 8/22/1928 WGY simultaneously broadcast Alfred E. Smith accepting the Democratic presidential nomination on radio and TV. "The Queen's Messenger" was the first play broadcast by television, on 9/11/1928 by W2XAD, an event that made the front page of the "New York Times". Thus, Berle cannot be considered the first "television performer".

Late in life, one of his favorite television shows was Matlock (1986), so he wrote a script for The Last Laugh (1993), about an over-the-hill comedian accused of murder, so he could appear on the show as that character when the script was filmed as an episode in 1993.

In 1962 NBC tried to develop a television series around incidents in his life, but the series never got beyond the planning stage.

Began his professional career at age five, working in motion pictures at the American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. studios in Fort Lee, NJ.

Co-wrote, with Ben Oakland, the title song for Li'l Abner (1940).

Appears on a 44¢ US commemorative postage stamp, issued 8/11/2009, in the Early TV Memories issue honoring "Texaco Star Theater" (titled Texaco Star Theatre Starring Milton Berle (1948), 1954-1956).

His mother, Sarah Berlinger (later called Sandra Berle), was often shown on camera as she sat in the audience for Texaco Star Theatre Starring Milton Berle (1948).

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.

Always opened his television show by making an entrance in a different costume each week.

On 12/5/1999 he suffered a mild stroke at his home in California.

Interred at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, CA.

Along with Vincent Price, Liberace and Ethel Merman, he is one of only four actors to both play a Special Guest Villain in Batman (1966) and guest star in Le Muppet Show (1976).

Stepfather-in-law of Richard Moll.

Uncle of Warren Berlinger.

Had four siblings: Phil Berle (born 1901), Francis (born 1904), Jack (born 1905) and Rosalind (born 1913) (all deceased).

Had three children: Victoria, William and Bob Williams.

Described a brief affair with Aimee Semple McPherson in 1930 in his 1975 autobiography, "Milton Berle: An Autobiography".

Several of his screenplays and song lyrics were written by Jerry Seelen.

Had three grandsons: James, Mathew and Tyler Roe.

Godfather of musician Billy Sherwood.

Interviewed in "The Great Comedians Talk About Comedy" by Larry Wilde (1968).

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald S. Smith, pg. 46-48. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Having played a Special Guest Villain on Batman (1966), Berle also had a bit part in Le signe de Zorro (1920), a film that Bob Kane cited as one of the inspirations for the Batman character.

Mentioned in Who's for Swordfish? (1961).

He passed away on the same day as Billy Wilder and Dudley Moore.