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CNN Live Today
Milton Berle, Television Star, Dead at 93
Aired March 28, 2002 - 12:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Now, a sign of the times and the passing of a legend. A half-century ago, right around 1948 or thereabouts, families and neighbors gathered in the glow of an odd new curiosity called television. But, nothing then was quite as odd as the antics of its first star.
In the year 2002 now, Milton Berle died yesterday at the age of 93 yesterday. Frank Buckley now, and "Mr. Television."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mr. Television, Uncle Miltie, whatever you called him, you laughed. He invented variety television when he came on the air in 1948, when TV was a new thing. He was so good at it that Americans bought TVs by the millions just to watch Milton Berle on "The Texaco Star Theater."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please don't call me between 8:00 and 9:00, because tonight is Tuesday, and you know what that means? That's right, Uncle Miltie's on again.
BUCKLEY: That's right, at the height of his popularity, he had the hottest stars of the day on his show. Four out of every five TV sets in America tuned in on Tuesdays to see the funny man, his guests, his gags. He was famous for dressing in drag.
MILTON BERLE, ENTERTAINER: Me, Berle, wear a gown? You must be kidding.
BUCKLEY: He made famous phrases still associated with TV like...
BERLE: Makeup!
BUCKLEY: ... all for a laugh.
BERLE: I think laughter is very, very imperative. And that's an important part of my life, of making people laugh so they can forget their problems. I don't care if it's for a minute or two or five minutes. It takes away the stress and the pressure. A good laugh is better than anything.
BUCKLEY: But according to legend, he got some of his laughs with other guys' lines. One of his nicknames: thief of bad gags.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Milton was known for stealing peoples jokes, but he didn't. He made up as many jokes as he stole -- less 4,000.
BUCKLEY: He was a classic showman, and a detailed perfectionist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just before the camera would go on, he would light his cigar, and he would take a puff, and then he would say,"roll," just so the smoke was going up at that certain point, you know, you always remember Milton Berle with a cigar.
BUCKLEY: He got into show business as a boy, opposite Charlie Chaplin in "Tillie's Punctured Romance."
BERLE: That was me with Chaplin in the picture, where he slapped me. I never got a chance to slap him back, though.
BUCKLEY: He was a regular fixture on TV even decades after "The Milton Berle Show" left NBC in 1956. He was a movie star in pictures like, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." But it's the early stuff they'll remember.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What laughter there is in heaven tonight, with Steve Allen and Milton Berle.
BUCKLEY: In Hollywood, on the walk of fame, flowers for Berle, and fans who will never forget him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was wonderful. And I will sorely miss him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because he brought happiness into our lives. Especially in children's lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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