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Milton Berle, Icon: 1908-2002

As if you needed another example of how the mainstream media just doesn't get it, consider this: Entertainment Weekly's obituary of Milton Berle was a mere half page. Berle didn't even get the page to himself-he shared it with a similar sized obit for Dudley Moore, who died just a few hours later. Both men were afforded less ink than Director Billy Wilder, who also passed away in a rough week for Hollywood types. Not meaning any disrespect to Dudley Moore, a funny actor whose work I always enjoyed, but to suggest that Berle's legacy was of similar impact to the British funnyman is absurd. Milton Berle not only trod the path, he found the path and cleared it. It's not an overstatement to suggest that Berle not only "made" television, but the entire popular entertainment culture of the late 20th and early 21st century. It's shameful that EW is oblivious to the fact that even they owe an ancestral debt to Berle. Before Milton Berle, there was no "must see TV"-people didn't give a rat's ass what was on when because it all sucked. Berle's "Texaco Star Theatre" was the first blockbuster hit on television and put up numbers that are unfathomable today-it would routinely draw 80%+ of the television audience and hit over 90% on a few occasions. By way of comparison, consider that the NFL and the TV networks consider it a great year when the Superbowl draws a 70% share.

When people started to care what was on when, it begat TV Guide and EW is little more than that publication’s progeny. The fact that EW doesn’t realize that Berle put the seeds in the ground is the problem with mass media circa 2002 in microcosm: they just don’t get the fact that some people, places, things or concepts are of greater value than others. Their tendency is to elevate the superficial and banal to a higher level of importance, while simultaneously trying to minimize and “dumb down” that which is deserving of great praise. At least our Creator had the right idea about Berle’s relative place in the cosmos: rumor has it he was the best-endowed star of his day, and arguably of all time.

At least there was no such duplicity in Berle’s nickname—not “Uncle Miltie”, but the other nickname: Mr. Television. Berle was born on July 12, 1908 and his showbiz career began when he won a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest. A career in vaudeville followed, which led to the television show that made him an institution. His TV success wasn’t a fluke, or a case of him being in the right place at the right time. He had an uncanny understanding of how to utilize the medium, and an ability to adapt his stage act to the new audience. Berle worked constantly throughout his 88 year career—even getting an Emmy Nomination for a role on Beverly Hills 90210. More recently, he was the namesake of a short-lived but well intended “good life” magazine called “Milton” that summed up his life with their slogan: “We smoke, we drink, we gamble”.

One of the most telling indications of the sort of man Milton Berle was can be seen in the near universal goodwill he engendered during his life. Everyone regardless of stature or importance gives the same account—a quick witty, easy-going, fun loving gentleman who enjoyed the finer things in life. Of particular note was the omnipresent cigar. While George Burns may have been a more famous cigar emissary, Berle’s tastes were far more refined in this regard. Burns typically smoked inexpensive machine made sticks, while Berle’s tastes tended toward high end Montecristos.

Milton Berle was a gentleman, an icon and an excellent role model for all American men. His legacy is all around us in the pop culture, even if that culture is too dense to realize it.

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