Milton Berle, 'Mr. Television,' dead at 93
March 27, 2002 Posted: 7:39 PM EST (0039 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Milton Berle, the acerbic, cigar-smoking vaudevillian who eagerly embraced a new medium and became "Mr. Television" in the dawn of the video age, died Wednesday, a spokesman said. He was 93.
Berle died at 2:45 p.m. (5:45 p.m. EST) at his home after a lengthy illness, publicist Warren Cowan said. Berle's wife, Lorna, and several family members were at his side.
Berle had been under hospice care for the past few weeks. He had been diagnosed with colon cancer last year. Berle's wife Lorna announced in April 2001 that he was suffering from colon cancer and had decided not to undergo surgery.
A television star when the medium was in its infancy, Berle was credited with spurring the sale of millions of televisions to a nation that was still deciding on whether to accept the newfangled box in their homes.
"There was a time ... when people didn't go out of their house on Tuesday night at eight o'clock because Milton Berle was on," entertainer Ed McMahon told CNN at Berle's 90th birthday bash in 1998.
"Uncle Miltie" was the king of Tuesday nights, and store owners put up signs: "Closed tonight to watch Milton Berle." At 8 p.m., four Texaco service attendants sang the "Texaco Star Theater" theme, and then out came Berle, dressed for laughs: a caveman introduced as "the man with jokes from the Stone Age"; a man in a barrel "who had just paid his taxes."
If the audience thought he looked funny in a dress, Berle was happy to oblige. Skits in drag became a trademark.
Berle became such a fixture of American entertainment that he often appeared as himself in films like Woody Allen's "Broadway Danny Rose" (1984) and in "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" (1985).
He was called the "Thief of Bad Gags" and joked about stealing quips -- "I laughed so hard I nearly dropped my pencil," he said of a rival comedian. He stopped at nothing for a laugh.
..and yet another entertainment icon passes on today.
Ven
March 27, 2002 Posted: 7:39 PM EST (0039 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Milton Berle, the acerbic, cigar-smoking vaudevillian who eagerly embraced a new medium and became "Mr. Television" in the dawn of the video age, died Wednesday, a spokesman said. He was 93.
Berle died at 2:45 p.m. (5:45 p.m. EST) at his home after a lengthy illness, publicist Warren Cowan said. Berle's wife, Lorna, and several family members were at his side.
Berle had been under hospice care for the past few weeks. He had been diagnosed with colon cancer last year. Berle's wife Lorna announced in April 2001 that he was suffering from colon cancer and had decided not to undergo surgery.
A television star when the medium was in its infancy, Berle was credited with spurring the sale of millions of televisions to a nation that was still deciding on whether to accept the newfangled box in their homes.
"There was a time ... when people didn't go out of their house on Tuesday night at eight o'clock because Milton Berle was on," entertainer Ed McMahon told CNN at Berle's 90th birthday bash in 1998.
"Uncle Miltie" was the king of Tuesday nights, and store owners put up signs: "Closed tonight to watch Milton Berle." At 8 p.m., four Texaco service attendants sang the "Texaco Star Theater" theme, and then out came Berle, dressed for laughs: a caveman introduced as "the man with jokes from the Stone Age"; a man in a barrel "who had just paid his taxes."
If the audience thought he looked funny in a dress, Berle was happy to oblige. Skits in drag became a trademark.
Berle became such a fixture of American entertainment that he often appeared as himself in films like Woody Allen's "Broadway Danny Rose" (1984) and in "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" (1985).
He was called the "Thief of Bad Gags" and joked about stealing quips -- "I laughed so hard I nearly dropped my pencil," he said of a rival comedian. He stopped at nothing for a laugh.
..and yet another entertainment icon passes on today.
Ven
