Milton Berle Centenary-- July 12

Tomorrow, Milton Berle would have been 100 years old!

Uncle Miltie had already had a long career as a performer, when at age 40, he began to host The Texaco Star Theater. Before long, he became "Mr. Television" and reached heights he'd never achieved in radio or the movies.

When the Archive of American Television chose its first six individuals to interview as part of a pilot program, Milton Berle was an obvious choice to be one of them.

He was interviewed on June 11, 1996; he died on March 27, 2002 at the age of 93. When asked how he'd like to be remembered, Berle said:

"Being that I’ve been mostly all my life a comedian and to quote Norman Cousins, one of my dearest friends, who said— it’s a cliché now— but he said, 'laughter is the best medicine.' If we laugh at ourselves or at the world or what’s going on, we’ll live longer. The way that I’d like to be remembered ... It makes me fulfilled that I made somebody happy..... That’s been my credo for a long time and still is. The way I’d like to be remembered on the tombstone, is, [he] made people happy by making them laugh and prolonging their lives. That’s it."

Milton Berle's Archive interview can be accessed here.

Interview Description:

Milton Berle (1908-2002) was interviewed for four hours in Los Angeles, CA. Berle fondly recalled "Mama Berle" and her influence on his early career when he started performing as a child in vaudeville. He discussed how his vaudeville background prepared him for television. He talked extensively about the success of Texaco Star Theater and how he earned the moniker "Uncle Miltie." He recalled the challenges of performing live and creating fresh material each week. Berle also openly discussed his reputation as a "perfectionist" and the legendary rumor that he stole jokes from others.