“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”
~Milton
Berle
~a.k.a.: UNCLE MILTIE
Early life
Milton Berlinger was born into a
Jewish family in a five-story walkup at 68
W. 118th Street in the
Harlem neighborhood of
Manhattan. He chose Milton Berle as his professional name when he was 16. His father, Moses Berlinger (1873–1938), was a paint and varnish salesman. His mother, Sarah (Sadie) Glantz Berlinger (1877–1954),
[2] eventually became stagestruck and changed her name to Sandra Berle when Milton became famous.
Berle entered show business at the age of five when he won an amateur talent contest.
[3] He appeared as a
child actor in
silent films, beginning with
The Perils of Pauline, filmed in
Fort Lee, New Jersey.
[4] The director told Berle that he would portray a little boy who would be thrown from a moving train. In
Milton Berle: An Autobiography, he explained, "I was scared shitless, even when he went on to tell me that Pauline would save my life. Which is exactly what happened, except that at the crucial moment they threw a bundle of rags instead of me from the train. I bet there are a lot of comedians around today who are sorry about that."
By Berle's account, he continued to play child roles in other films:
Bunny's Little Brother,
Tess of the Storm Country,
Birthright,
Love's Penalty,
Divorce Coupons and
Ruth of the Range. Berle recalled, "There were even trips out to Hollywood—the studios paid—where I got parts in
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, with Mary Pickford;
The Mark of Zorro, with
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and
Tillie's Punctured Romance, with
Charlie Chaplin,
Mabel Normand and
Marie Dressler."
In Poppin' the Cork, 1933
However, Berle's claims to have appeared in many of these films, particularly the 1914 Chaplin Keystone comedy
Tillie's Punctured Romance, are hotly disputed by some, who cite the lack of supporting evidence that Berle even visited the West Coast until much later. The newsboy role often claimed by Berle in
Tillie was unquestionably played by resident Keystone child actor
Gordon Griffith.
In 1916, Berle enrolled in the
Professional Children's School, and at age 12 he made his stage debut in
Florodora. After four weeks in
Atlantic City, New Jersey, the show moved to
Broadway. It catapulted him into a comedic career that spanned eight decades in nightclubs, Broadway shows,
vaudeville,
Las Vegas, films, television, and radio.
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