As if you needed another example of how the mainstream media just doesn’t get it, consider this: Entertainment Weekly’s 2002 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 and talented but to suggest that Berle’s legacy was of similar impact to the British funnyman is absurd.

Berle didn’t just blaze the trail, he found the trail and cleared it. Berle not only ‘made’ television, but laid the foundation for the entire entertainment culture of the late 20th century up until the present. Before Milton Berle, no one cared what was on TV because it was all banal, poorly produced schlock. Berle’s “Texaco Star Theater” 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 generated TV Guide, publications like Entertainment Weekly and celebrity TV networks like E! are just little more than that publications progeny. It’s not out of line to suggest that Berle put the proverbial seeds in the ground for not only the entertainment industry, but the advertising and magazine industries as well.

At least there was no such duplicity in Berles 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 wasnt 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 witted, 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, Berles tastes were far more refined in this regard. Burns typically smoked inexpensive machine made sticks, while Berles tastes tended toward high end Montecristos.

Berle not only redefined the concept of television and created the industry that exists around it, he lived as a gentleman who enjoyed life and took great pleasure from the people he shared it with.

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