Milton Berle Biography

Fast Facts

• Is recognized as the first true television star and hosted the first charity telethon in the world, a 1949 24 hour event that benefitted the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund
• Began his professional career as a child after winning an amateur talent contest and started appearing in silent films
• As an adult, he nearly always appeared on stage holding a cigar
• His brash comedy style on television was taken almost directly from his vaudeville days, complete with slapstick humor and a new outlandish costume every week
• Off stage, he was known for his colorful language, but on stage he always kept his act clean and criticizes later comedians for relying on four letter words to get laughs
• Threatened not to go on air if his sponsor wouldn't allow the Four Step Brothers, an African American act, to appear on his program, and got permission for them to appear 10 minutes before show time