Economic Research: Berle Clothing

Sunday, 6 January 2013

Berle Clothing

There is probably no name more synonymous with the golden age of U.S. TV than Milton Berle, earning him the sobriquet "Mr. Television." The son son of a salesman, Berle was encouraged in his stage ambitions when he won a lookalike contest with his impersonation of Charlie Chaplin in 1913. He went on to stage school and then hit Broadway. He became a child performer in a number of early silent movies such as Birthright (1920) and The Mark of Zorro (1920), but the comedian really made his name in the early days of radio. By the late 1940s, Berle was headlining his own radio variety shows. But it was NBC, in bringing Berle's The Texaco Star Theater to TV in 1948 (while the show was also running on ABC radio), that made "Uncle Miltie" a household name. Thanks to this success, Berle signed an unprecedented 30-year contract with NBC in 1951. From 1948 until the early 1950s, Berle dominated Tuesday nights, with restaurants closing between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. and rumors about dropping reservoir levels after 9:00 p.m., when avid TV watchers would finally go to the bathroom. Berle was also known for dressing in women's clothing as part of his shtick - somewhat ironic, perhaps, as he was a reportedly well-endowed ladies' man and was married five times (twice to Joyce Mathews).