Columnist Joe Delaney: Remembering the genius, influence of Milton Berle

Joe Delaney

Thursday, April 4, 2002 | 8:30 a.m.

Milton Berle, an appreciation: Just as Bach, Beethoven and Brahms were the "Three Bs" of classical music, Berle was one of the "Three Bs" of comedy in the 20th century ... Jack Benny and George Burns complete the triumvirate ... During my nearly 35 years with the Sun, I was fortunate to be friends with all three comedic giants.

My first encounter with Berle was in the mid-1930s, just entering my teen years ... It was a Friday and I played hookey, walked the Delaware River Bridge from Camden, N.J., to Philadelphia, to catch the 11 a.m. show at the Earle Theatre, a major vaudeville house ... The show changed every Friday; that week the star was Berle ... I stayed for all four shows.

Berle was incredible ... The Amin Brothers, acrobats, opened the show ... Betty George, a well-endowed vocalist, was next followed by the Ben Yost Vikings, a male singing group ... Berle introduced and worked with all three acts ... As the "extra" Viking, he wreaked havoc with a burlesque-type turn that would have evoked protests from gay-rights groups today.

In context, at that time, it was hilarious, a show-stopper ... Berle topped the hour with a monologue then brought the acts back for bows ... That Saturday I reprised the show for my grandmother, a house-bound invalid who loved vaudeville ... A few years later, as a "go-fer" at the Earle, Berle rewarded me with a $5 tip when I brought back sandwiches and coffee.

In the mid-1940s I was in the U.S. Army Air Corps (before it was renamed the U.S. Air Force) and working backstage on a USO show for servicemen ... Berle hosted the show, usually opening with a list of celebrities who could not be there with a funny reason why they couldn't ... Before the show, I suggested a line for that routine.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's wife, Eleanor, was noted for her travels, and was constantly on the go ... The line: "Eleanor Roosevelt couldn't be here, it was too near." ... He used it, got a good response and gifted me with $25 after the show ... In the mid and late-1940s, Berle was "Mr. Television" and moved the industry forward two decades in less than one.

We did not connect in the 1950s but became close friends when I joined the Sun and was doing radio and television locally in the 1960s through the 1980s ... Whenever performing in town, he would come by my local television show ... On one occasion, I needled him on TV about being displaced as No. 1 by Monsignor Fulton J. Sheen's 30-minute talk show ... Berle never missed a beat with his comeback.

"Look at his writers," he snapped, "Mark, Luke, Paul...," he said, naming all the Apostles ... Another occasion on local television, realizing Berle did not associate me with the serviceman who gave him the Eleanor Roosevelt joke, I asked if he remembered the incident when he was given that line ... He did remember the year, the event, the line and the payment.

When I identified myself as the serviceman (again, never missing a beat) Berle came back with, "That was a terrible joke. Could I have my money back?" ... Our last visit together was a few years ago when he came to Las Vegas to promote a short-lived new magazine, Cigar, that he was publishing ... At 90, his mind was still as agile as ever.

In the early 1990s Berle hosted a roast of Sid Caesar at the Sahara with Foster Brooks, Norm Crosby, Jackie Gayle and Slappy White on the dais ... Berle was boss, as always ... During that period, he did 15 minutes on HBO's "Comic Relief" with Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams ... Berle stole the show.

The next morning, on NBC's "Today" show, comedian Dennis Miller said that he was humbled in the presence of one of the all-time greats of comedy, Berle, on "Comic Relief" the night before.

Realizing as I type this, when I was 13, Berle was already a star in all the existing entertainment media at age 26, and a decade away from making television a major entertainment force, years ahead of its most ambitious expectations ... Rest well, Milton, it was so good to know you.

Star-policy rundown

Ann-Margret starring in "Best Little Whorehouse In Texas" (Aladdin); Gladys Knight (Flamingo); Tony Orlando, 8 p.m., Amazing Johnathan, 10 p.m. (Golden Nugget); Mac King, afternoons, Clint Holmes, evenings (Harrah's); Arsenio Hall (House of Blues); and Sheena Easton, the Commodores and Bill Maher, separate rooms and times (LV Hilton).

There's more: Blue Man Group (Luxor); Engelbert Humperdinck, plus Rick Springfield starring in "EFX Alive," and Paul McCartney, Friday and Saturday only (MGM Grand); Siegfried & Roy and Danny Gans in separate theaters (Mirage); Lance Burton (Monte Carlo); Rita Rudner (New York-New York); Roy Clark (Orleans); and Ronn Lucas, the Scintas, plus Louie Anderson (Rio).

And still more: Marlene Ricci (Riviera); Steve Wyrick (Sahara); Wayne Newton (Stardust); Laura Branigan (Suncoast); and Melinda, First Lady of Magic, 7 p.m., and "Bravo" starring Charo, 9 p.m. (Venetian) ... Look for Charo to move "Bravo" from The Venetian to The Sahara, closing April 14, opening May 6 in the Congo Room with a two-year deal.

Pahrump will hold its first-ever Dixieland Jazz Festival, starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday with Chuck Diamond and his Royal Dixie Jazz Band as headliners ... Sit down and write a check for whatever you can afford and make it out to the Sun Summer Camp Fund ... The Sun absorbs all the expenses; send all those deserving children to camp this summer ... See you Friday.