BIOGRAPH The oldest movie company in America Liilian and Dorothy Gish

Milton Berle had begun his professional career at age five, working in motion pictures at Biograph Studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He appeared as the child on Marie Dressler's lap in Charlie Chaplin's Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), was tossed from a train by Pearl White in The Perils of Pauline (1914), and appeared in films with stars such as Douglas Fairbanks, Mabel Normand, and Marion Davies--in all about 50 films, but appearing in no comedy roles. Berle's first stage role was in Shubert's 1920 revival of Floradora in Atlantic City, which eventually moved to Broadway. Soon after, a vaudeville sketch with Jack Duffy launched his career as a comedian. Signed as a replacement for Jack Haley at the Palace, Berle was a smash hit and was held over 10 weeks. He then headlined in top nightclubs and theaters across the country, returning to Broadway in 1932 to star in Earl Carroll's Vanities, the first of several musical shows in which he appeared.

Appearances in vaudeville is where the comedian perfected his wiseguy persona, led to engagements in editions of "Earl Carroll Vanities" and the "Ziegfeld Follies". He returned to features in "New Faces of 1937" (1937) and made sporadic appearances in the 1940s, including "Sun Valley Serenade" (1941) and "Always Leave Them Laughing" (1949).

After establishing himself in the developing medium of TV, Berle returned to features and the stage, searching for the role that would duplicate his success on the small screen. Like others comics who became TV personalities (e.g., Lucille Ball, Red Skelton, Carol Burnett, Sid Caesar), Berle had trouble shaking the public's perception of him as anything other than Uncle Miltie. His return to Broadway in Herb Gardner's play "The Goodbye People" (1968) was short-lived. He had moderate success touring in Neil Simon's "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" (1970) and later in the sex farce "Norman, Is That You?" (1975).

His feature work since 1960 has also been sporadic. He appeared as himself, hired to coach a showgirl (Marilyn Monroe) in comedy in George Cukor's "Let's Make Love" (1960), was a henpecked motorist in Stanley Kramer's all-star "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963), partnered with Margaret Leighton as a mourner in Tony Richardson's sardonic "The Loved One" (1965), and delivered a dramatic portrayal of a Jewish gangster in "Lepke" (1975). He has continued to work into the 1990s, appearing in the 1995 direct-to-video children's film "Storybook".

On TV, Berle has made numerous guest appearances on comedies, variety shows and specials and dramas. An attempt to revive his variety show in the mid-60s failed to attract audience attention. Berle has proven himself capable as a dramatic performer on the small screen. He earned a Best Actor Emmy nomination for his dramatic performance in the "Doyle Against the House" episode of "The Dick Powell Show" (NBC, 1961) and a Best Guest Actor Emmy nomination for his turn as a veteran actor struggling with Alzheimer's Disease in an episode of "Beverly Hills, 90210" (Fox, 1995).

In Berle's latter years, he was involved and spearheaded the "Friar's Club" in Beverly Hills. Berle died in Los Angeles where he had been living recently after being diagnosed with colon cancer a year ago. He was 93.