Scope and Content Note
The Milton Berle Papers document the life and work of actor, author, comic, lyricist, producer, and vaudevillian, Milton Berle. The collection spans the period 1906-2002, with the bulk of the material falling between 1932 and 1990. Berle's performances are documented through a variety of media, including: comedic writings (monologues; jokes, gags, routines, and sketches); scripts; correspondence; business and financial records; printed and manuscript music; photographs and iconography; posters; book drafts and published editions; promotional and publicity materials; scrapbooks; clippings; and realia. Though extensive, the collection is not comprehensive. Documentation related to Berle's business activities and the inner workings of productions in which we was involved is quite limited.
The Comedic Writings series documents Berle's roles as stand-up comic and emcee. It contains the following: complete monologues that Berle delivered at various dinners, roasts, nightclub acts, and other events; draft and partial monologues; and component parts used to make up various sets. Contents are found on index cards, typescripts, and legal pads. Berle crafted some of this material on his own, but much of it came from writers who regularly submitted material to him. Berle selected jokes from his files to create an act. Joke cards, grouped by subject or person, could be slotted into or out of an act as necessary. Berle's staff then transferred the jokes onto large index cards in numeric order for his use on stage. "The Act" is one example of this process. Berle was known for working clean in his public performances, but when he emceed roasts, the material turned blue. His staff labeled many of the more risqué monologues and jokes as "STAG." The finding aid maintains this designation. Despite the voluminous quantity of joke cards present, it is worth noting that the collection does not include Berle's 'joke file', which consisted of several file cabinets of cards and other loose items. These materials were sold at auction seperate from the larger collection.
Berle's propensity to collect gags and jokes from his fellow comedians and other sources is quite apparent. The collection has typescripts of jokes from the radio programs of Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, and Bob Hope, as well as an extensive set of Fun-Master joke, gag, and black out material. Other comedic writings include routines, such as Irving Benson's "The Man in the Box" and "The Heckler" bits, "The Professor" with Sid Caesar, Henny Youngman's "Heckle" bit, and an extensive number of sketches and scenes submitted by various writers. Rundowns provide a glimpse into show running order and bits used in performances.
Scripts account for the largest series of material in the collection. The great majority are scripts for radio, television, film, stage, and theatrical productions in which Berle performed. Loose and bound scripts exist in all categories and may be duplicative. Annotations are not consistently found in either set of scripts, and as such, the researcher will want to examine both sets. All of Berle's radio series' (Gillette Original Community Sing, Stop Me if You've Heard This One, Three Ring Time (i.e. Ballantine), Campbell Soups, Let Yourself Go (i.e. Eversharp Show), Kiss and Make Up, Milton Berle Show (i.e. Philip Morris Show), and Texaco Star Theatre) and television series' (Texaco Star Theatre, Buick-Berle Show, Berle RCA Color, Kraft Music Hall, and Jackpot Bowling) are represented through both typescript and bound copies of scripts, many of which are annotated.
Scripts do not exist for every episode of each series, especially the radio programs, but there is a complete run of the Texaco Star Theatre television programs. Not all of Berle's films are represented; there are no silent-era scripts, for example. Among the television guest appearances are Berle's Emmy-nominated performance in "Doyle Against the House" for the Dick Powell Show and episodes of Burke's Law, Captain Kangaroo, The Danny Thomas Show, The Dinah Shore Show, Fantasy Island, Hollywood Palace, The Jack Benny Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Joey Bishop Show, The Love Boat, The Lucy Show, Matlock, The Muppet Show, Murder She Wrote, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, The Sammy Davis Jr. Show, Saturday Night Live, and The Smothers Brothers Show. Script covers from some of Berle's appearances are located in the Realia series.
Scripts from Berle's theatrical performances include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To the Forum, The Goodbye People, Goodnight Grandpa, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Norman, Is That You?, See My Lawyer, Spring In Brazil, and Two By Two. The script for Kennedy and Berle's "Broadway Bound" routine is located in the Programs series. Stage and nightclub performance scripts feature Berle's acts at Caesar's Palace and the Latin Quarter, Top Banana, and the SHARE Boomtown show. Additional nightclub scripts from 1938-1940 are located in the Business Papers series, while the Clippings series provides reviews and coverage of Berle's stage and nightclub performances between 1932 and 1963.
Performances by other comedians and actors are also represented by scripts for individual episodes of The Great Gunns, The Harry Savoy Show, The Kenny Delman Show, Old Gold Program, The Rose Marie Show, The Rudy Vallee Program, Songs By Morton Downey, and Stage Door Canteen. Berle headed several television and film production enterprises, most notably Sagebrush Productions, to which writers regularly submitted scripts, proposals, treatments, and outlines on spec. Writers also submitted scripts for Berle to perform. Berle, himself, co-wrote and/or created material with Buddy Arnold, Hal Collins, and Stephen Lord, among others.
Berle was an inveterate writer. The Writings series contains drafts, page proofs, and printed copies of novels, short stories, non-fiction articles, and joke books composed throughout his career. Among these works are Berle's published novel, Earthquake, typescripts of two unpublished works, The Kneeling God and Sit Still, My Soul, and the joke collections: B. S. I Love You, Laughingly Yours, Milton Berle's Private Joke File, Further Adventures of Milton Berle's Private Joke File, Out of My Trunk, and a mock-up draft of "How to Improve Your Ego." Published and typescript copies of Berle's newspaper column, "The Berling Point," along with the one he wrote for the McNaught Syndicate, are present in this series. Published versions of "The Berling Point" are also located in the Scapbooks.
Berle's business career is less well-documented in the collection. Correspondence and business papers are limited and there are very few production files. Much of what does exist to document Berle's activity as a producer of stage productions, including Seventeen and Same Time, Next Week, and as head of his various production companies can be found in two distinct series, Files and Business Papers. Files consist of brochures, clippings, personal and business correspondence, financial records, photographs, and telegrams. Although the materials span from 1932-2002, the bulk of these documents cover a thirty year period between 1932 and 1963. Most of the correspondence is incoming. Among the topics covered are Berle's philanthropic activities, congratulatory messages for some of his notable performances ("Doyle Against the House," Earl Carroll's Vanities, and Texaco Star Theatre), fan mail, and agent representation. In the later years, there is some scheduling and promotional material for Berle's regional theatre appearances and other performances. Notable correspondents include: George Burns, Red Buttons, Kirk Douglas, Larry Gelbart, J. Edgar Hoover, George Jessel, Spike Jones, Mervyn LeRoy, Jerry Lewis, Groucho Marx, Cole Porter, Carl Sandberg, Frank Sinatra, and Walter Winchell.
The Business Papers series contains contracts for both Berle and performing talent, licensing agreements for Berle or his television programs, and agent representation. Berle's Comedy Software enterprise, an effort to market his collection of jokes on floppy disks, is also included here along with copyright and licensing agreements related to his activities as a lyricist. The series also documents the activities of Berle's music management companies (Embee, Melanie, Milbud, Victoria) and his relations with various music industry associations through songwriters contracts, music cards, and royalty statements.
The Music series largely consists of scores and parts for songs and incidental music used in Berle's numerous radio and television programs, including Texaco Star Theater, the Buick-Berle Show, and others. This material is often undated and varies in completeness, although most numbers include at least a piano-conductor score. Scattered among these titles are materials for stand-up peformances and special productions, such as the 1988 film, Milton Berle: The second time around. Despite his reputation as a performer, Berle was also a prolific lyricist and penned the words to nearly two hundred songs. He collaboratored with many leading composers, arrangers, and lyricists of his time, including Irving Actman, Milton Ager, Buddy Arnold, Buddy Feyne, Art Kassel, Billy May, Jerry Seelen, Abner Silver, and Charles, Harry, and Henry Tobias. The collection features piano-vocal scores, lead sheets, and lyric sheets for these works co-authored by Berle. Berle's songs include: "I," "I'd Give A Million Tomorrows," "Stars Never Cry," "Lucky, Lucky, Lucky Me," "Foolishly," "Sam, You Made the Pants Too Long," "Always Leave 'Em Laughing," "Save Me a Dream," "The Song of Long Ago," "It Only Takes a Moment to Fall in Love," "Gotta Darn Good Reason Now," "Moon Magic," "What's Gonna Be (With You and Me)," "Here Comes the Girl," "I'm So Happy I Could Cry," "I Wuv a Wabbit," "If I Knew You Were There," and "Summer Love." As of 2017, Berle had 304 songs registered with ASCAP. Also present in this series is a small quantity of works by other composers owned or annotated by Berle.
Visual depictions of Berle in performance and with family, friends, and colleagues are located in the Photographs and Iconography series. The former contains professional head shots and candid shots from press coverage of stage and social events. Images include: Berle with his mother, wives, children, and siblings; with fellow performers at events; traveling with fellow vaudevillians; photo shoots; and production stills from film, radio, theater, television, and vaudeville performances. Of special significance is a photo of Kennedy & Berle performing "Broadway Bound." The latter series, Iconography, features artistic renderings of Berle's distinctive visage in caricature. Examples of these representations include the 1949 covers of Time and Newsweek magazines, drawings, and caricatures.
The fifteen Scrapbooks in the collection contain clippings and a limited quantity of other ephemeral materials. A number of these volumes are fan created, with one consisting of handwritten television program summaries along with commentary on Berle's performances. Several of the volumes are very fragile and may not be available for researcher use. Small amounts of Promotional Materials, Programs, and Posters each provide additional documentation of Berle's performing career. Highlights include posters and programs from Berle's vaudeville career, lobby cards from his films, and advertising campaign materials and press kits from all phases of his career.
Personal and biographical information for Berle and his extended family is located in the Biographical Materials series. Items consist of the following: articles and bios about Berle; awards and certificates; obituaries for Berle and his wife, Ruth Cosgrove; personal financial records; and vital records. The Clippings series also contains biographical material about Berle, especially regarding his wives and mother, as well as publicity squibs touting Berle's social life. The final series, Relia, consists of decorative script covers, Ruth Cosgrove's dog tags from her WAAC service, William Berle's baby bracelet, and a handful of other personal effects.