Milton Berle Succumbs To Cancer

Posted Thursday, March 28, 2002 at 9:09 AM Central

by John Couture

Yesterday was a sad, sad day for the comedian world of Hollywood as they lost two of their brightest stars. Dudley Moore died yesterday morning at age 66 after a bout with pneumonia. And then a few hours later, Milton Berle, "Mr. Television," gave way to his own personal battle with colon cancer. Milton was 93.

Milton was an early comic pioneer, becoming the first successful comedian to embrace the TV as a comic medium. His long-running variety show, "Texaco Star Theater," became one of the first TV shows to capture the attention of the entire populace. In fact, on Tuesday nights during its run, it wouldn't be odd to see signs on closed establishments proclaiming that they closed early to "watch Uncle Miltie."

The cigar-chomping comic also made a small splash in movies, starring in It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Broadway Danny Rose and The Muppet Movie. However, his main thrust of success was on TV, where he influenced many of today's top comics.

Goodbye Uncle Miltie, I hope they saved you a seat in the smoking section of Heaven.