orig. Milton Berlinger
born July 12, 1908, New York, N.Y., U.S.
died March 27, 2002, Los Angeles, Calif.
U.S. comedian.
He appeared in vaudeville from age 10 and later acted in more than 50 silent films. He worked chiefly as a nightclub comedian (193949) while vainly seeking a radio audience. His slapstick routines and facial contortions, however, were more suited to a visual medium, and between 1937 and 1968 he appeared in 19 movies. His greatest success came with the television variety show Texaco Star Theater (194854), a show so popular that many people are said to have bought television sets just to watch "Uncle Miltie."