Milton Berle & Jackie Gleason

[Gleasonclown]

Does anyone know how many guest shots Berle did with Gleason (or visa-versa-did Gleason do a Berle Texaco show in the very early 50's?). I've seen a clip of Milton & Jackie doing a vaudeville Edgar Bergan vent-type act on a Berle video, but the clip looked like a color one that was printed in B&W, and looked like it might have been from a Gleason show.

-Greg

[VIDEOWACK]

Originally Posted by Gleasonclown

Does anyone know how many guest shots Berle did with Gleason (or visa-versa-did Gleason do a Berle Texaco show in the very early 50's?). I've seen a clip of Milton & Jackie doing a vaudeville Edgar Bergan vent-type act on a Berle video, but the clip looked like a color one that was printed in B&W, and looked like it might have been from a Gleason show.

-Greg

Berle made 11 appearances on Gleason's show. 8 variety hours and 3 book musicals.

[tv star collector]

That's interesting. I know (from what I have read) that these two great comics
had very different approaches to television. Gleason hated rehearsing and
believed in spontaneity, while Berle insisted on rehearsing (on his own show at
any rate, where he called the shots).

[VIDEOWACK]

Originally Posted by tv star collector

That's interesting. I know (from what I have read) that these two great comics
had very different approaches to television. Gleason hated rehearsing and
believed in spontaneity, while Berle insisted on rehearsing (on his own show at
any rate, where he called the shots).

To quote Berle from the book, "Jackie Gleason-The Great One", put out by the Museum of TV & Radio in 1987:

"Jackie Gleason isn't foolhardy. He's as much of a perfectionist as I am. In his own way. Gifted with a photographic memory, he wants each word uttered to sound as if it had been created just that moment. Rehearsals destroy that spontaneity. Those who have heard me know that I too can remember a few things, and I also believe in the quality of freshness in the delivery of a line. Unlike Gleason, I like to accomplish ad-libness by rehearsal. Yet, I can go much of the way with this genius because his timing and hearing are matchless. He never kills a feed line or steps on the words that make up the laugh. I trust Gleason with 8 minutes of a spot he's rehearsed only once. That's why he's Gleason. That's why the other guys are Herbie Schlock and Al Fazznacht".

[W.B.]

I do remember, though, Mr. Berle being quoted in James Bacon's How Sweet It Is book as saying that whenever he appeared on Gleason's show, he gave The Great One an ultimatum along the lines of "None of this 'no-show-until-airtime' with me" - in other words, Berle compelled Gleason to rehearse the routines they would do on the latter's show. Apparently, Uncle Miltie was the only one to do so (as far as the variety shows were concerned).