Milton Berle passed away late last year. Walker Drama is dedicating it's production of Greece! to his memory.

Our research for this play was extensive – we approached NBC, Berle’s network and then contacted the CBS News Archive. They made a connection for us to the Museum of Broadcasting in Los Angeles. We also tracked down a local connection. Mrs. Nancy Calhoun, the middle school principal, shared memories of her childhood in Atlanta and the part Texaco Star Theatre plays in her memories of that time:

“I watched Milton Berle during the fifties. His program was on Tuesday nights and people stayed home to see it. It was sponsored by Texaco and the opening commercial always featured service station guys singing “We’re the men from Texaco” (unfortunately that is all I can remember about the jingle). Berle told one-liners. His facial expressions and body language were as funny as the jokes.

He was often accused of “stealing” jokes from other comedians, but most of them were probably ancient to the adults, even though they were brand new to the children. He would do almost anything for a laugh. He frequently wore “house dresses” for some of his routines.

I was on safety patrol at the time. The policemen who worked with us at my school told us that on Tuesday nights during the Texaco Hour, fewer crimes were committed, less traffic was on the streets, and the police received fewer calls for assistance of any type.”

Audiences attending the Walker Drama production of Greece! should watch for our homage to “Mr. Television” towards the end of the play. We’re sure Mr. Shakespeare won’t mind a bit of a digression from his text…