MILTON BERLE - DOCUMENT SIGNED 10/07/1939 - HFSID 276665

MILTON BERLE
He signs a contract for his radio show, Stop Me if You've Heard this One.
Document signed: " Milton Berle", 8p, 8½x14. New York, N.Y., 1939 October 7. Signed on last page. Berle signs an agreement with Ruthrauff & Ryan, Inc. to produce and broadcast 52 consecutive weekly episodes of a radio show, Stop Me If You've Heard This One, to be sponsored by Quaker Oats. Commencing October 7, the half hour show is to be broadcast by NBC at 8:30 PM on Saturday evenings, with an 11:30 PM rebroadcast on the same evening at Ruthrauff's discretion. Berle is to serve as master of ceremonies, along with three jurors ("gag-busters"). All jokes accepted for airing on the show are to be submitted to Ruthrauff & Ryan for approval four days prior to broadcast. Ruthrauff will pay Berle $3,300 for each broadcast, including repeats. Berle agrees that he and members of his cast "will conduct themselves with due regard to public conventions and morals." Milton Berle (1908-2002) played small supporting roles in silents, including the part of a newsboy in the first-ever feature-length comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), starring Charlie Chaplin. Berle then moved into vaudeville and became a headliner, with occasional stopovers on Broadway and in Hollywood, into the WWII years. His lengthy starring role in the 1943 edition of Broadway's Ziegfeld Follies established him as a star. After only moderate success on radio and in films, Berle made a spectacular television debut as star of NBC's Texaco Star Theatre in 1948, dominating the airwaves on Tuesday nights until 1956. He became known as "Mr. Television" and was everyone's "Uncle Miltie". On Stop Me If You've Heard This One, the public submitted jokes for the show, winning a prize for acceptance. The "gag-busters" would interrupt and finish the joke if they had heard it before or could guess the ending. When the gag-busters were stumped, the person submitting the joke got a bigger prize. While this show only lasted on the air until February 1940, it was revived (with a different host) on radio and TV (1947-1949). Binder and staple holes at top. Signature page slightly frayed at right edge. Otherwise, fine condition.