Archive of material from the personal estate of entertainment legend Milton Berle, consisting mostly of musical material and financial paperwork relating to his impressive career on stage, television, and film, with much of the archive annotated or marked in Berle’s own hand. The archive includes: a Libretto booklet for the 1962 musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, with the interior heavily annotated in pencil and multicolored felt tip by Berle, who ultimately turned down the role of Pseudolus; a pair of large musical arrangement spiral-bound folders relating to “The Royal Quartette,” both filled out and annotated in pencil and ink; numerous sheet music packets and arrangements for both stage and screen, annotated in pencil and various ink types, with titles including “Texaco Theme,” “What Makes a Wave,” “Stouthearted Men,” “Wonder Tag,” and “Show Business (Wood Wind)”; a one-sheet movie poster for the 1942 film A Gentleman at Heart, with splits to several of the folds; several packets listing Berle’s performances on the Texaco Star Theater and The Buick-Berle Show programs between 1948 and 1955, as well as others relating to his one-season run of the Milton Berle Show in 1966; a group of 35 sheet music booklets for ‘Easy Come, Easy Go,’ and one for the song ‘I’; a large assemblage of various papers regarding Berle Enterprises, royalties, receipts, tax statements, credit authorizations, work-for-hire agreements, and trademark assignments, with five titled: “Milton,” “Milton Berle’s Humidor,” “Milton Berle,” “We Drink, We Smoke, We Gamble,” and “Life Is a Gamble”; a lifetime achievement nomination plaque from the 2nd annual American Comedy Awards, dated May 17, 1988; TV Guides for August 4-10, 1956, and January 1-16, 1959; an uncorrected proof copy of A Summer World, softcover, with transmittal letter forwarding the book to Berle; and various printouts, finance records, tax documents, and packets relating to Berle’s extensive acting credits. In overall very good to fine condition.
