European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 1, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Milton Berle roosting with the friars by Russell Kishi United press International Ilton Behle sat m inc Wood pan cited braid room of Hirt Hymi a ii lion Home inc Funai Subol Geve by h a. Ind contentedly pulled on a and with very Good reason his recently punished Hook. Of Ano Dolos. Is lava Vou Mcgraw Hill. J17 95 sold during inc Peak Holiday season like Mani Schiowitz Al . Sales Wero brisk enough Ira wan ant a second printing do 200,000 c Pios in tons than two weeks Liller to Hook s publication for a Cru. 79, Thiu is Al Quilo a rallying the hoi to Cpd on 60 years of observations and Vitial exchanges Irum the Hnit Owenj malls us inc friars dubs on Wrath . A a wealth of inside on the Rich Ami Lumous it s nut .1 Ixion of ill of 0kes. Sla Dirp 01 Curlo snid emphatically la s Alt Tia cd on Willi cism and truisms Hal i be collected Over 00 orca is " fac rec compared the Roqu Only off color sparring matches no Iarj of cirs to the Renu Wood sessions us the Algonquin round group of the 1920s, thai inclined writers Robert Benchley. James Thuru or. E d. Whilo and Moro Why Parker. In the grand tradition of the f i Lars Flag roasts much of the racy malarial irom Iho likes of Groi Icho mar. George Flims Jackli Enny and coup to of notorious a in Ponds and Jolson could Koich its per led on one of i hts i or Anc Notus Cornea 1irjn .1 in it for Oren Welles. When tha Laic did Vernah c Loyld found him Cufal a toss Tor the Muht description of the Man who created ii. citizen Kane Orson Welles a a True Todd began but his Tribulo quickly degenerated. No Whyl i moan is that he carries a Tot of . I mean that to 5 n Halo of a Guy no. No they Don t come any bigger. Figol to Todd concluded one of Berlo s Lavoile Short exchanges occurred within Lite last Lew years. When to asked George Burns when he last had sex. When i got frisked at an Airport Qurra replied. Borla was dubbed Tho Thiet of bad gags by the Dean of go snap columnists Waller Winc Fiell an Apt description for his research methods for the Book scribbling Oil inc cull remarks on cocktail napkins and when i us Dawn to Wiite in i found that my first draft came to 744 pages Berle said the people at Mcgraw Hill told me i had to Cut it Down Berlo s current project involves More editing selecting his favorite moments irom the landmark to face Star theatre inc show that earned him the title or. Television lion 1948-51. The result Mill be a iwo hour syndicated special Milton Belle tha second time around 1o air in the United Stales. I really think it was the Golden Era of television because to were live and what you saw is what you got by rec said we did l have any Money and no time Tor rehearsal. Worn Iho performers intimidated on inc contrary i Ltd in because nobody Al the time us How powerful this medium was. Hal Thoy were so completely relaxed Detoro that camera " Burlo said that Point can be proven by the appearances of such luminaries As Frank Sinatra Dean Marlin and Jerry Niekol bad Dags joking Voth Tangaro lilt it Haven h party celebrity Tang his Book. Lewis. Mary Martin Ezio Pinia Bob Hope Bill Bojangles Robinson and Lena Horny among Many others. To still owns the rights to All 156 hours of Texaco Star theatre and plans to Syndicate half hour presentations of the original Malonay Laler this year. There is no doubt thai Berle has had a lifelong Inlet Linof the show business Bug and Ono example of his affliction stands of t among the Rosl 1ta give you an idea How deep my Allach enl to show business i had open heart surgery in 1985, a quadruple he said. Alter the operation Hoy put to in intensive Caie Dayot iwo Days and when i comfy out Al intensive Caro. You would thief a i would open my eyes and say is it Over my god. I m living of co morning like that. That s nol what i said opened my eyes and said this is the to St lighting t Soever seen and i Well Bache to sleep wow Hal. My Friend is a the Queen of soaps still tends to All her children by Leslie Bennetts new York times in the world of soap operas Agnes non is Iho reigning Queen. She has had at least one show on the air every weekday 52 weeks a year for Morel an 30 years and that s All original episodes Wilh no reruns. Thieo of Abc s current soaps Are her Cie Lions one Lite to live which has been on the air for 20 years All my Chittien a Veteran of in years and one relative newcomer Long. Which is five years old not Only is Acton a mainstay of daytime television Stia is also widely credited As a Leader in banging social issues Inlo the White Bicad fantasy Wold of Tho soaps introducing subjects Hal ranged from drug addiction and alcoholism to wife abuse and aids Inlo or i Story lines. The Ladylike Nixon seems an unlikely source for All Iho steamy stories of passion run amok dark secrets and terrible Bol Rayals nol withstanding the endless tales of infidelity and divorce abortion and illegitimacy. Nuon is a diminutive fragile looking 60 year old with wide China Blue eyes and perfectly coiled Pale Blond hair who wears a Cross on her neck has been married to the same Man of 36 years and has raised four Chiken in a main line Philadelphia suburb. While doing so she also served As head writer on Guio Verj Lignel co creator of As the Woitt turns and head writer of anon it world among other programs. I Havon l written every script but Hoy to Boon my shows she said indeed Ever Sinca she landed her first Job writing radio serial dialogue Only three Days after graduating irom North Western Ninon has t slopped Lor breath. When she moved Over to television lha Primitivo slate of daytime drama suited her needs Well As she bore four children in less than five years. Daytime television was a cottage Industry at that Lime she said. We mailed in in i could do what i liked and still to hero with the critics have always car pod Al Trio vision of America presented by Tho soaps but Nixon a Lorce defender of the genre is proud of har role in educating Iho Public about Senous contemporary issues a current Story line on ail my children involves the wife of an intravenous drug user who shared a contaminated Needle with an addict who then died of aids. The woman Ihen discovered she too was infected Wilh the aids virus. Such plots used to be unthinkable. The first one i Ever wanted to do was a Story about Tho importance of women having Pap tests Tor the detection of Etc Ine cancer Ninon recalled. The show was lbs s guiding Light and the network was appalled. When Nikon persisted lbs said she could do it As Long As she avoided such words As cancer uterus or Hysterectomy. That was 25 years ago and since then Nixon has chained out stories on lesbian love venereal disease icon age prostitution and child abuse carefully set in an upper Middle class family to show that it can happen Here. Despite the lurid Ness of some of Iho subjects her approach is resolutely Pollyan Naish lha thrust of problem stories is always Ink upbeat idea that help is available. For a while Nixon resisted doing a Story on aids because the disease has no Cuis. Bui Ihen when i read about those three children in Florida who Wera monday february 1, 1988 Haemophiliacs who had to leave town. 1 realized we were going Back to Iho Days of she said. I decided i had to do in and thai the thing we could Hopo to cure was the ignorance and prejudice about people with the potential Impact of such messages is enormous one Lite to live has an average daily audience of 8 8 million All my children nearly 8 9 million and Loving has 4.8 million. Such dramas have bean a perennial Staple of daytime programming since Tho Early Days of television itself hut even Iho soap opera s Lulu re is looking less Rosy As network audiences erode to Competition irom Independent Stalions and Cable channels and More and More women still the primary audience for the soaps have left Homo to join the work Loco. Such trends notwithstanding. Nixon is a staunch believer in the durability of soaps. This is the form of entertainment closest to Leal life because it s open ended and every Day is a new she said we do 2bo a year with no repeats the nighttime soaps a �6 originals and then go into reruns. Having 260 episodes we Are Able to do Many More stories and Hava a diversification that s interesting to Tho viewers. The continuity is appealing. It s very intimate it s like very close friends one s family. although she has our grown children and live grandchildren of her own Tho world of Trie soaps is certainly Nixon s family As Well. These Days she is playing More of a supervisory Rote than during Iho years when she churned out Overy script and Story line Horsell but she still worm seven Das a week and shows no sign of wanting to retire alter All there Are so Many characters whose fates depend on her. Even when i m away they re still my children she said softly. The stars and stripes Page 17
