Milton Berle was born into a Jewish family in a five-story walkup at 68 W. 118th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. His given name was Mendel Berlinger. He chose Milton Berle as his professional name when he was 16. His father, Moses Berlinger (1873–1938), was a paint and varnish salesman. His mother, Sarah (Sadie) Glantz Berlinger (1877–1954), changed her name to Sandra Berle when Milton became famous. He had three older brothers (from oldest to youngest): Phil, Frank and Jack Berle. For many years the latter two worked as Berle\'s TV production staff members, while Phil Berle was a program executive at NBC.\n', '

Berle entered show business at the age of five when he won an amateur talent contest. He appeared as a child actor in silent films, beginning with The Perils of Pauline, filmed in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The director told Berle that he would portray a little boy who would be thrown from a moving train. In Milton Berle: An Autobiography, he explained, "I was scared shitless, even when he went on to tell me that Pauline would save my life. Which is exactly what happened, except that at the crucial moment they threw a bundle of rags instead of me from the train. I bet there are a lot of comedians around today who are sorry about that."\n', '

By Berle\'s account, he continued to play child roles in other films: Bunny\'s Little Brother, Tess of the Storm Country, Birthright, Love\'s Penalty, Divorce Coupons and Ruth of the Range. Berle recalled, "There were even trips out to Hollywood—the studios paid—where I got parts in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, with Mary Pickford; The Mark of Zorro, with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and Tillie\'s Punctured Romance, with Charlie Chaplin, Mabel Normand and Marie Dressler." In 1916, Berle enrolled in the Professional Children\'s School.\n', '

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