Harry Warnecke / Gus Schoenbaechler · CC0

Milton Berle became American television's first major star as host of NBC's Texaco Star Theatre from 1948 to 1953, when the medium itself was still new enough that viewers knew him simply as "Uncle Miltie" and "Mr. Television." His career as an entertainer stretched across more than eight decades, from silent film and vaudeville through radio and television, and he was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.