Volume 45 - No. 49
December 03, 2015
by Frederick Gomez
There is an old, humorous chestnut that states, “A transvestite is a man who just wants to eat, drink, and be Mary.”
The concept of males dressing up as women is as old as the hills, and rationalizations for doing so are as diverse as the cultures from which they spring. In 1950’s America, famed television comedian, Milton Berle, tickled America’s funny bone by dressing up in drag and spoofing the gender factor in a variety of hilarious sketches. And though Berle appeared in various drag personas, his “Auntie Mildred” character skyrocketed to the forefront in popularity!
In one hilarious, but daring, drag sequence, Berle dressed in a beautiful, formal bridal gown, and took his place alongside a man in full formal tuxedo, both preparing to exchange their sacred wedding vows before a minister! Did mainstream 1950’s America recoil in disgust? Quite the contrary, many suffered from spasmattacks brought on by uncontrollable bouts of laughter, sending “Uncle Miltie’s” television ratings high into the stratosphere!
Such surprising gender-bending skits helped make Milton Berle’s “Texaco Star Theater” television show unique, and certainly a galaxy away from being just another common, garden-variety comedy show! Berle was no longer just vaudeville-funny. He was no longer just (generically) funny. His popular drag sequences became the uncensored X-factor that made early television hugely unpredictable and edgy, for its time! Especially when dealing with forbidden taboos, such as men dressing up in women’s clothing, and making it “acceptable fun.” As stated at the top of this article, men dressing up as women is certainly nothing new. Some just did it better than others! Julian Eltinge (born William J. Dalton, 1881-1941) was the top female impersonator in early 1900 American vaudeville. He is the only drag performer to actually have a Broadway theatre named in his honor!
In his very first job in the legitimate theater, legendary movie actor, James Cagney, performed as a female impersonator in a revue titled, “Every Sailor.” It was a popular concept. As James Cagney put it, “Female impersonators were the rage at the time, and every vaudeville show had one on the boards.”
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But audiences are fickle. What’s popular today, may not be so tomorrow. And also, what vaudeville and burlesque presented on stage may not be “presentable” for television families across midAmerica and the U.S. Bible Belt.
Milton Berle’s timing was immaculate. The resurgence of popularity for buffoonery in drag was at hand, and Berle would ride this wave of popularity like no other! However, television was an experimental industry, still in its infancy. Censorship was in place. This new visual media called television
was not the bawdy stage of vaudeville or the British music halls. A performer had to be a tight-ropewalker, walking that fine line between acceptable family values and bathroom humor. Unlike vaudeville and burlesque, sex, nudity, and obscenity were not to be tolerated. Lewd and indecent material may reward you with deafening laughter at vaudeville’s old Palladium Theater and a renewed contract – the same material would be a television death sentence! Though a raucous and seasoned vaudevillian, himself, Milton
Berle knew how to preen his public image. His unsurpassed comedic genius, together with a bit of tight-rope-walking for the censors, all parlayed into his colossal success on this new medium called television! And no one did it better than Uncle Miltie. But, he remained daring. He could push the envelope better than anyone – and he did! It is, perhaps, truly impossible for today’s rebellious and uninhibited generation to fully comprehend and appreciate the level of pio-
‘Boys Just Wanna Be Girls’ Continued on Page 2