Milton Berle Hosted TV’s First Big-Name Charity Telethon

from Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson · host Brady Carlson

Today in 1949, one of the biggest names in TV helped usher in a big part of TV history. Before the famous Jerry Lewis telethons, Milton Berle hosted a televised fundraiser for 16 straight hours in New York. Plus: coming up this weekend, it’s the Chicago Tea Festival. Hollywood Flashback: Milton Berle Hosted the First Star Telethon in 1949 (Hollywood Reporter)Chicago Tea Festival 2026 We don’t do telethons, but you can back our podcast on Patreon

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Apr 9, 2026

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Milton Berle Hosted TV’s First Big-Name Charity Telethon

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