Gertrude Berg
Gertrude Berg | |
---|---|
Born | Tillie Edelstein October 3, 1899 East Harlem, New York City, U.S. |
Died | September 14, 1966 Manhattan, New York City, U.S. | (aged 66)
Occupation(s) | Actress, screenwriter |
Years active | 1929–1961 |
Spouse | Lewis Berg (1918–1966; her death) |
Children | 2 |
Gertrude Berg (born Tillie Edelstein;
Life and career
Berg was born Tillie Edelstein in 1899 in the East Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, to Jacob and Dinah Edelstein, natives of Russia and England, respectively. Berg's chronically unstable mother Dinah, grieving over the death of her young son, experienced a series of nervous breakdowns and later died in a sanitarium.[1]
Tillie, who lived with her family on Lexington Avenue,[1] married Lewis Berg in 1918; they had two children, Cherney (1922–2003) and Harriet (1926–2003). She learned theater while producing skits at her father's Catskills Mountains resort in Fleischmanns, New York.[2][3]
After the sugar factory where her husband worked burned down, she developed a semi-autobiographical skit, portraying a Jewish family in a
On November 20, 1929, a 15-minute episode of The Rise of the Goldbergs was first broadcast on the NBC radio network. She started at
Berg became inextricably identified as
Immigrant life and the Goldberg family struggle were familiar and relatable to many families during this point in American history. Radio seemed to produce a common place to tie patriotism and families together. The program's success was largely because of the familiar feelings of the American people portrayed in the program's scripts. The first season script was later published in book form.[5]
In 1951, Berg won the first ever
The Goldbergs ran into trouble in 1951, during the
Berg continued to make guest appearances on television in the 1950s and early 1960s. She appeared on
Berg continued working in theatre through these years. In 1959, she won the
Death and legacy
Berg died of heart failure on September 14, 1966, aged 66, at Doctors Hospital in Manhattan.[8] She is buried at Clovesville Cemetery in Fleischmanns, New York.
A biography of Berg, Something on My Own: Gertrude Berg and American Broadcasting, 1929–1956, by Glenn D. Smith, Jr. (Syracuse University Press) appeared in 2007. Aviva Kempner's 2009 documentary, Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, deals with Berg's career, and to an extent, her personal life.[9]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8156-0887-5.
- ^ a b c Senseney, Dan (August 1954). "The Heart of the Goldbergs" (PDF). TV-Radio Mirror: 40. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
- ^ Shandler, Jeffrey; Smith, Pete (June 23, 2021). "Gertrude Berg". Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-8242-0478-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8166-2621-2.
- ISBN 978-0-3074-8320-1.
- ^ Berg, Gertrude (1961). Molly and Me. New York: McGraw-Hill. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
- ^ "Gertrude Berg, Molly of 'The Goldbergs' Dead; Actress Wrote and Starred in Popular Radio-TV Series". The New York Times. September 15, 1966. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- ^ "Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Goldberg". mollygoldbergfilm.org. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
Further reading
- Marc, David (2004). "Berg, Gertrude". In Horace Newcomb (ed.). Encyclopedia of Television. Vol. I (A-C) (2nd ed.). New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. pp. 239–40. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
- Radio Voices: American Broadcasting, 1922-1952. Minneapolis: ISBN 978-0-8166-2621-2.
- "Tuning in to Women in Television" (National Women's History Museum)
- Armstrong, Jennifer (March 23, 2021). When women invented television: the untold story of the female powerhouses who pioneered the way we watch today. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-297330-6. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
External links
- Gertrude Berg at the Internet Broadway Database
- Gertrude Berg at AllMovie
- Gertrude Berg on National Public Radio
- Gertrude Berg Honoree at The Paley Center for Media
- Syracuse University: Gertrude Berg Papers
- Interview with Fred Rogers Gertrude Berg on the PBS show Children's Corner, Archive of American Television interview with Fred Rogers, part 4 of 9, about ten minutes into the program.
- Webcast on Gertrude Berg, The Paley Center for Media, "From The Goldbergs to 2005: The Evolution of the Family Sitcom" (November 16, 2005)