JEWISH-AMERICAN HALL OF FAME GERTRUDE BERG MEDAL

The Jewish-American Hall of Fame inductee for 2015, radio and television pioneer Gertrude Berg (better known as Molly Goldberg), appears on limited edition, high relief art medals sculpted by Eugene Daub, that Mel Wacks, Director of the JAHF says “are guaranteed to make you smile.”

The obverse depicts writer and performer Gertrude Berg as Molly Goldberg, leaning out of her Bronx apartment window shouting “Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Bloom” (as she opened her television show); the reverse features members of the original cast of her groundbreaking sitcom “The Goldbergs.”

The 47th issue in the longest continuing series of art medals being produced in America is available in bronze (115 made), 3 oz. pure silver (56 made), and gold-plated 3 oz. pure silver (27 made), priced at $45, $200, and $250 respectively. Each 2-inch art medal is individually serial numbered and comes with a certificate of authenticity. They can be ordered by calling the non-profit Jewish-American Hall of Fame at 818-225-1348. Mention that you read about it in The E-Sylum, and take a 20% discount.

Gertrude Berg was born Tillie Edelstein in New York City in 1898. Her father, Jake Edelstein, ran a resort in the Catskill Mountains where Tillie worked and eventually created and performed skits to amuse the guests' children. She met an older Englishman, Lewis Berg, one summer at the resort, and when she turned eighteen they married. A few years later, she started to pursue her writing and acting careers full time, changing her name to Gertrude Berg.

Berg began writing radio scripts based on a fictional family she had formulated as a young woman, now calling them “The Goldbergs,” a combination of her mother's maiden name and her husband's last name. “The Goldbergs” premiered on radio in 1929 with Gertrude filling in for the role of Molly until another actress could be found. She was so good that when she was sick for a week the public sent in mass amounts of fan mail asking, "Where's Molly?" Audiences loved listening to the stories and struggles of the Goldberg family and their neighbors, and instantly took to the warmth and guidance of the accented Molly Goldberg.

In 1947, following her 17 year run on radio, Gertrude saw television as a new exciting media, and a new opportunity to reinvigorate and reintroduce “The Goldbergs” following World War II. “The Goldbergs” premiered on CBS in 1949, with Gertrude Berg as lead writer, star, and producer yet again.

In 1950, Gertrude Berg won the first best actress Emmy Award in history, she had a clothing line for housewives, published a cookbook, and wrote an advice column called “Mama Talks.” The Goldbergs eventually moved from the Bronx to the suburbs, and continued until 1954, after which Berg also wrote and produced a syndicated film version that remained on the air for another few years.

Gertrude Berg’s pioneering show “The Goldbergs” blazed the trail for “I Love Lucy” and all other sitcoms to follow!

Picture is attached, courtesy of Jewish-American Hall of Fame. Suggested caption is: The 2015 Jewish-American Hall of Fame medal, designed by award-winning sculptor Eugene Daub, features radio/television writer and performer Gertrude Berg as Molly Goldberg—shouting “Yoo-Hoo Mrs. Bloom”-- and the original cast of her groundbreaking sitcom “The Goldbergs.”

For more information on the Jewish-American Hall of Fame, see:
http://www.amuseum.org/

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