Lewis is the father of 1960s pop musician Gary Lewis, who had several hits during the mid-1960s with his group Gary Lewis and the Playboys.
Claims he was thrown out of high school for punching out his principal who had offended him with an anti-Semitic remark. Then went directly into vaudeville. An episode of "Seinfeld" (1990) makes use of plot point based on Lewis'(alleged) real-life strategem of secretly leaving an audiotape recorder running in a briefcase he intentionally leaves behind him in meetings to see what some people may be saying about him.
Born at 12:15pm-EST
Father of 6 sons with his first marriage. Adopted daughter, Daniele, during his second marriage.
Had open heart surgery in 1983.
Underwent surgery for prostate cancer in 1992.
While contending his birth name is Joseph Levitch, official birth records show his first name to be Jerome.
Jerry took his last name from his actor-father's stage name.
He is known as a clothes horse. He gives away suits rather than having them cleaned and refuses to wear a pair of socks more than once.
He was presented the French Legion of Honor in 1984 and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977.
He taught a class in film at the University of California.
In 1995, he became the highest paid performer in Broadway history for his role as the Devil in "Damn Yankees".
Son of Danny Lewis.
Oldest son Gary Lewis and his soft-rock group The Playboys had several pop hits in the 1960s, including "This Diamond Ring".
He and Dean Martin were the world's top box-office earners from 1950-56. Lewis, on his own, also ruled as #1 movie draw in 1957, 1959, and 1961 to 1964!
Nominated for Nobel Prize for his 50 years raising money to fight muscular dystrophy.
First filmmaker to develop and use video-assist device on location.
Wrote 10 scripts in 10 years.
Says there is no gap between comedy and tragedy.
In Italy, Lewis has been given the nickname 'Picchiatello' (which means something like "nut" or "crazy"). At least three of his movies use the word in their Italian title: You're Never Too Young (1955) which became "Il Nipote Picchiatello" ("The Crazy Nephew"), Hardly Working (1980) ("Bentornato Picchiatello", or "Welcome Back Crazy") and Cracking Up (1983)("Qua La Mano Picchiatello". pr "Shake My Hand, Crazy").
He was a big fan of The Catcher in the Rye and strongly identified with the main character Holden Caulfield. He planned to direct a movie version but failed to aquire the rights from the book's reclusive author J.D. Salinger.
Suffers from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis.
Children with Patti Palmer : Gary (b. 1945), Ronald (b. 1949), Scott (b. 1956), Christopher (b. 1957), Anthony (b. 1959)and Joseph (b. 1964). With SanDee Pitrick a daughter Danielle (b. 1992).
In 1969, Lewis announced the bold project of franchising a series of Jerry Lewis Cinemas. A firm believer in family entertainment, he said that the one inviolate rule of the chain would be that nothing other than family-oriented films would be shown. The theaters were to be state-of-the-art, easy to operate, and franchised to individuals who could meet the chain's investment requirements. Changing tastes in popular entertainment coupled with internal mismanagement caused the project to collapse within just a few years, and several lawsuits that could have resulted in jail time for Lewis and his associates were settled out of court.
The character Professor John Frink in "The Simpsons" (1989) is based on his role of Professor Kelp in The Nutty Professor (1963). Also some of Krusty the Clown's off-stage antics are based on him.
Starred (with Dean Martin) on NBC Radio's "The Martin and Lewis Show" (1949-1953).
13 October 2003 - Entered a Las Vegas hospital to kick steroids used in the treatment of his pulmonary fibrosis.
Wrote, produced, and acted in the film The Day the Clown Cried (1972), which was never released. The film purports to tell the tale of a clown at Auschwitz during WWII.
Was teamed up with Dean Martin from 1946-56.
His film class students included Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
Sammy Davis Jr. called him the "greatest white faker" as a dancer.
Was voted the 50th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly. Although he is at the bottom of this list, perhaps a bit shockingly, Charles Chaplin didn't even make the list.
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 586-593. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.
Came upon his long-time theme song, "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby (With a Dixie Melody)," by accident. In 1956 he had to cover for an indisposed Judy Garland at a performance in Las Vegas, which included singing several of her songs. His performance of "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby," using Garland's arrangement, went over so well with the audience that Lewis has used it as his theme song ever since.
Despite never having much of a singing voice (biographer Arthur Marx once likened his singing to "the croaking of a parched parrot"), his album, "Jerry Lewis Just Sings" (American Decca: 1956), was a best-seller upon its release, securing a place in the top-20 on the Billboard Album Charts.
Has been in constant back pain since miscalculating on a pratfall on "The Andy Williams Show" (1962) in 1965. Percodan (a highly addictive morphine substitute, now only perscribed in emergencies) left him an addict for almost two decades. He now uses an implant device that dulls nerve impulses and can be controlled by a hand-held remote control
Although critics usually referred to him as "the little guy" throughout his career, Lewis was about the same height or slightly shorter than Dean Martin (both were a little under 6 feet tall). To try to make himself look more diminutive next to his partner, Lewis frequently hunched and also shaved a few inches off the heels of his shoes and added them to Martin's.
Besides Dean Martin, Lewis says the closest friend he ever had was Sammy Davis Jr. Davis would call Lewis in tears at times because of the racial slurs people would say to him about his relationship with Swedish actress May Britt.
Claims to have never have seen Hollywood or Bust (1956), the last film he made with his partner, Dean Martin, saying it's much too painful for him to watch.
Contrary to belief, the 1976 MDA telethon was not the first reconciliation of the legendary comedy team. In 1960, four years after they split, Martin & Lewis briefly reunited. Both were performing their own separate acts at the Sands hotel in Las Vegas, a club they frequently played while they were together. Lewis caught Martin's closing act and Martin introduced his former partner to the audience, bringing him on stage. For about fifteen minutes, they joked a bit and sang a duet of "Come Back to Me". Unfortunately, the reunion was only a one time thing. Later when Lewis was too exhausted to perform his act, Martin generously replaced him.
Encouraged Christopher Walken to act. Walken met Lewis while he was on "The Colgate Comedy Hour" (1950) and Lewis suggested to the young boy that he pursue a career in show business.
Norman Lear (creator of "All in the Family" (1971)) co-wrote many of Martin & Lewis' "The Colgate Comedy Hour" (1950) shows.
Says his favorite Martin & Lewis film is The Stooge (1953) because "it came closest to capturing what Dean and I had as a team".
Some have said that if Lewis hadn't pursued a career in show business, he would have been a professional baseball player for the Dodgers. He played with the team a few times at charity events and was apparently very good.
Was best friends with Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. They starred in Lewis' home movies after Curtis complained about the parts he was being offered by his studio.
Was close friends with comic Lenny Bruce.
Was offered the role of Jerry/Daphne in Some Like It Hot (1959), directed by his friend Billy Wilder. He declined because he didn't want to dress in drag. The part, of course, eventually went to Jack Lemmon and he received an Oscar nomination for his performance. Lewis says that Lemmon would send him chocolates every year to thank him and he now regrets not taking the role.
Diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2001.
Pronounced clinically dead from a massive heart attack in December 1982, after completing The King of Comedy (1983) with Robert De Niro.
145 IQ.
He developed the first "Video Assist" for the motion picture camera in 1966. This allowed him to view his performance while directing his films. This is used extensively today in filmmaking, known as "Video Village."
Society of Operating Cameramen, (SOC) Honorary Member (1981)
Collapsed at a London show in September 2002.
Is portrayed by Sean Hayes in Martin and Lewis (2002) (TV)
Jerry Lewis Detailed Biography
Amazingly, Jerry Lewis was funny, once. The French love him, and we hate that. Understandably it's the old Lewis they love, the Lewis of Lewis and Martin and Artists and Models. Groundbreaking in a way, Lewis brought vaudevillian slapstick to both the screen and the stand-up stage, one of the few people who can pull it off so cleanly. But that's all gone, now.
As a good career in movies tapered off, Lewis in 1972 completed the film The Day the Clown Cried. We would love to see this film, but it was never released, and likely will never be released. As to why, let's go over the plot: Clown, Helmut Doork, played by Lewis after a grapefruit starvation diet in which he lost 35 pounds, performs an Adolf Hitler impersonation that lands him in the hands of the Gestapo. Once jailed, Helmut forms a bond with the children as a performer, and camp managers convince him to lead the group into the gas chambers at Auschwitz, Pied Piper style. Though he does not have to, he follows them in, and they all die laughing together. Fin.
The most brilliant film ever conceived, or negatives that oughtn't see the light of day? Current state of the legal limbo: Neither Lewis nor the producer actually owned the rights to the script, which expired after a $50K payment was not made. No other parties involved want the film released -- for obvious reasons, by now. Lewis won't talk about the project any more, though for a while he fought valiantly for Clown's release. Harry Shearer claims to have seen it, writing in now-defunct Spy Magazine... "This movie is so drastically wrong, its pathos and comedy are so wildly misplaced, that you could not, in your fantasy of what it might be like, improve on what it really is." Thinking optimistically, Clown might be brilliant competition for Plan 9 From Outer Space.
And on the subject of Crimes against Humanity, Jerry is the host of an annual Labor Day weekend atrocity known as the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, twenty-one hours of pure television hell. With Lewis's distinguished history of telethon involvement starting in the late 1940's, the Dystrophy telethon continues to run uninterrupted year after painful year. Still it attracts luminaries; in the 1970's, even Elvis made an appearance [If you have the exact date of this, send it in for our timeline below.] How anyone can bear to watch is a mystery. Maybe it's a Middle America thing.
Indisputably, Jerry Lewis has done much to raise money for muscular dystrophy research. $1.8B raised speaks very loudly by any measure. But he has a very dim view of the people he is actually purporting to help, referring to them as "half persons" in an infamous 1990 gaffe. A growing group of the handicapped have organized themselves and protest against the fact that this man, so ugly inside, has somehow been made their "spokesman." And Lewis' bigotry is not limited to the crippled -- he considers women to be baby producing machines. Read the quote. No amount of apology is sufficient.
Now to Lewis's physical condition. Back in the day, Lewis was a scrawny, somewhat lanky fellow. Now he's William Bennett inflated to 60 PSI, grotesquely bloated from prednizone steroid he takes for his pulmonary fibrosis. This is only the last in a series of interminable health crises -- diabetes, prostate cancer, spiral meningitis, back pain -- and it seems to go hand-in-hand with Lewis's several-decades loss of funny. Either STFU, or make way to a glue factory, stat.
It is difficult to obtain any information on Jerry's family life. His son Joseph is alleged to have stated, "There are two sets of Jerry's Kids. Those physically crippled by a dreadful disease, and those emotionally crippled by a dreadful father." Given his statements regarding cripples and women, and the longtime unnecessary estrangement from Dean Martin, what is one to speculate?
It's sad to be so harsh. But Jerry Lewis is an ass. Just in case we weren't clear.
