Jerry Lewis
Encyclopedia
Jerry Lewis is an American
comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick
humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin
in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis
. In addition to the duo's popular nightclub work, they starred in a successful series of comedy films for Paramount Pictures
.
From the early 1950s to 2010, Lewis was also known for his charity fund-raising telethons and position as national chairman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association
(MDA). Lewis has won several awards for lifetime achievements from The American Comedy Awards
, The Golden Camera, Los Angeles Film Critics Association
, and The Venice Film Festival
, and he has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
.
In 2005, he received the Governors Award of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board of Governors, which is the highest Emmy Award
presented. On February 22, 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
awarded Lewis the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
, to Russian Jewish parents. His father, Daniel Levitch, was a Master of Ceremonies
and vaudeville
entertainer who used the professional name Danny Lewis, His mother, Rachel ("Rae") Levitch ( Brodsky), was a piano player for a radio station.
Lewis started performing at age five and would often perform alongside his parents in the Catskill Mountains
in New York State
. By fifteen he had developed his "Record Act", in which he exaggeratedly mimed the lyrics to songs on a phonograph. He used the professional name Joey Lewis, but soon changed it to Jerry Lewis to avoid confusion with comedian Joe E. Lewis
and heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis
. He graduated from Irvington High School
in Irvington, New Jersey
. During World War II
he was rejected for military service because of a heart murmur
.
, who served as straight man to Lewis's zany antics in the Martin and Lewis
comedy team. They distinguished themselves from the majority of comedy acts of the 1940s by relying on the interaction of the two comics instead of planned skits. In the late 1940s, they quickly rose to national prominence, first with their popular nightclub act, next as stars of their own radio program.
They then made appearances on early live television
, debuting first on the June 20, 1948 debut broadcast of Toast of the Town with Ed Sullivan
on the CBS TV Network (later the Ed Sullivan Show), followed on October 3, 1948 by an appearance on the NBC TV series Welcome Aboard
, then as the first of a series of hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour
in 1950. They began their Paramount film careers in 1949 as ensemble players in My Friend Irma
, based on the popular radio series of the same name. This was followed by a sequel in 1950, My Friend Irma Goes West
. Starting with At War with the Army
(1950), Martin and Lewis were the stars of their own vehicles, in fourteen additional titles at Paramount. Final was Hollywood or Bust
(1956). All sixteen were produced by Hal Wallis.
However, as Martin's roles in their films became less important, the partnership became strained. Martin's diminished participation became an embarrassment in 1954, when Look magazine
used a publicity photo of the team for the magazine cover, but cropped Martin out of the photo. The partnership finally ended on July 24, 1956. Attesting the team's popularity, DC Comics
published the best-selling The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comic books from 1952 to 1957. The series continued a year after the team broke up as DC Comics then featured Lewis solo, until 1971, in The Adventures of Jerry Lewis comic books. In this latter series, Lewis was sometimes featured with Superman
, Batman
, and various other DC Comics heroes and villains. It inspired the Filmation
cartoons production company to make, in 1970, a series called Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down, with Jerry as the one character inspired by reality, beside other fictitious characters, including Jerry's fictitious relatives.
Both Martin and Lewis went on to successful solo careers, but for years neither would comment on the split, nor consider a reunion. They made at least a couple of public appearances together between the breakup and 1961, but then were not seen together in public until a surprise appearance by Martin on Lewis's Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Telethon in 1976, arranged by Frank Sinatra
.
The pair eventually reconciled in the late 1980s after the death of Martin's son, Dean Paul Martin
. The two men were seen together on stage in Las Vegas
when Lewis pushed out Dean's birthday cake and sang "Happy Birthday
" to him. In Lewis's 2005 book Dean and Me (A Love Story), Lewis wrote of his kinship with Martin, who died in 1995.
(1957). Teaming with director Frank Tashlin
, whose background as a Warner Bros.
Looney Tunes
cartoon director suited Lewis's brand of humor, he starred in five more films, and even appeared uncredited as Itchy McRabbitt in Li'l Abner (1959).
Lewis tried his hand at releasing an album in the 1950s, having a chart hit with the song "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody
" (a song largely associated with Al Jolson
and later re-popularized by Judy Garland
) as well as the song, "It All Depends on You
" in 1958. He eventually released his own album titled, Jerry Lewis Just Sings. By the end of his contract with producer Hal B. Wallis
, Lewis had several productions of his own under his belt.
His first three efforts, The Delicate Delinquent
(1957), Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) and The Geisha Boy
(1958), were all efforts to move away from Wallis, who Lewis felt was hindering his comedy. In 1960, Lewis finished his contract with Wallis with Visit to a Small Planet
(1960), and wrapped up work on his own production, Cinderfella
. Cinderfella was postponed for a Christmas 1960 release, and Paramount, needing a quickie feature film for its summer 1960 schedule, held Lewis to his contract to produce one. Lewis came up with The Bellboy
. Using the Fontainebleau Hotel
in Miami as his setting—and on a small budget, with a very tight shooting schedule, and no script—Lewis shot the film by day and performed at the hotel in the evenings. Bill Richmond
collaborated with him on the many sight gags.
In a 2005 interview, Lewis revealed that Paramount were not happy financing a 'silent movie' and withdrew backing. Lewis used his own funds to cover the $950,000 budget. During production Lewis developed the technique of using video cameras and multiple closed circuit monitors, which allowed him to review his performance instantly. His techniques and methods, documented in his book and his USC class, enabled him to complete most of his films on time and under budget.
Later, he incorporated videotape, and as more portable and affordable equipment became available, this technique would become an industry standard known as video assist
. Lewis followed The Bellboy by directing several more films which he co-wrote with Richmond, including The Ladies Man
(1961), The Errand Boy
(1961), The Patsy (1964) and the well-known comedy hit, The Nutty Professor
(1963), which was later successfully remade as a vehicle for Eddie Murphy
in 1996 and followed by a sequel in 2000, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
both executive produced by Lewis for Universal Pictures
and Image Entertainment
.
Lewis occasionally handed directing reins to Frank Tashlin
, who directed several of his productions, including It's Only Money
(1962) and Who's Minding the Store?
(1963). In 1965, Lewis directed and (along with Bill Richmond) wrote the comedy film The Family Jewels
about a young heiress who must choose among six uncles, one of whom is up to no good and out to harm the girl's beloved bodyguard who practically raised her. Lewis played all six uncles and the bodyguard.
By 1966, Lewis, now 40, was no longer an angular juvenile and his routines seemed more labored. His box office appeal waned to the point where Paramount Pictures new executives felt no further need for the Lewis comedies. Undaunted, Lewis packed up and went to Columbia Pictures
, where he made several more comedies. Lewis taught a film directing class at the University of Southern California
in Los Angeles for a number of years; his students included Steven Spielberg
and George Lucas
.
In 1968, he screened Spielberg's early film, Amblin'
and told his students, "That's what filmmaking is all about." Lewis starred in and directed the unreleased The Day the Clown Cried
in 1972. The film was a drama set in a Nazi concentration camp. Lewis rarely discusses the experience, but once explained why the film has not been released, by suggesting litigation over post-production financial difficulties. However, he admitted during his book tour for Dean and Me that a major factor for the film's burial is that he is not proud of the effort.
Lewis also appeared in stage musicals. In 1976, he appeared in a revival of Hellzapoppin' with Lynn Redgrave
, but it closed on the road before reaching Broadway
. In 1994, he made his Broadway debut, as a replacement cast member playing the Devil in a revival of the baseball musical, Damn Yankees
, choreographed by future film director Rob Marshall
(Chicago
). Lewis returned to the screen in 1981 with Hardly Working
, a film he both directed and starred in.
Despite being panned by the critics, the film did eventually earn $50 million. He followed this up with a critically acclaimed performance in Martin Scorsese
's 1983 film, The King of Comedy
, in which Lewis plays a late-night TV host plagued by obsessive fans (played by Robert De Niro
and Sandra Bernhard
). The role had been based on and originally offered to Johnny Carson
. Lewis continued doing work in small films in the 1990s, most notably his supporting roles in 1994's Arizona Dream
and 1995's Funny Bones
. He appeared on television on one episode of Mad About You
s first season in 1992, playing an eccentric billionaire. In 2008, Lewis reprised his role as Prof. Kelp in The Nutty Professor
, his first CGI animated film
and sequel to his original 1963 film co-starring Drake Bell
as the voice of his nephew, Harold Kelp.
On television, Lewis starred in three different programs called The Jerry Lewis Show. The first was a two-hour Saturday night variety show on ABC
in the fall of 1963. The lavish, big-budget production failed to find an audience and was canceled after 13 weeks. His next show was a one-hour variety show on NBC
in 1967-69. A test of a syndicated talk show for Metromedia in 1984 was not continued beyond the scheduled five shows. Lewis and his popular movie characters were animated in the Filmation
cartoon series, Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down. First aired on ABC
in 1970, it lasted only one season and eighteen episodes. The show starred David Lander
(Laverne & Shirley
) as the voice of the animated Lewis character.
Lewis has long remained popular in Europe: he was consistently praised by some French
critics in the influential magazine Cahiers du Cinéma
for his absurd comedy, in part because he had gained respect as an auteur who had total control over all aspects of his films, comparable to Howard Hawks
and Alfred Hitchcock
. In March 2006, the French Minister of Culture
awarded Lewis the Légion d'honneur
, calling him the "French people's favorite clown". Liking Lewis has long been a common stereotype about the French in the minds of many English-speakers, and is often the object of jokes in Anglosphere pop culture.
In 1994, the Columbia Pictures
film North
featured footage of Lewis's classic movies. In June 2006, Lewis first announced plans to write and direct a stage musical adaptation of his 1963 film, The Nutty Professor. In October 2008, in an interview on Melbourne
radio, Lewis said he had signed composers Marvin Hamlisch
and Rupert Holmes
to write the show for a Broadway opening in November 2010. In 2009, Lewis traveled to the Cannes Film Festival
to announce his return to cinema after a 13 year absence for the film Max Rose, his first leading role since Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy. In early 2011, Lewis signed a deal with Artificial Intelligence Entertainment and Capital Films to remake three of his 1960s films: The Bellboy
, Cinderfella
and The Family Jewels
, with Lewis serving as co-executive producer of the new films.
On May 16, 2011, the MDA announced that the 2011 edition of its annual telethon would be Lewis' last as emcee. After hosting the annual event since 1954, he was to continue serving as the association's national chairman. Soon afterward, however, Lewis denied that he was leaving the telethon at all, but on August 3, 2011, the MDA announced that Lewis resigned as chairman and telethon host, the circumstances leading to his resignation unknown. Lewis made no appearance, live or recorded, on the 2011 MDA Telethon.
winner Sean Hayes
(Will and Grace) in the 2002 made for television movie Martin and Lewis
. The film depicts Lewis' partnership with Dean Martin (played by Jeremy Northam
). Hayes met Lewis during shooting of the televised film and went on to receive a Screen Actors Guild Award for best actor.
He had six sons and one adopted daughter:
Lewis currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada
.
in Las Vegas
.
He became addicted to the pain killer Percodan
, but says he has been off the drug since 1978 and has not taken one since. In April 2002, Lewis had a "Synergy" neurostimulator
, developed by Medtronic
, implanted in his back, which has helped reduce the discomfort. He is now one of Medtronic's leading spokespeople.
In December 1982, Lewis suffered a serious heart attack and then a second minor heart attack on June 11, 2006, at the end of a cross-country commercial airline flight en route home from New York City. It was discovered that he had pneumonia as well as a severely damaged heart. He underwent a cardiac catheterization
and two stent
s were inserted into one of his coronary arteries, which had become 90% blocked. The surgery resulted in a return of blood flow to his heart and has allowed him to continue his rebound from earlier lung problems. Having the cardiac catheterization also meant canceling several major events from his schedule, but Lewis fully recuperated in a matter of weeks.
In 1999, his Australian tour was cut short when he had to be hospitalized in Darwin
with viral meningitis
. He was ill for more than five months. It was reported in the Australian press that he had failed to pay his medical bills; however, Lewis maintained that the payment confusion was the fault of his health insurer. The resulting negative publicity caused him to sue his insurer for US$100 million.
Lewis has had prostate cancer
, diabetes I
, and pulmonary fibrosis
, and has had at least two heart attacks. A third heart attack, claimed to have been sustained while filming Cinderfella
in 1960, has not been confirmed officially. Prednisone
treatment in the early 2000s for pulmonary fibrosis resulted in weight gain and a noticeable change in his appearance.
In September 2001, he was unable to perform at a planned charity event produced by comedian Steven Alan Green
at the London Palladium
. (Green's take on the event was turned into a one-person show, I Eat People Like You For Breakfast, which Green performed at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival
.) Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy which weaned him off prednisone and enabled him to return to work.
. From the early 1950s until 2011, he served as national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association
(MDA). Lewis began hosting telethons to benefit MDA in 1952. From 1966 to 2010 he hosted the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, since renamed the MDA Labor Day Telethon. It has raised over $2.6 billion. On August 3, 2011, it was announced that Lewis would no longer host any further telethons.
National Franchise Corp. successfully wooed Lewis to provide his name and star-power to the franchising operation. As well as bearing his name, each Jerry Lewis Cinema bore a sign with a cartoon logo of Lewis in profile. The theaters were pitched to investors that were not movie exhibition veterans, pitching owning a movie theater as a "mom and pop" operation.
There initially were 158 territories that were franchised, with a buy-in fee of $10,000 or $15,000, depending on the territory, for what was called an "individual exhibitor". For $50,000, the Jerry Lewis Cinemas offered an opportunity known as an "area director" in which the investor not only was given their own cinema, but controlled franchising opportunities in a territory.
The success of the chain was hampered by the chain's policy of only booking second-run, family friendly films. Eventually, the policy was changed, and the Jerry Lewis Cinemas were allowed to run other, more competitive fare, but after a decade, the chain failed. Both Lewis and National Cinema Corp. declared bankruptcy in 1980.
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
Videos
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis were an American comedy team, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis as the comedic "foil". The pair first met in 1945; their debut as a duo occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24/25, 1946....
. In addition to the duo's popular nightclub work, they starred in a successful series of comedy films for Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
.
From the early 1950s to 2010, Lewis was also known for his charity fund-raising telethons and position as national chairman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association
Muscular Dystrophy Association
The Muscular Dystrophy Association is an American organization which combats muscular dystrophy and diseases of the nervous system and muscular system in general by funding research, providing medical and community services, and educating health professionals and the general public...
(MDA). Lewis has won several awards for lifetime achievements from The American Comedy Awards
American Comedy Awards
The American Comedy Awards were a group of awards presented annually in the United States from 1987 to 2001 recognizing performances and performers in the field of comedy, with an emphasis on television comedy and comedy films...
, The Golden Camera, Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association was founded in 1975. Its main purpose is to present yearly awards to members of the film industry who have excelled in their fields. These awards are presented each January...
, and The Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
, and he has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
.
In 2005, he received the Governors Award of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board of Governors, which is the highest Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
presented. On February 22, 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
awarded Lewis the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Early life
He was born Joseph Levitch (some sources say Jerome Levitch) in Newark, New JerseyNewark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, to Russian Jewish parents. His father, Daniel Levitch, was a Master of Ceremonies
Master of Ceremonies
A Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....
and vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
entertainer who used the professional name Danny Lewis, His mother, Rachel ("Rae") Levitch ( Brodsky), was a piano player for a radio station.
Lewis started performing at age five and would often perform alongside his parents in the Catskill Mountains
Borscht Belt
Borscht Belt, or Jewish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan, Orange and Ulster counties in upstate New York that were a popular vacation spot for New York City Jews from the 1920s through the 1960s.-Name:The name comes from...
in New York State
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. By fifteen he had developed his "Record Act", in which he exaggeratedly mimed the lyrics to songs on a phonograph. He used the professional name Joey Lewis, but soon changed it to Jerry Lewis to avoid confusion with comedian Joe E. Lewis
Joe E. Lewis
Joe E. Lewis , born Joseph Klewan in New York City, was an American comedian and singer.-Biography:...
and heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis
Joe Louis
Joseph Louis Barrow , better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time...
. He graduated from Irvington High School
Irvington High School (New Jersey)
Irvington High School: Frank H. Morrell Campus is a four-year public high school in Irvington, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, that serves students in grades 9 to 12, as part of the Irvington Public Schools. Irvington High School is the only high school in Irvington. The IHS interior...
in Irvington, New Jersey
Irvington, New Jersey
Irvington is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a total population of 53,926, a decline of 11.2% from the 60,695 residents enumerated in the 2000 Census.-Geography:...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he was rejected for military service because of a heart murmur
Heart murmur
Murmurs are extra heart sounds that are produced as a result of turbulent blood flow that is sufficient to produce audible noise. Most murmurs can only be heard with the assistance of a stethoscope ....
.
Teaming with Dean Martin
Lewis initially gained fame with singer Dean MartinDean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, who served as straight man to Lewis's zany antics in the Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis were an American comedy team, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis as the comedic "foil". The pair first met in 1945; their debut as a duo occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24/25, 1946....
comedy team. They distinguished themselves from the majority of comedy acts of the 1940s by relying on the interaction of the two comics instead of planned skits. In the late 1940s, they quickly rose to national prominence, first with their popular nightclub act, next as stars of their own radio program.
They then made appearances on early live television
Live television
Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...
, debuting first on the June 20, 1948 debut broadcast of Toast of the Town with Ed Sullivan
Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...
on the CBS TV Network (later the Ed Sullivan Show), followed on October 3, 1948 by an appearance on the NBC TV series Welcome Aboard
Welcome Aboard (NBC TV series)
Welcome Aboard is an American variety show that was televised live on Sundays at 7:30pm EST on NBC. The series was initially titled Admiral Presents the Five Star Revue—Welcome Abroad, when it was sponsored by Admiral but was retitled when sponsorship was dropped in December 1948.The premiere...
, then as the first of a series of hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour
The Colgate Comedy Hour
The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show stars many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou...
in 1950. They began their Paramount film careers in 1949 as ensemble players in My Friend Irma
My Friend Irma (film)
My Friend Irma is a comedy film directed by George Marshall and is most notable as the film debut of comedy team Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis...
, based on the popular radio series of the same name. This was followed by a sequel in 1950, My Friend Irma Goes West
My Friend Irma Goes West
My Friend Irma Goes West is a 1950 film based on the radio show My Friend Irma and featuring the comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
. Starting with At War with the Army
At War With The Army
At War with the Army is a 1950 musical comedy film directed by Hal Walker and starring the comedy team of Martin and Lewis. It was filmed from July through August 1949, and released on December 30, 1950 by Paramount...
(1950), Martin and Lewis were the stars of their own vehicles, in fourteen additional titles at Paramount. Final was Hollywood or Bust
Hollywood Or Bust
Hollywood or Bust is a 1956 film comedy starring the team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. The picture was filmed from April 16 to June 19, 1956 and released on December 6, 1956 by Paramount Pictures, almost five months after the Martin and Lewis partnership split up.-Plot:Malcolm Smith wins a...
(1956). All sixteen were produced by Hal Wallis.
However, as Martin's roles in their films became less important, the partnership became strained. Martin's diminished participation became an embarrassment in 1954, when Look magazine
Look (American magazine)
Look was a bi-weekly, general-interest magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa from 1937 to 1971, with more of an emphasis on photographs than articles...
used a publicity photo of the team for the magazine cover, but cropped Martin out of the photo. The partnership finally ended on July 24, 1956. Attesting the team's popularity, DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
published the best-selling The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comic books from 1952 to 1957. The series continued a year after the team broke up as DC Comics then featured Lewis solo, until 1971, in The Adventures of Jerry Lewis comic books. In this latter series, Lewis was sometimes featured with Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, and various other DC Comics heroes and villains. It inspired the Filmation
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live action programming for television during the latter half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963...
cartoons production company to make, in 1970, a series called Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down, with Jerry as the one character inspired by reality, beside other fictitious characters, including Jerry's fictitious relatives.
Both Martin and Lewis went on to successful solo careers, but for years neither would comment on the split, nor consider a reunion. They made at least a couple of public appearances together between the breakup and 1961, but then were not seen together in public until a surprise appearance by Martin on Lewis's Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Telethon in 1976, arranged by Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
.
The pair eventually reconciled in the late 1980s after the death of Martin's son, Dean Paul Martin
Dean Paul Martin
Dean Paul Martin was an American entertainer, noted as a tennis player, a singer and actor, and a military pilot.-Early life and career:...
. The two men were seen together on stage in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
when Lewis pushed out Dean's birthday cake and sang "Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday to You
"Happy Birthday to You", also known more simply as "Happy Birthday", is a song that is traditionally sung to celebrate the anniversary of a person's birth...
" to him. In Lewis's 2005 book Dean and Me (A Love Story), Lewis wrote of his kinship with Martin, who died in 1995.
Solo achievements
After the split from Martin, Lewis remained at Paramount and became a major comedy star with his first film as a solo comic, The Delicate DelinquentThe Delicate Delinquent
The Delicate Delinquent is a 1957 American black-and-white film starring Jerry Lewis. It was filmed in 1956 and released on June 6, 1957 by Paramount Pictures and is notable as the first film that Lewis made without his longtime partner Dean Martin....
(1957). Teaming with director Frank Tashlin
Frank Tashlin
Frank Tashlin, born Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, also known as Tish Tash or Frank Tash was an American animator, screenwriter, and film director.-Animator:...
, whose background as a Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
cartoon director suited Lewis's brand of humor, he starred in five more films, and even appeared uncredited as Itchy McRabbitt in Li'l Abner (1959).
Lewis tried his hand at releasing an album in the 1950s, having a chart hit with the song "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody
Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody
"Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" is a popular song written by Jean Schwartz, with lyrics by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young. The song was published in 1918....
" (a song largely associated with Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
and later re-popularized by Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
) as well as the song, "It All Depends on You
It All Depends on You
"It All Depends on You" is a popular song.The music was written by Ray Henderson, with lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown. The song was published in 1926.-Recorded versions:*Shirley Bassey...
" in 1958. He eventually released his own album titled, Jerry Lewis Just Sings. By the end of his contract with producer Hal B. Wallis
Hal B. Wallis
Hal B. Wallis was an American film producer.-Career:Harold Brent Wallis was born in Chicago in 1898. His family moved in 1922 to Los Angeles, California, where he found work as part of the publicity department at Warner Bros...
, Lewis had several productions of his own under his belt.
His first three efforts, The Delicate Delinquent
The Delicate Delinquent
The Delicate Delinquent is a 1957 American black-and-white film starring Jerry Lewis. It was filmed in 1956 and released on June 6, 1957 by Paramount Pictures and is notable as the first film that Lewis made without his longtime partner Dean Martin....
(1957), Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) and The Geisha Boy
The Geisha Boy
The Geisha Boy is a 1958 American comedy film starring Jerry Lewis. Filmed from June 16 to August 7, 1958, it was released on December 23, 1958 by Paramount Pictures. This film marked the film debut of Suzanne Pleshette.-Plot:...
(1958), were all efforts to move away from Wallis, who Lewis felt was hindering his comedy. In 1960, Lewis finished his contract with Wallis with Visit to a Small Planet
Visit to a Small Planet
Visit to a Small Planet is a 1960 Paramount Pictures film starring Jerry Lewis, based on a play by Gore Vidal. It was released on February 4, 1960.-Plot:...
(1960), and wrapped up work on his own production, Cinderfella
Cinderfella
Cinderfella is a comedy film version of the classic Cinderella story, with several of the roles reversed. It was released December 16, 1960 by Paramount Pictures and stars Jerry Lewis as Fella.-Plot:...
. Cinderfella was postponed for a Christmas 1960 release, and Paramount, needing a quickie feature film for its summer 1960 schedule, held Lewis to his contract to produce one. Lewis came up with The Bellboy
The Bellboy
The Bellboy is a 1960 comedy film starring, written by and directed by Jerry Lewis. The film was released on July 20, 1960 by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:The movie opens with a movie studio executive introducing the movie...
. Using the Fontainebleau Hotel
Fontainebleau Hotel
The Fontainebleau Miami Beach or the Fontainebleau Hotel is one of the most historically and architecturally significant hotels on Miami Beach. Opened in 1954 and designed by Morris Lapidus, it was considered the most luxurious hotel on Miami Beach, and is thought to be the most significant...
in Miami as his setting—and on a small budget, with a very tight shooting schedule, and no script—Lewis shot the film by day and performed at the hotel in the evenings. Bill Richmond
Bill Richmond (writer)
Bill Richmond is an American film and television comedy writer and producer, as well as a musician, actor and composer. He co-wrote the screenplays to numerous popular films that starred Jerry Lewis. These films included The Nutty Professor, The Errand Boy and The Ladies Man...
collaborated with him on the many sight gags.
In a 2005 interview, Lewis revealed that Paramount were not happy financing a 'silent movie' and withdrew backing. Lewis used his own funds to cover the $950,000 budget. During production Lewis developed the technique of using video cameras and multiple closed circuit monitors, which allowed him to review his performance instantly. His techniques and methods, documented in his book and his USC class, enabled him to complete most of his films on time and under budget.
Later, he incorporated videotape, and as more portable and affordable equipment became available, this technique would become an industry standard known as video assist
Video assist
Video assist is a system used in filmmaking which allows filmmakers to view a video version of a take immediately after it is filmed.Originally a small device, called the video tap, was installed inside a movie camera that allows the director to see approximately the same view as the camera...
. Lewis followed The Bellboy by directing several more films which he co-wrote with Richmond, including The Ladies Man
The Ladies Man
The Ladies Man is a 1961 American comedy film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. It was released on June 28, 1961 by Paramount.-Plot:...
(1961), The Errand Boy
The Errand Boy
The Errand Boy is a 1961 American comedy film directed, co-written and starring Jerry Lewis.-Plot:Paramutual Pictures decides that they need a spy to find out the inner workings of their studio. Morty Tashman is a paperhanger who happens to be working right outside their window. They decide that...
(1961), The Patsy (1964) and the well-known comedy hit, The Nutty Professor
The Nutty Professor
The Nutty Professor is a 1963 Paramount Pictures science fiction comedy feature film produced, directed, co-written and starring Jerry Lewis...
(1963), which was later successfully remade as a vehicle for Eddie Murphy
The Nutty Professor (1996 film)
The Nutty Professor is a 1996 science fiction-romantic comedy film starring Eddie Murphy. It is a remake of the 1963 film of the same name, starring Jerry Lewis. The original music score was composed by David Newman. The film won an Academy Award for Makeup.Murphy plays benevolent university...
in 1996 and followed by a sequel in 2000, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps is a 2000 comedy film directed by Peter Segal. It is the sequel to the 1996 film The Nutty Professor and stars Eddie Murphy and Janet Jackson. Murphy plays not only the inept but brilliant scientist, Sherman Klump, as in the first film, but also most of Sherman's...
both executive produced by Lewis for Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
and Image Entertainment
Image Entertainment
Image Entertainment, Inc. is an independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming and film & television productions in North America, with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 250 exclusive CD titles in domestic release, and approximately 450...
.
Lewis occasionally handed directing reins to Frank Tashlin
Frank Tashlin
Frank Tashlin, born Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, also known as Tish Tash or Frank Tash was an American animator, screenwriter, and film director.-Animator:...
, who directed several of his productions, including It's Only Money
It's Only Money
It's Only Money is a comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Jerry Lewis. It was filmed from October 9 to December 17, 1961 and was released on November 21, 1962 by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:...
(1962) and Who's Minding the Store?
Who's Minding the Store?
Who's Minding the Store? is a comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Jerry Lewis. It was released on November 28, 1963 by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:The rich Mrs. Tuttle is upset that her daughter Barbara Who's Minding the Store? is a comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring...
(1963). In 1965, Lewis directed and (along with Bill Richmond) wrote the comedy film The Family Jewels
The Family Jewels (film)
The Family Jewels is a 1965 American comedy film. It was filmed from January 18-April 2, 1965 and was released by Paramount Pictures on July 1, 1965. The film was co-written, directed, and produced by Jerry Lewis who also played seven roles in the film...
about a young heiress who must choose among six uncles, one of whom is up to no good and out to harm the girl's beloved bodyguard who practically raised her. Lewis played all six uncles and the bodyguard.
By 1966, Lewis, now 40, was no longer an angular juvenile and his routines seemed more labored. His box office appeal waned to the point where Paramount Pictures new executives felt no further need for the Lewis comedies. Undaunted, Lewis packed up and went to Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, where he made several more comedies. Lewis taught a film directing class at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in Los Angeles for a number of years; his students included Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
and George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
.
In 1968, he screened Spielberg's early film, Amblin'
Amblin'
Amblin' is a short film released in 1968. It is the first completed film shot by Steven Spielberg on 35mm. The film is a short love story set during the hippie era of the late '60s, about a young couple making their way through the desert to a paradisical beach...
and told his students, "That's what filmmaking is all about." Lewis starred in and directed the unreleased The Day the Clown Cried
The Day the Clown Cried
The Day the Clown Cried is an unfinished and unreleased 1972 film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. It is based on a script of the same name by Joan O'Brien, who had co-written the original script with Charles Denton 10 years previously. The film was met with controversy regarding its premise...
in 1972. The film was a drama set in a Nazi concentration camp. Lewis rarely discusses the experience, but once explained why the film has not been released, by suggesting litigation over post-production financial difficulties. However, he admitted during his book tour for Dean and Me that a major factor for the film's burial is that he is not proud of the effort.
Lewis also appeared in stage musicals. In 1976, he appeared in a revival of Hellzapoppin' with Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Rachel Redgrave, OBE was an English actress.A member of the well-known British family of actors, Redgrave trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962...
, but it closed on the road before reaching Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. In 1994, he made his Broadway debut, as a replacement cast member playing the Devil in a revival of the baseball musical, Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees is a musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League...
, choreographed by future film director Rob Marshall
Rob Marshall
Rob Marshall is an American theater director, film director and choreographer. He is a six-time Tony Award nominee, Academy Award nominee, Golden Globe nominee and four-time Emmy winner whose most noted work is the 2002 Academy Award for Best Picture winner Chicago.-Life and career:Marshall was...
(Chicago
Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....
). Lewis returned to the screen in 1981 with Hardly Working
Hardly Working
Hardly Working is a comedy film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. It was filmed in 1979, and was released in Europe in 1980 and in the United States on April 3, 1981 through 20th Century Fox.-Plot:...
, a film he both directed and starred in.
Despite being panned by the critics, the film did eventually earn $50 million. He followed this up with a critically acclaimed performance in Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's 1983 film, The King of Comedy
The King of Comedy (1983 film)
The King of Comedy is a 1983 American dark comedy film starring Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis, and directed by Martin Scorsese. The subject of the movie is celebrity stalking...
, in which Lewis plays a late-night TV host plagued by obsessive fans (played by Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
and Sandra Bernhard
Sandra Bernhard
Sandra Bernhard is an American comedian, singer, actress and author. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy in which she often bitterly critiques celebrity culture and political figures. Bernhard is number 97 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of...
). The role had been based on and originally offered to Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
. Lewis continued doing work in small films in the 1990s, most notably his supporting roles in 1994's Arizona Dream
Arizona Dream
Arizona Dream is a 1993 film directed by Emir Kusturica and starring Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis and Faye Dunaway.-Plot:Axel has a dream about an Eskimo who catches a rare halibut and brings it back to his family in an igloo...
and 1995's Funny Bones
Funny Bones
Funny Bones is a 1995 comedy-drama film from Disney's Hollywood Pictures. It was written, directed and produced by Peter Chelsom, co-produced by Simon Fields, and co-written by Peter Flannery. The music score was by John Altman and the cinematography by Eduardo Serra...
. He appeared on television on one episode of Mad About You
Mad About You
Mad About You is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 23, 1992 to May 24, 1999. The show starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a newly married couple in New York City. Reiser played Paul Buchman, a documentary film maker. Hunt played Jamie Stemple Buchman, a public relations specialist...
s first season in 1992, playing an eccentric billionaire. In 2008, Lewis reprised his role as Prof. Kelp in The Nutty Professor
The Nutty Professor (2008 film)
The Nutty Professor is a 2008 computer-animated sequel to the 1963 Jerry Lewis comedy of the same name, produced by The Weinstein Company & Rainmaker Entertainment for Genius Products, LLC. Lewis reprises his role of Julius Kelp and produces the film. Drake Bell plays the voice of Harold Kelp,...
, his first CGI animated film
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
and sequel to his original 1963 film co-starring Drake Bell
Drake Bell
Jared Drake Bell , better known as Drake Bell, is an American actor, comedian, guitarist, singer/songwriter, producer, and occasional television director. After beginning his career as a child star in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he appeared on The Amanda Show and became well-known among young...
as the voice of his nephew, Harold Kelp.
On television, Lewis starred in three different programs called The Jerry Lewis Show. The first was a two-hour Saturday night variety show on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in the fall of 1963. The lavish, big-budget production failed to find an audience and was canceled after 13 weeks. His next show was a one-hour variety show on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in 1967-69. A test of a syndicated talk show for Metromedia in 1984 was not continued beyond the scheduled five shows. Lewis and his popular movie characters were animated in the Filmation
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live action programming for television during the latter half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963...
cartoon series, Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down. First aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in 1970, it lasted only one season and eighteen episodes. The show starred David Lander
David Lander
David L. Lander is an American actor, comedian, composer, musician, and baseball scout. David is also the Goodwill Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.- Biography :...
(Laverne & Shirley
Laverne & Shirley
Laverne & Shirley is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from January 26, 1976, to May 10, 1983...
) as the voice of the animated Lewis character.
Lewis has long remained popular in Europe: he was consistently praised by some French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
critics in the influential magazine Cahiers du Cinéma
Cahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du Cinéma is an influential French film magazine founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. It developed from the earlier magazine Revue du Cinéma involving members of two Paris film clubs — Objectif 49 and...
for his absurd comedy, in part because he had gained respect as an auteur who had total control over all aspects of his films, comparable to Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era...
and Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
. In March 2006, the French Minister of Culture
Minister of Culture (France)
The Minister of Culture is, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of national museums and monuments; promoting and protecting the arts in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de culture"...
awarded Lewis the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
, calling him the "French people's favorite clown". Liking Lewis has long been a common stereotype about the French in the minds of many English-speakers, and is often the object of jokes in Anglosphere pop culture.
In 1994, the Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
film North
North (film)
North is an American 1994 comedy film directed by Rob Reiner, and starring Elijah Wood, Bruce Willis, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Dan Aykroyd, Reba McEntire, and Alan Arkin...
featured footage of Lewis's classic movies. In June 2006, Lewis first announced plans to write and direct a stage musical adaptation of his 1963 film, The Nutty Professor. In October 2008, in an interview on Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
radio, Lewis said he had signed composers Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch is an American composer. He is one of only thirteen people to have been awarded Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and a Tony . He is also one of only two people to EGOT and also win a Pulitzer Prize...
and Rupert Holmes
Rupert Holmes
Rupert Holmes is an American-British composer, singer-songwriter, musician and author of plays, novels and stories. He is best known for his number one pop hit "Escape " and the song "Him", which reached the number 6 position on the Hot 100 U.S. pop chart in 1980...
to write the show for a Broadway opening in November 2010. In 2009, Lewis traveled to the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
to announce his return to cinema after a 13 year absence for the film Max Rose, his first leading role since Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy. In early 2011, Lewis signed a deal with Artificial Intelligence Entertainment and Capital Films to remake three of his 1960s films: The Bellboy
The Bellboy
The Bellboy is a 1960 comedy film starring, written by and directed by Jerry Lewis. The film was released on July 20, 1960 by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:The movie opens with a movie studio executive introducing the movie...
, Cinderfella
Cinderfella
Cinderfella is a comedy film version of the classic Cinderella story, with several of the roles reversed. It was released December 16, 1960 by Paramount Pictures and stars Jerry Lewis as Fella.-Plot:...
and The Family Jewels
The Family Jewels (film)
The Family Jewels is a 1965 American comedy film. It was filmed from January 18-April 2, 1965 and was released by Paramount Pictures on July 1, 1965. The film was co-written, directed, and produced by Jerry Lewis who also played seven roles in the film...
, with Lewis serving as co-executive producer of the new films.
On May 16, 2011, the MDA announced that the 2011 edition of its annual telethon would be Lewis' last as emcee. After hosting the annual event since 1954, he was to continue serving as the association's national chairman. Soon afterward, however, Lewis denied that he was leaving the telethon at all, but on August 3, 2011, the MDA announced that Lewis resigned as chairman and telethon host, the circumstances leading to his resignation unknown. Lewis made no appearance, live or recorded, on the 2011 MDA Telethon.
Film portrayal
Lewis was portrayed by Emmy AwardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
winner Sean Hayes
Sean Hayes (actor)
Sean Patrick Hayes is an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Jack McFarland in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, for which he won an Emmy Award, four SAG Awards, one American Comedy Award, and six Golden Globes nominations.He also portrayed comedian Jerry Lewis in the...
(Will and Grace) in the 2002 made for television movie Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis (film)
Martin and Lewis is a 2002 CBS TV film written and directed by John Gray, portraying the lives of the comedy team of Martin and Lewis.The film featured Jeremy Northam as Dean Martin and Sean Hayes as Jerry Lewis....
. The film depicts Lewis' partnership with Dean Martin (played by Jeremy Northam
Jeremy Northam
Jeremy Philip Northam is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Ivor Novello in the 2001 film Gosford Park, as Dean Martin in the 2002 television movie Martin and Lewis, and as Thomas More on the Showtime series The Tudors...
). Hayes met Lewis during shooting of the televised film and went on to receive a Screen Actors Guild Award for best actor.
Family
Lewis has been married twice:- Patti Palmer (née Esther Calonico), a former singer with Ted Fio Rito; married October 3, 1944, divorced September 1980.
- SanDee Pitnick; married February 13, 1983; a 32-year-old Las Vegas dancer. They were married in Key Biscayne, FloridaKey Biscayne, FloridaKey Biscayne is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States on the island of Key Biscayne. The population was 10,507 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 10,324....
; Lewis was 56.
He had six sons and one adopted daughter:
- Gary Harold Lee LevitchGary Lewis (musician)Gary Lewis is an American musician who was the eponymous leader of Gary Lewis & the Playboys.-Early life:Gary Lewis is the son of comedian and actor Jerry Lewis...
was born on July 31, 1945 to Lewis and Patti Palmer. Gary Levitch's name was subsequently legally changed to Gary LewisGary Lewis (musician)Gary Lewis is an American musician who was the eponymous leader of Gary Lewis & the Playboys.-Early life:Gary Lewis is the son of comedian and actor Jerry Lewis...
. As a 1960s pop musician, Gary Lewis had a string of hits with his group Gary Lewis & the PlayboysGary Lewis & the PlayboysGary Lewis & the Playboys were a 1960s rock group fronted by Gary Lewis, son of comedian Jerry Lewis. They are best known for their 1965 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "This Diamond Ring."-Original members:* Gary Lewis - Drums and vocals...
. - Ronald Lewis; adopted July 1950 with Patti Palmer
- Scott Lewis; born February 1956 to Patti Palmer
- Christopher Joseph Lewis; born October 1957 to Patti Palmer
- Anthony Lewis; born October 1959 to Patti Palmer
- Joseph Lewis; born January 1964 to Patti Palmer, died October 24, 2009 from a narcotics overdose.
- Danielle Sarah Lewis (daughter); adopted March 1992 with SanDee Pitnick.
Lewis currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
.
Health concerns
Lewis has suffered years of back pain after an injury that almost left him paralyzed when he did a comedic pratfall from a piano on March 20, 1965 while performing at the Sands HotelSands Hotel
The Sands Hotel was a historic Las Vegas Strip hotel/casino that operated from December 15, 1952 to June 30, 1996. Designed by architect Wayne McAllister, the Sands was the seventh resort that opened on the Strip....
in Las Vegas
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
.
He became addicted to the pain killer Percodan
Percodan
Percodan is a drug marketed by Endo Pharmaceuticals. It is a tablet containing a mixture of 325 mg of aspirin and 4.8355 mg of oxycodone HCl . It is used to treat moderate to severe pain...
, but says he has been off the drug since 1978 and has not taken one since. In April 2002, Lewis had a "Synergy" neurostimulator
Neurostimulator
In medical technology a neurostimulator, also called an implanted pulse generator is a battery powered device designed to deliver electrical stimulation to the brain.-Applications and use:...
, developed by Medtronic
Medtronic
Medtronic, Inc. , based in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the world's largest medical technology company and is a Fortune 500 company.- History :...
, implanted in his back, which has helped reduce the discomfort. He is now one of Medtronic's leading spokespeople.
In December 1982, Lewis suffered a serious heart attack and then a second minor heart attack on June 11, 2006, at the end of a cross-country commercial airline flight en route home from New York City. It was discovered that he had pneumonia as well as a severely damaged heart. He underwent a cardiac catheterization
Cardiac catheterization
Cardiac catheterization is the insertion of a catheter into a chamber or vessel of the heart. This is done for both investigational and interventional purposes...
and two stent
Stent
In the technical vocabulary of medicine, a stent is an artificial 'tube' inserted into a natural passage/conduit in the body to prevent, or counteract, a disease-induced, localized flow constriction. The term may also refer to a tube used to temporarily hold such a natural conduit open to allow...
s were inserted into one of his coronary arteries, which had become 90% blocked. The surgery resulted in a return of blood flow to his heart and has allowed him to continue his rebound from earlier lung problems. Having the cardiac catheterization also meant canceling several major events from his schedule, but Lewis fully recuperated in a matter of weeks.
In 1999, his Australian tour was cut short when he had to be hospitalized in Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
with viral meningitis
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
. He was ill for more than five months. It was reported in the Australian press that he had failed to pay his medical bills; however, Lewis maintained that the payment confusion was the fault of his health insurer. The resulting negative publicity caused him to sue his insurer for US$100 million.
Lewis has had prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
, diabetes I
Diabetes mellitus type 1
Diabetes mellitus type 1 is a form of diabetes mellitus that results from autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. The subsequent lack of insulin leads to increased blood and urine glucose...
, and pulmonary fibrosis
Pulmonary fibrosis
Pulmonary fibrosis is the formation or development of excess fibrous connective tissue in the lungs. It is also described as "scarring of the lung".-Symptoms:Symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis are mainly:...
, and has had at least two heart attacks. A third heart attack, claimed to have been sustained while filming Cinderfella
Cinderfella
Cinderfella is a comedy film version of the classic Cinderella story, with several of the roles reversed. It was released December 16, 1960 by Paramount Pictures and stars Jerry Lewis as Fella.-Plot:...
in 1960, has not been confirmed officially. Prednisone
Prednisone
Prednisone is a synthetic corticosteroid drug that is particularly effective as an immunosuppressant drug. It is used to treat certain inflammatory diseases and some types of cancer, but has significant adverse effects...
treatment in the early 2000s for pulmonary fibrosis resulted in weight gain and a noticeable change in his appearance.
In September 2001, he was unable to perform at a planned charity event produced by comedian Steven Alan Green
Steven Alan Green
Steven Alan Green is an American comedian, writer and producer.A fixture at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles during its 1980s heyday, Green became an early advocate of the London comedy scene and was responsible for introducing many American acts to the British circuit, most notably through his...
at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
. (Green's take on the event was turned into a one-person show, I Eat People Like You For Breakfast, which Green performed at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
.) Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy which weaned him off prednisone and enabled him to return to work.
Charity work
Throughout his career, Lewis has supported fundraising for research into muscular dystrophyMuscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy is a group of muscle diseases that weaken the musculoskeletal system and hamper locomotion. Muscular dystrophies are characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, defects in muscle proteins, and the death of muscle cells and tissue.In the 1860s, descriptions of boys who...
. From the early 1950s until 2011, he served as national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association
Muscular Dystrophy Association
The Muscular Dystrophy Association is an American organization which combats muscular dystrophy and diseases of the nervous system and muscular system in general by funding research, providing medical and community services, and educating health professionals and the general public...
(MDA). Lewis began hosting telethons to benefit MDA in 1952. From 1966 to 2010 he hosted the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, since renamed the MDA Labor Day Telethon. It has raised over $2.6 billion. On August 3, 2011, it was announced that Lewis would no longer host any further telethons.
Jerry Lewis Cinemas
From 1969 to 1980, the National Cinema Corp. franchised "Jerry Lewis Cinemas" as a business opportunity for those interested in theatrical movie exhibition. A harbinger of the cookie-cutter "cineplex" type movie theaters that would become popular in the 1970s, a Jerry Lewis Cinema was billed in franchising ads as a "mini-theatre" with a seating capacity of between 200 and 350. Though billed as "luxurious and plush", the actual theaters were not luxurious, but not bare-bones, either. Franchise hype claimed the theater could be operated by as little as a staff of two due to automation and the fact that the franchisor would provide support in booking films and help in other areas of film exhibition.National Franchise Corp. successfully wooed Lewis to provide his name and star-power to the franchising operation. As well as bearing his name, each Jerry Lewis Cinema bore a sign with a cartoon logo of Lewis in profile. The theaters were pitched to investors that were not movie exhibition veterans, pitching owning a movie theater as a "mom and pop" operation.
There initially were 158 territories that were franchised, with a buy-in fee of $10,000 or $15,000, depending on the territory, for what was called an "individual exhibitor". For $50,000, the Jerry Lewis Cinemas offered an opportunity known as an "area director" in which the investor not only was given their own cinema, but controlled franchising opportunities in a territory.
The success of the chain was hampered by the chain's policy of only booking second-run, family friendly films. Eventually, the policy was changed, and the Jerry Lewis Cinemas were allowed to run other, more competitive fare, but after a decade, the chain failed. Both Lewis and National Cinema Corp. declared bankruptcy in 1980.
Honors and awards
- 1952 – Winner of the special PhotoplayPhotoplayPhotoplay was one of the first American film fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded a similar magazine entitled Motion Picture Story...
Award - 1952 – Nominee for Best Comedian or Comedienne
- 1954 – Winner for the Most Cooperative Actor, Golden Apple AwardGolden Apple AwardThe Golden Apple Award is an American award presented to entertainers by the Hollywood Women's Press Club, usually in recognition not of performance but of behavior. The award has been presented since 1941 and includes categories recognizing actors for being easy to work with, as well as categories...
1960s
- 1965 – Winner, Golden Laurel, Special Award – Family Comedy King
1970s
- 1977 – Nominee, the Nobel Peace PrizeNobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
, by US Representative Les AspinLes AspinLeslie "Les" Aspin, Jr. was a United States Representative from 1971 to 1993, and the United States Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton from January 21, 1993 to February 3, 1994.-Early life:...
. Aspin noted that in 11 years, the MDA Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon had raised more than $95 million for the Muscular Dystrophy AssociationMuscular Dystrophy AssociationThe Muscular Dystrophy Association is an American organization which combats muscular dystrophy and diseases of the nervous system and muscular system in general by funding research, providing medical and community services, and educating health professionals and the general public...
.
1980s
- 1983 – Nominee, Best Actor in a Supporting RoleBAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting RoleBest Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film...
for The King of ComedyThe King of Comedy (1983 film)The King of Comedy is a 1983 American dark comedy film starring Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis, and directed by Martin Scorsese. The subject of the movie is celebrity stalking...
, British Academy Film AwardsBritish Academy Film AwardsThe British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . It is the British counterpart of the Oscars. As of 2008, it has taken place in the Royal Opera House, having taken over from the flagship Odeon cinema on Leicester Square...
1990s
- 1997 – Winner, Lifetime Achievement Award, American Comedy AwardsAmerican Comedy AwardsThe American Comedy Awards were a group of awards presented annually in the United States from 1987 to 2001 recognizing performances and performers in the field of comedy, with an emphasis on television comedy and comedy films...
2000s
- 2004 – Winner, Career Achievement Award, Los Angeles Film Critics AssociationLos Angeles Film Critics AssociationThe Los Angeles Film Critics Association was founded in 1975. Its main purpose is to present yearly awards to members of the film industry who have excelled in their fields. These awards are presented each January...
- 2005 – Winner, Governors Award, Primetime Emmy AwardPrimetime Emmy AwardThe Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
s - 2006 – Winner, Satellite Award for Outstanding Guest Star on TV's Law & Order: Special Victims UnitLaw & Order: Special Victims UnitLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
- 2009 – Induction into the New Jersey Hall of FameNew Jersey Hall of FameThe New Jersey Hall of Fame is an organization that honors individuals from the U.S. state of New Jersey who have made contributions to society and the world beyond....
- 2009 – Winner, Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 81st Academy Awards81st Academy AwardsThe 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2008 and took place February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST...
2010s
- 2010 - Received Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Chapman University during the 2010 MDA Telethon.
- 2011 – Recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of HonorEllis Island Medal of HonorThe Ellis Island Medal of Honor was founded by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations and intended to pay homage to the immigrant experience. The medals honor the contribution made to America by immigrants and the legacy they left behind in the successes of their children and grand-children...
Trivia
- In Back to the FutureBack to the FutureBack to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
, Dr. Emmett L. Brown mentions Jerry Lewis as the supposed Vice President of the United States in 1985 after Marty McFly mentions Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
is President in 1985.
- Voice actor Hank AzariaHank AzariaHenry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...
cites Lewis as an inspiration for his character Professor FrinkProfessor FrinkProfessor John Nerdelbaum Frink, Jr., or simply Professor Frink, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the 1991 episode "Old Money". Frink is Springfield's nerdy scientist and professor and is extremely...
from The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
. In a 2003 episode, Lewis actually voiced the character of Frink's father.
- A plotline of an episode of SeinfeldSeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
revolved around Jerry searching for his cufflinks which had been worn by Jerry Lewis in the film CinderfellaCinderfellaCinderfella is a comedy film version of the classic Cinderella story, with several of the roles reversed. It was released December 16, 1960 by Paramount Pictures and stars Jerry Lewis as Fella.-Plot:...
. He plans to wear them to a party Lewis is attending, using them as a conversation starter.
- Before Tom LehrerTom LehrerThomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, mathematician and polymath. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater...
introduces the song "National Brotherhood Week", he mentions the non-existent "Make Fun of the Handicapped Week", that Frank FontaineFrank FontaineFrank Fontaine was an American comedian and singer.Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he is best known for his appearances on television shows of the 1950s and 1960s, including The Jackie Gleason Show, The Jack Benny Show, and The Tonight Show.One of his earliest appearances was on the radio show,...
and Jerry Lewis are in charge of as you Know." (Source: "That Was the Year That WasThat Was the Year That WasThat Was the Year That Was is a live album recorded at the hungry i in San Francisco, containing performances by Tom Lehrer of satiric topical songs he originally wrote for the NBC television series That Was The Week That Was, known informally as TW3...
" Tom LehrerTom LehrerThomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, mathematician and polymath. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater...
. 1965.)
See also
- Jerry Lewis filmography and television appearancesJerry Lewis Filmography and television appearances-Filmography:Lewis has appeared in movies and television starting in 1949 and has remained through 2006.-Miscellaneous filmography:* Screen Snapshots: Thirtieth Anniversary Special...
- MDA Labor Day Telethon
- Martin and LewisMartin and LewisMartin and Lewis were an American comedy team, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis as the comedic "foil". The pair first met in 1945; their debut as a duo occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24/25, 1946....
Further reading
- Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime (Especially Himself): The Story of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis by Arthur MarxArthur MarxArthur Julius Marx was an American author, a former ranked amateur tennis player, and son of entertainer Groucho Marx and his first wife, Ruth Johnson....
, New York, NY: Hawthorn Books, 1974, ISBN 978-0801524301 - The Jerry Lewis Films by James L. Neibaur and Ted OkudaTed OkudaTed Okuda is an American non-fiction author and film historian. He has many books and magazine features to his credit, under his own name and in collaboration with others.-Career:...
(Lewis is quoted throughout). Jefferson, NCJefferson, North CarolinaJefferson is a town in Ashe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,422 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Ashe County.-History:...
: McFarland & CompanyMcFarland & CompanyMcFarland & Company, Inc. is a book publisher of primarily academic and adult nonfiction based in Jefferson, North Carolina. Its president and editor-in-chief is Robert Franklin, who began the enterprise in 1979...
, 1994, ISBN 0-89950-961-4 - King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis by Shawn Anthony LevyShawn Anthony LevyShawn Anthony Levy is an American film critic, author and blogger.Born in New York City, and educated at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Irvine, Levy has been the film critic of The Oregonian newspaper in Portland, Oregon since 1997. He is a former Senior Editor...
. New York: St. Martin's PressSt. Martin's PressSt. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the Flatiron Building in New York City. Currently, St. Martin's Press is one of the United States' largest publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under eight imprints, which include St. Martin's Press , St...
, 1997, ISBN 978-0-312-13248-4 - That Kid: The Story of Jerry Lewis by Richard GehmanRichard GehmanRichard Boyd Gehman born 20 May 1921 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania died 12 May 1972 was a prolific American author of 3,000 magazine articles , five novels and fifteen nonfiction books...
. New York: Avon Books, 1964.
External links
- Jerry Lewis interview for the Archive of American TelevisionArchive of American TelevisionThe Archive of American Television is a division of the non-profit Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation that films interviews with notable people from all aspects of the television industry....
- Drum Solo Battle (1955) with Buddy RichBuddy RichBernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
at DrummerWorld
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