Jerry Lewis - # 164

Jerry Lewis, Comedy Legend, Dies at 91

He was  number 164 on the list.

Jerry Lewis, the brash slapstick comic who became a pop culture sensation in his partnership with Dean Martin and then transformed himself into an auteur filmmaker of such comedic classics as “The Nutty Professor” and “The Bellboy,” has died in Las Vegas. He was 91.

Lewis died at his home in Las Vegas at about 9:15 a.m. Sunday morning, his agent confirmed.

For most of his career, Lewis was a complicated and sometimes polarizing figure. An undeniable comedic genius, he pursued a singular vision and commanded a rare amount of creative control over his work with Paramount Pictures and other studios. His legacy also includes more than $2.5 billion raised for the Muscular Dystrophy Association through the annual Labor Day telethon that he made an end-of-summer ritual for decades until he was relieved of the hosting job in 2011.


But Lewis’ brand of humor did not always wear well as times and attitudes changed. Over the last 10 years of his life, his reputation soured slightly as he was forced to apologize for making a gay slur on camera during the 2007 telethon, continued to make racist and misogynistic jokes, and didn’t hesitate to share his right-wing political views.

In addition to his most famous films, Lewis also appeared in a number of notable works, such as Martin Scorsese’s “The King of Comedy,” but was largely off screen from the late ’60s on and was more active with his telethon and philanthropic efforts. As late as 2016, Lewis continued to perform in Las Vegas, where he first debuted his comedy routine back in 1949.

The high regard in which his comic abilities were held in France — he received the Legion of Honor award in 1983 — became a running joke in the U.S. long after Lewis’ style of broad physical comedy fell out of fashion. His final film, “Max Rose,” screened at France’s Cannes Film Festival in 2013.

The telethon, like other aspects of Lewis’ life, was beset by controversy. The comic’s offstage persona was anything but humorous. He was, by his own admission, an impatient man, and over the years battled numerous illnesses and a prescription drug dependency. His parting with Martin in 1956 after 10 years as a duo was acrimonious. And the telethons were awash in claims that there was a disparity between the money pledged and the money collected.

Lewis’ pairing with Martin, featuring their improvisatory backbiting and physical chicanery, was an instant hit in 1946. When producer Hal Wallis saw them performing at the Copacabana and at Slapsie Maxie’s in Hollywood, he saw the potential for a new Bob Hope and Bing Crosby and signed them to a Paramount Pictures contract.

For the next 10 years, Martin and Lewis turned out one silly film after the next starting with “My Friend Irma” in 1949 and including “The Caddy,” “The Stooge,” “Artists and Models” and “Pardners.” None of their films grossed less than $5 million, a handy sum in those days.

The premises of the films grew tired, and the more Martin and Lewis worked together, the more disparate they appeared. In 1956, after their film “Hollywood or Bust,” they made their last dual appearance at the Copacabana.

By the time of their breakup, Martin had a prosperous career as a recording artist and actor. And soon Lewis, too, was a hot solo ticket.

Shortly after they broke up, Lewis filled in for an ailing Judy Garland in Las Vegas. Over the next five years Lewis developed a slicker, more sophisticated stage persona and would continue to play Vegas until 2016.

Onscreen he made a go of it in such films as “The Delicate Delinquent” and “Rock-a-Bye Baby.” Lewis even had a million-selling single in the “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby” title track, which led to several albums on Decca Records.

He then extended his efforts into writing, producing and directing films, signing what was then a mammoth $10 million deal with Paramount. The first two, 1961’s “The Ladies Man” and 1962’s “The Errand Boy,” showed him at his best. His talents also dovetailed with director Frank Tashlin’s style in films such as “Cinderfella” and “The Disorderly Orderly.”

“The Nutty Professor” (1963) was his biggest success ever, grossing $19 million. But by then his mugging and exaggerated body gyrations had become out of control, as had the syrupy moments in his films.

Lewis signed a nonexclusive deal with Columbia that resulted in several uninspired films such as “Three on a Couch,” “The Big Mouth” and “Don’t Raise the Bridge, Lower the River.” Even Lewis had to admit, “Jerry Lewis is never just OK or adequate; he’s either very funny or he’s awful.”

While Americans largely dismissed him, Lewis had developed a following at French film journals Cahiers du Cinema and Positif.

He was born Joseph Levitch in Newark, N.J. Both his parents were in show business and, at the age of 5, Lewis made his debut at a Borscht Belt hotel singing “Brother Can You Spare a Dime?”

Perhaps because his parents spent a great deal of time on the road, Lewis was demanding attention through humor by the time he was attending Irvington High School in New Jersey. By age 15 he was pantomiming operatic and popular songs and was booked into a burlesque house in Buffalo.

In 1942 he tried out his comic pantomiming at Brown’s Hotel in upstate New York, where he was also working the summer as a bellboy. Comic Irving Kaye was sufficiently impressed to land Lewis some bookings and became his road manager.

Lewis met the young singer Dean Martin at New York nightclub the Glass Hatt and was first paired with him in 1946. Afters years of rupture, Martin made a surprise appearance on the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon in 1976, a reunion orchestrated by their mutual friend Frank Sinatra. The pair also reconciled after the death of Martin’s son in the late 1980s. Martin died in 1995.

In the early ’70s he continued to direct uninspired fare such as “Which Way to the Front?” and then tried a serious film, “The Day the Clown Cried,” though he famously shelved the completed work (some footage of it finally surfaced in 2013). He attempted a live TV variety show that failed, as did an attempt at a Broadway musical, “Feeling No Pain”; it was followed by the acrimonious “Hellzapoppin,” which was ditched out of town in Boston at a loss of $1.25 million.

In 1972 he lent his name to a string of 200 movie theaters for Network Cinema Corp., which led to bankruptcy proceedings in 1974. His heavy schedule also brought him to the verge of a nervous breakdown, serious ulcer problems and painkiller drug dependency. In 1982 he had double-bypass heart surgery and gave up his four pack-a-day smoking habit.

Lewis was offscreen until 1979’s low-budget “Hardly Working,” which he also directed; it did not reverse his fortunes. But in 1982, director Martin Scorsese harnessed the brash, cynical side of Lewis’ persona for the role of a kidnapped latenight talkshow host in “The King of Comedy.” Though he reportedly resented being upstaged by Robert De Niro and Sandra Bernhard, the film represented some of Lewis’ finest work. Another high point was a similarly caustic appearance as a lethal underworld figure on the TV series “Wiseguy.”

Most of his later film work, however, failed to impress, such as “Slapstick of Another Kind,” “Cookie” and 1992’s “American Dreamer.”

In 1995, he appeared in Peter Chelsom’s film “Funny Bones” and took over the role of the devil in a Broadway revival of “Damn Yankees,” which he took on tour in the U.S.; he then appeared in a London production of the musical.

In 2003 he provided a guest voice on an episode of “The Simpsons”; in 2006 he did an episode of “Law and Order: SVU” in which he played the insane, morally befuddled but bizarrely benevolent uncle of Det. John Munch (Richard Belzer).

Lewis long sought to create a sequel to “The Nutty Professor”; eventually, Imagine Entertainment produced and Universal released the 1996 remake starring Eddie Murphy on which Lewis was credited for the screenplay to the 1963 version and as an executive producer.

Lewis also hoped to bring a musical adaptation of “The Nutty Professor” to Broadway. By summer 2012 an ailing but still enthusiastic Lewis made his stage helming debut with such a musical, with a score by Marvin Hamlisch and a book and lyrics by Rupert Holmes, in Nashville, where it played for seven weeks.

In 2013 Lewis starred in the long-gestating project “Max Rose,” written and directed by Daniel Noah and also starring Claire Bloom, Kevin Pollak, Kerry Bishe and Mort Sahl. Lewis played a jazz pianist who recently became a widower.

In 2009, Lewis received the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ Jean Hersholt Award for his charitable work. In May 2014, he added his footprints to those of other screen luminaries at the Chinese Theatre.

In 1944 Lewis married former band singer Patti Palmer, with whom he had six sons, Gary, Ronnie, Scott, Anthony, Christopher and Joseph, who died in 2009. Gary for a time had a rock career as the lead singer of Gary Lewis and the Playboys. The marriage ended in divorce.

He is survived by his second wife, SanDee Pitnick, with whom he adopted a daughter.

Martin and Lewis in film

Year       Title       Lewis role            Notes

1949      My Friend Irma Seymour             

1950      My Friend Irma Goes West           Seymour             

1950      At War with the Army    PFC Alvin Korwin             

1951      That's My Boy    'Junior' Jackson

1952      Sailor Beware    Melvin Jones     

1952      Jumping Jacks    Hap Smith          

1952      Road to Bali        'Woman' in Lala's Dream               Cameo

1952      The Stooge         Theodore Rogers              Also uncredited writer

1953      Scared Stiff         Myron Mertz     

1953      The Caddy           Harvey Miller, Jr.             

1953      Money from Home          Virgil Yokum      

1954      Living It Up          Homer Flagg      

1954      3 Ring Circus       Jerome F. Hotchkiss       

1955      You're Never Too Young                Wilbur Hoolick  

1955      Artists and Models           Eugene Fullstack              

1956      Pardners              Wade Kingsley Sr/Wade Kingsley Jr.        

1956      Hollywood or Bust           Malcolm Smith

Jerry Lewis in film

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1957      The Delicate Delinquent                Sidney L. Pythias               Also producer

1957      The Sad Sack      Private Meredith Bixby

1958      Rock-A-Bye Baby              Clayton Poole    Also producer

1958      The Geisha Boy Gilbert Wooley Also producer

1959      Don't Give Up the Ship   John Paul Steckler I, IV, and VII  

1959      Li'l Abner             Itchy McRabbit Cameo

1960      Visit to a Small Planet     Kreton

1960      The Bellboy         Stanley / Himself              Also director, writer and producer

1960      Cinderfella          Cinderfella          Also producer

1961      The Ladies Man                 Herbert H. Heebert / Mama Heebert       Also director, writer and producer

1961      The Errand Boy Morty S. Tashman            Also director and writer

1962      It's Only Money                Lester March     

1963      The Nutty Professor        Professor Julius Kelp / Buddy Love / Baby Kelp    Also director and writer. Selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

1963      It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World             Man Who Runs Over Hat               Cameo

1963      Who's Minding the Store?            Norman Phiffier               

1964      The Patsy             Stanley Belt / Singers of the Trio                Also director and writer

1964      The Disorderly Orderly   Jerome Littlefield             Also executive producer

1965      The Family Jewels            Willard Woodward / James Peyton / Everett Peyton / Julius Peyton / Capt. Eddie Peyton / Skylock Peyton / Bugsy Peyton Also director, writer and producer

1965      Boeing Boeing   Robert Reed       Final film for Paramount

1966      Three on a Couch             Christopher Pride / Warren / Ringo Raintree / Rutherford / Heather          Also director and producer; first film for Columbia Pictures

1966      Way...Way Out Pete Mattermore             20th Century Fox release

1967      The Big Mouth   Gerald Clamson / Syd Valentine Also director and producer

1968      Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River George Lester   

1969      Hook, Line & Sinker         Peter Ingersoll / Fred Dobbs        Also producer

1970      One More Time                 Offscreen voice of the bandleader            Also director, writer and producer

1970      Which Way to the Front?              Brendon Byers III              Also director and producer

1972      The Day the Clown Cried               Helmut Doork    Also director and writer; uncompleted/unreleased

1980      Hardly Working                 Bo Hooper           Also director and writer

1982      Slapstick of Another Kind              Wilbur Swain / Caleb Swain        

1982      The King of Comedy        Jerry Langford  

1983      Cracking Up        Warren Nefron / Dr. Perks            Also director and writer

1984      Retenez Moi...Ou Je Fais Un Malheur      Jerry Logan        

1984      Par où t'es rentré ? On t'a pas vu sortir   Clovis Blaireau  

1987      Fight For Life      Dr. Bernard Abrams        Television film

1989      Cookie Arnold Ross       

1992      Mr. Saturday Night          Himself                 Cameo

1993      Arizona Dream Leo Sweetie      

1995      Funny Bones      George Fawkes

2008      The Nutty Professor        Professor Julius Kelp / Buddy Love (voice)             Direct-to-DVD

2009      Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey!                 Stationmaster (voice)     Direct-to-DVD

2011      Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis    Himself                 Documentary; also produced

2013      Até que a Sorte nos Separe 2      Bellboy

2016      The Trust             Mr. Stone           

2016      Max Rose             Max Rose            

Commercials

Year       Commercial        Role       Notes

1975      Spellbound game                            

1980      7-Eleven Convenience Stores                     

1991      Diet Pepsi "You Got the Right One, Baby"                             

1990s    Coca-Cola                            Directed by John Landis

Other film work

Year       Title       Notes

1949      How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border         Privately made short film; never commercially released

1950      Screen Snapshots: Thirtieth Anniversary Special Short subject

1950      My Friend Irma Goes West Trailer             Special scenes filmed for the promotional trailer

1951      Sailor Beware Trailer       Special scenes filmed for the promotional trailer

1953      Scared Stiff Trailer           Special scenes filmed for the promotional trailer

1954      Living It Up Trailer            Special scenes filmed for the promotional trailer

1960      The Bellboy Trailer           Special scenes filmed for the promotional trailer

1960      Raymie Sings the title song only

1964      The Nutty Professor Trailer          Special scenes filmed for the promotional trailer

1964      The Disorderly Orderly Trailer     Special scenes filmed for the promotional trailer

1966      Man in Motion Production trailer for Three on a Couch

1984      Terror in the Aisles          Archival footage of Lewis in Scared Stiff

1990      Boy        8-minute short from the compilation film How Are the Kids? (writer and director only)

1992      The Making of Mr. Saturday Night             Documentary for Mr. Saturday Night

2013      When Comedy Went To School Interviewed for the documentary on The Borscht Belt comedians

2015      Trumbo                Archive footage of Lewis hosting The 29th Academy Awards

2017      Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me            Scenes for the documentary on Sammy Davis Jr.

Television appearances

Martin and Lewis

    1950–55: The Colgate Comedy Hour Martin and Lewis hosted 28 episodes

    1954: What's My Line? (January 24; episode 191 with Dean Martin as the 'mystery guests')

    1956: What's My Line? (July 22; episode 320 'mystery guest')

    1956: What's My Line? (November 11; episode 336 guest panelist)

    1957: The Jerry Lewis Show (Special) (January 19)

    1957: The Jerry Lewis Show (Special) (June 8)

    1957: The Jerry Lewis Show (Special) (November 5)

    1958: The Jerry Lewis Show (Special) (February 18)

    1958: The Jerry Lewis Show (Special) (April 5)

    1958: The Jerry Lewis Show (Special) (May 16)

    1958: The Jerry Lewis Show (Special) (October 18)

    1958: The Jerry Lewis Show (Special) (December 10)

    1959: Startime (October 13; episode, "The Jazz Singer")

    1960: Celebrity Golf (1 episode)

    1960: The Jerry Lewis Show (Special) (January 16)

    1960: The Jerry Lewis Show (Special) (April 15)

    1960: What's My Line? (July 17; episode 522 'mystery guest')

    1961: The Garry Moore Show (June 13)[6]

    1961: What's My Line? (August 27; episode 578 guest panelist)

    1962: What's My Line? (June 24; episode 619 'mystery guest')

    1963: The Jerry Lewis Show (13 episodes aired)

    1965: Ben Casey (March 8; episode, "A Little Fun to Match the Sorrow" as Dr. Dennis Green)

    1965-1975: The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Guest Host (52 episodes)

    1965: The Andy Williams Show

    1965: Hullabaloo (with his son Gary Lewis)

    1966: Batman (episode: "The Bookworm Turns")

    1966: What's My Line? (June 19; episode 818 'mystery guest')

    1966: Password (Game Show Contestant / Celebrity Guest Star)

    1966: Sheriff Who, (NBC pilot)

    1966–2010: The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon

    1967–69: The Jerry Lewis Show

    1968: Playboy After Dark

    1970: The Red Skelton Show (September 14; episode, "The Magic Act" as Magician's Assistant)

    1970: The Bold Ones (directed episode "In Dreams They Run")

    1970: The Engelbert Humperdinck Show

    1971: The Carol Burnett Show (January 11)

    1973: The Dick Cavett Show

    1974: Celebrity Sportsman

    1979: Circus of the Stars (as the ringmaster)

    1980: Rascal Dazzle (HBO documentary on The Little Rascals; narrator only)

    1983: Saturday Night Live (host)

    1984: The Jerry Lewis Show (5 episodes aired)

    1988–89: Wiseguy (5 episodes)

    1993: Mad About You (episode: "The Billionaire")

    2003: The Simpsons (episode, "Treehouse of Horror XIV" as Professor John Frink Sr.)

    2006: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (episode, "Uncle" as Andrew Munch)

    2010: Michel Legrand & Friends - 50 Years of Movies & Music (July 31; PBS)

    2017: Five Came Back (Documentary, Netflix; archive footage of Lewis presenting George Stevens Best Director at The 29th Academy Awards)

    2018: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (July 6; episode Heere's Jerry!. Posthumous release)