[custom_adv] Jerry Lewis (March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American actor, comedian, singer, film producer, film director, screenwriter, and humanitarian. He was known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. [custom_adv] He and Dean Martin were partners as the hit popular comedy duo of Martin and Lewis. Following that success, he was a solo star in motion pictures, nightclubs, television shows, concerts, album recordings, and musicals. [custom_adv] Lewis served as national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and hosted the live Labor Day weekend broadcast of the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon for 44 years. [custom_adv] He received several awards for lifetime achievement from the American Comedy Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Venice Film Festival and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. [custom_adv] Lewis was born on March 16, 1926, at Newark Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, to Russian Jewish parents. His father, Daniel Levitch (1902–1980), was a master of ceremonies and vaudeville entertainer who used the professional name Danny Lewis. [custom_adv] His mother, Rachel ("Rae") Levitch (née 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. [custom_adv] By 15, 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. [custom_adv] Lewis and heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis. Lewis then dropped out of Irvington High School in the tenth grade. He was a "character" even in his teenage years, pulling pranks in his neighborhood including sneaking into kitchens to steal fried chicken and pies. [custom_adv] During World War II, he was rejected for military service because of a heart murmur.Lewis initially gained attention as part of a double act with singer Dean Martin, who served as straight man to Lewis' zany antics in the Martin and Lewis comedy team. [custom_adv] The performers were different from most other comedy acts of the time because they relied on their interaction instead of planned skits. After forming in 1946, they quickly rose to national prominence, first with their popular nightclub act, next as stars of their own program The Martin and Lewis Show on the NBC Red Network. [custom_adv] The two men made many appearances on early live television, their first on the June 20, 1948, debut broadcast of Toast of the Town on CBS (later officially renamed The Ed Sullivan Show on September 25, 1955). [custom_adv] Martin and Lewis in an episode of The Colgate Comedy HourThis was followed on October 3, 1948, by an appearance on the NBC series Welcome Aboard, then a stint as the first of a series of hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour in 1950. [custom_adv] Just before appearing on The Colgate Comedy Hour, Lewis hired Norman Lear and Ed Simmons to become regular writers for the Martin and Lewis bits. The duo began their Paramount film careers as ensemble players in My Friend Irma (1949), based on the popular radio series of the same name.This was followed by a sequel My Friend Irma Goes West (1950). [custom_adv] All sixteen movies were produced by Hal B. Wallis. Attesting to the comedy team's popularity, DC Comics published the best-selling The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comics from 1952 to 1957. [custom_adv] As Martin's roles in their films became less important over time, the partnership came under strain. Martin's participation became an embarrassment in 1954 when Look magazine published a publicity photo of the team for the magazine cover but cropped Martin out. The partnership ended on July 24, 1956. [custom_adv] Lewis kept a low political profile for many years, having taken advice given to him by his friend, President John F. Kennedy, who told him "Don't get into anything political. Don't do that because they will usurp your energy".Lewis also once stated that politics "did not belong" at the Oscars. [custom_adv] In a 2004 interview, Lewis was asked what he was least proud of, to which he answered politics – not his, but the world's. He lamented citizens' lack of pride in their country, stating, "President Bush is my president. I will not say anything negative about the president of the United States. [custom_adv] I don't do that. And I don't allow my children to do that. Likewise when I come to England don't you do any jokes about 'Mum' to me. That is the Queen of England, you moron". [custom_adv] In a December 2015 interview on EWTN's World Over with Raymond Arroyo, Lewis expressed opposition to the United States letting in Syrian refugees, saying "No one has worked harder for the human condition than I have, but they're not part of the human condition if 11 guys in that group of 10,000 are ISIS. [custom_adv] In the same interview, he criticized President Barack Obama for not being prepared for ISIS, while expressing support for Donald Trump, saying he would make a good president because he was a good "showman". He also added that he admired Ronald Reagan's presidency. [custom_adv] In an October 6, 2016, interview with Inside Edition, Lewis acknowledged that he might not star in any more films given his advanced age, while admitting, through tears, that he was afraid of dying, as it would leave his wife and daughter alone. In June 2017, Lewis was hospitalized at a Las Vegas hospital for a urinary tract infection.Lewis died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, at 9:15 a.m. (PDT) on August 20, 2017, at the age of 91.
