A consummate entertainer and world-renowned humanitarian, Jerry Lewis is not just a cultural icon in the United States – he’s one of the most easily recognized personalities on the planet. Widely regarded as a comic genius, regarded as one of the true giants of the motion picture industry and internationally celebrated for his vast contributions to humanity, Jerry personifies the term “living legend.” Newsweek, in 2001, listed the most recognizable people on the planet: 1. Muhammad Ali; 2. President Bush; 3. Margaret Thatcher; 4. Walter Cronkite; and 5. A tie between the Pope and Jerry Lewis.
Jerry was destined to be in show business. He was born Joseph Levitch on March 16, 1926, in Newark, NJ, to Danny and Rae Lewis -- both professional entertainers. While his father, as Jerry puts it, “was the total entertainer,” his mother played piano at New York City radio station WOR, made musical arrangements and was her husband’s musical director.
At age 5, Jerry made his debut at a hotel in New York’s Borscht Belt Circuit, singing, “Brother Can You Spare a Dime?” as his father, the master of ceremonies, watched from the wings. By the time he was 15, he had perfected a comic routine that’s still known as “The Record Player,” miming and silently mouthing lyrics of operatic and popular songs played on a phonograph offstage.
He attended high school in Irvington, NJ, quitting after two years, a move that he has often regretted. Then came a variety of jobs, including counterman behind a drugstore lunch counter, usher at Loew’s State Theatre in New York City and shipping clerk in a hat factory.
Meanwhile, dressed in a drape jacket and pegged pants, Jerry continued to brave the offices of booking agents. When he finally got a booking, it was at a burlesque house in Buffalo, where he was hooted off the stage with shouts of “Bring on the broads” before he’d even started his act.
Disheartened and ready to give up, Jerry was encouraged to keep trying by veteran burlesque comedian Max Coleman, who had worked with Jerry’s father for years in burlesque, “If you’re quitting, you’re no son of Danny Lewis.”
In July 1946, Jerry was performing at the 500 Club in Atlantic City and one of the other entertainers suddenly quit. Jerry, who had already worked with a young crooner named Dean Martin at the Glass Hat in New York, suggested Dean as a replacement They started out performing separately but were soon ad-libbing together, improvising insults and jokes, squirting seltzer water, hurling bunches of celery and creating a general atmosphere of zaniness. In less than 18 weeks, their salaries soared from $250 a week to $5,000, and a partnership was born that dominated show business for 10 years, turning both men into household names.
After movie producer Hal Wallis saw the two perform at the Copacabana in New York City, he signed the duo to a movie contract with Paramount Pictures.
For 10 years, Martin and Lewis sandwiched 16 money-making films between nightclub engagements, personal appearances and television bookings. Their last film together was “Hollywood or Bust” in 1956. On July 25 of that year, the two made their last nightclub appearance together at the Copacabana, exactly 10 years to the day from when they began as a team.
From then on, Jerry was constantly on the move. In the spring of 1959, a contract between Paramount and Jerry Lewis Productions was signed – then the biggest single transaction in film history for the exclusive services of one star – specifying a payment of $10 million plus 60 percent of the profits for 14 films over a seven-year period. The partnership was dissolved in 1965.
In 1995, Jerry fulfilled a lifelong dream when he went to Broadway and starred in “Damn Yankees” for six months. The show then toured the United States and played in London until August 1997.
Jerry is also a successful inventor, whose patented video assist is currently used on virtually every movie in production today. Jerry created this closed-circuit television system to facilitate motion picture production.
In response to the countless well-wishers who wrote to commemorate Jerry’s 76th birthday in March 2002: “76? You got the birth date right, but the age is wrong! I’m only 9 … remember? Always have been, always will be.” The motto that best expresses Jerry’s ongoing love affair with humanity is this: “I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
Few television traditions in America are as popular as the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. The 21½-hour, star-studded variety show simultaneously entertains, informs and raises funds for MDA’s vital service and research programs.
First broadcast over Labor Day weekend in 1966 by a lone TV station in New York City, the unique event starring popular comedian Jerry Lewis quickly caught the public’s attention – and raised more than $1 million in pledges. Now, more than 40 years later, the show will be broadcast by 180 MDA “Love Network” stations, assisted by 250,000 volunteers across the country. Some 40 million people will see the show.
The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon made history in 1998 as the first telethon seen around the world via Internet simulcast.
This year, MDA has allocated more than $42 million for research, funding more than 300 projects worldwide. MDA-funded scientists are making progress in understanding disease mechanisms, as well as testing promising treatments.
MDA is blessed to have the support of a spectacular array of stars – entertainers, athletes and leaders in business, government and civic affairs – who participate in the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon and other MDA activities.
Among those on MDA’s Board are singer and Telethon favorite Maureen McGovern and Olympic gold medalist Bart Conner, also a frequent Telethon co-host. Other notables serve as MDA vice presidents, including Jann Carl of “Entertainment Tonight;” Alison Sweeney of “The Biggest Loser” and “Days of Our Lives;” Nancy O’Dell of “Access Hollywood;” sports great Nadia Comaneci; and entertainers Tom Bergeron and Tony Orlando; and “American Idol” favorite Ace Young.
And, of course, there’s MDA’s number-one volunteer for more than 50 years. Despite battling debilitating illness, severe back pain and heart surgery in recent years, MDA National Chairman Jerry Lewis has never missed a Telethon. MDA and its Telethon also depend on the solid support of a network of some 2 million volunteers nationwide.
For information on how to help MDA as a volunteer or sponsor, call (800) 572-1717.
To learn about MDA online, visit MDA’s Web site at www.mda.org.
You also can visit MDA’s site devoted exclusively to ALS at www.als-mda.org.