Jerry Lewis was an American actor, who was well regarded for his comedy. Much of his fame came from his 10 years of working with Dean Martin. He was known for voicing Jonathan Frink Sr. in The Simpsons. Jerry Lewis pursued a solo career, starring in several theatrical movies, worked behind-the-scenes as director, producer, and screenwriter, performed comedy routines on stage, released many albums as a singer, and raised awareness for muscular dystrophy, while as national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, most notably The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon he hosted, which raised $2.6 billion for the cause.
For Disney, he played George Fawkes in the 1995 Hollywood Pictures film Funny Bones.
Early life[]
Lewis was born in Newark, New Jersey and studied at Irvington High School, but dropped out in his sophomore year. Lewis first became famous as part of Martin & Lewis, appearing with singer Dean Martin on stage, radio, television, and film for ten years. Lewis stopped working with Martin in 1956, but reunited together a few times from the 1970s to the 1990s. As the first director that used video cameras, Lewis directed many of his films with movie cameras to help with filming scenes. Film takes time to process, but videotape can be played back right away, saving time and work if a scene needs to be redone. Other directors soon started using his technique, and it is still used today. During the 1970s, Lewis' movies became less popular, which caused him to move away from acting and directing. In the 1990s, he returned to performing onstage and continued to perform during the 2000s.
Death[]
Lewis died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada of cardiovascular disease on August 20, 2017 at the age of 91.
Trivia[]
- He was featured in the panel of a 1956 episode of the CBS series What's My Line?, in which Walt Disney also appeared as a guest star.
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