Jerry Lewis | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lewis in 1957 | |
| Born | Joseph Levitch[a] March 16, 1926 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | August 20, 2017 (aged 91) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Other names |
|
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1945–2017 |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 8, including Gary |
| Notable work | The Typewriter The Bellboy (1960) The Opera singer The Nutty Professor (1963) Boardroom pantomime act |
| Comedy career | |
| Medium |
|
| Genres |
|
| Signature | |
 | |
Jerry Lewis (born Jerome Levitch but often cited as Joseph Levitch;[a] March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. Across his seven-decade career, he was regarded as one of the greatest comedians of the 20th century. He is nicknamed the "King of Comedy".
Rising to prominence with singer Dean Martin, billed as Martin and Lewis, in 1946, the two did a series of sixteen buddy-comedy films, their televised run on The Colgate Comedy Hour, live stage performances, guest spots on other shows and a radio series until their split in 1956. Lewis continued on his own in thirty-five motion pictures from 1957 to 1984,[2] guest hosted The Tonight Show a record fifty-two times, while helming his own nightly series and from 1950 to 1989, performed closely with Sammy Davis Jr. As its honorary national chairman, Lewis raised funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) through his annual Labor Day telecast The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, a live event which raised $2.45 billion for MDA from its 1966 inception through 2009. As a singer, Lewis sang live, recorded numerous albums and did standards from the Great American Songbook.
Performing in concert stages, nightclubs, audio recordings, on radio and appeared in at least 117 film and television productions, Lewis was honored two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and France awarded him the Legion of Honor.