Comedian, Actor, Singer, Filmmaker, Philanthropist
Born: March 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey
Died: Aug. 20, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada
New Jersey Hall of Fame, Class of 2009: Arts & Entertainment

A master of pratfalls, physical stunts and comic faces, Jerry Lewis had a wildly varied career in front of and behind the camera, attracting huge film audiences in his heyday and influencing generations of comedians with his uninhibited antics.

Born Joseph Levitch, Lewis was raised in a show-business family. His father was a vaudeville song-and-dance man; his mother a radio pianist and music director for his father. Lewis attended the Union Avenue School in Irvington, where, according to The New York Times, he organized amateur shows with his fellow students. He later dropped out of Irvington High School and began performing a pantomime act as Jerry Lewis, entertaining audiences between features at movie theaters in northern New Jersey.

Lewis soon advanced to vaudeville gigs and nightclub dates, including shows in New York’s Catskill Mountains. At one nightclub show in Manhattan he met the suave vocalist Dean Martin. They began ad-libbing together and the chemistry was obvious. Martin and Lewis made their debut as a team in July 1946 at the 500 Club in Atlantic City, with Martin as the unflappably cool vocalist and Lewis as the hyperactive prankster. The pair quickly rose to national prominence in nightclubs, on TV, and in films, performing together with great success for 10 years until their relationship flamed out.

Unsure how he would fare on his own, Lewis made his solo debut in Las Vegas in 1956 and was an instant hit. At around the same time, Lewis’s recording of “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody” became a surprise pop smash, rising to No. 10 on the national singles charts. Now a multidimensional solo performer, Lewis signed on to perform regularly at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas and recorded a series of successful music albums.

Lewis began his solo film career in 1957 and had his first big hit in 1960 with “The Bellboy,” a comedy he produced, directed, and co-wrote. Naturally, he also starred in the film, portraying a bungling hotel worker who, surprisingly, had only one speaking line at the very end of the film. Lewis enjoyed box-office success throughout the 1960s, most notably with “The Nutty Professor,” a comic parody of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” which he directed, co-wrote, and starred in.

For several decades, Lewis made frequent TV appearances, usually as a guest. He also had several runs with his own TV variety show. But his biggest TV impact came as master of ceremonies for the annual Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon, beginning in 1966. Lewis brought seemingly bottomless energy and warmth to the televised fundraiser, which ran almost 24 hours nonstop each Labor Day weekend. The New York Times reported that the event raised about $2 billion in the more than 40 years that Lewis served as host.
In his later years, Lewis continued to guest on TV, made occasional movies, wrote a memoir, and lectured on film at the University of Southern California. His most notable late-career success was a dramatic role in Martin Scorsese’s 1982 film “The King of Comedy,” for which Lewis portrayed a talk-show host kidnapped by an aspiring comedian. (Lewis himself was often referred to as the “King of Comedy.”

In 2005, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presented Lewis with the Governors Award for his lifetime of unique accomplishments in television. In 2009, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Lewis had especially strong appeal to French audiences and in 2006, he was inducted into France’s prestigious Legion d’Honneur.

In addition to his artistic achievements and his philanthropy, Lewis is noted for his contributions to film technique, including his early adaption of video assist, which gives directors instant feedback on their work. But his biggest contribution may be his influence on several generations of comedians, including the likes of Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, Jim Carrey—and flocks of other funny folks who employ pratfalls, sight gags, and general silliness for laughs.