Jerry Lewis who made us laugh for two decades or more during the 50’s and 60’s is no more. It is with a lot of nostalgia that I remember his earlier movies in the 50’s pairing with actor – singer Dean Martin – My Friend Irma, At war with the Army , Hollywood or Bust , The Three Ring Circus , to name a few which I have watched . They were a great pair and excelled in various pranks – mostly situational comedy graduating from the pure slap stick variety of Charlie Chaplin and others in the 40’s . While Martin played the cool guy with his charm , Jerry played the “goof up ” guy.
After falling out with Dean Martin , Jerry did some great comedy movies like The Bellboy , The Disorderly Orderly ,The Ladies Man ,The Nutty Professor and Boeing Boeing [ with Tony Curtis] . During this period , Jerry used sound and action to fashion a new form of physical comedy , the forerunner of movies with Jim Carrey , Robin Williams Eddie Murphy and others. He also taught a film course at the University of Southern California and his students included Steven Spielberg and George Lucas .
For decades, Mr Lewis was the public face of the fight to cure muscular dystrophy , hosting an annual televised fundraiser for the MDA that , all told , raised nearly $ 2 billion. It was in 1976 , that in a public event Frank Sinatra surprised Jerry Lewis by ushering an unexpected guest onto the stage : Dean Martin!. The two who met after decades and embraced each other
Jerry Lewis was a totally committed comedian who depicted the ” fool ” with great abandon. Paramount Pictures signed him up for a $ 10 million contract in 1959 when he was 33 , allowing him to write , direct and produce his own films . Jerry Lewis’s last screen appearance was in ” The King of Comedy ” a satire where he played the title role . The film was released in 2016.
Jerry Lewis has become a memory – and we will always cherish the golden age of Hollywood Comedy where Jerry played a major role.
Also see my blog “Out of the box thinking ” dated 31 October 2010 on this site.