Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Happy Birthday, Jerry Lewis!

Jerry Lewis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Jerry Lewis (born March 16, 1926) is an American comedian, actor, film producer, writer, film director and singer. He is best-known for his slapstick humor in stage, screen, television, radio, and recording and is also known for his charity fund-raising telethons and position as national chairman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). Lewis has won several awards for lifetime achievements from The American Comedy Awards, The Golden Camera, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and The Venice Film Festival, and he has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2005, he received the Governors Award of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board of Governors, which is the highest Emmy Award presented."

Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lay-dee!!!!!


Jeff

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Rittster said...

I think Dean Martin, at the very least, should have won a t-shirt saying: "I Survived Ten Years With Jerry Lews!"

Max Allan Collins said...

I love Jerry Lewis.

The French are right about him -- THE BELLBOY, THE LADIES' MAN, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, great movies.

If you are a baby boomer, you remember that Martin & Lewis were the comedy Beatles. That Lewis could make you laugh at his insanity in the most staid of eras. That hearing the duo broke up was, yup, like hearing the Beatles split.

I understand that he is a mixed bag as a human being. But most of us are. And most of us didn't invent "video assist."

Unknown said...

Gotta agree with you on this one, Al. I grew up a Martin & Lewis fan and was crushed when they broke up. I was happy to see they both had success afterward, too.

Anonymous said...

No doubt it is a component of his greatness but Jerry Lewis is the most narcissistic public figure I have ever encountered. Check out his DEAN AND ME: A Love story. The narcissism in that book is painful!

Max Allan Collins said...

Who cares?

Many if not most artists, particularly great ones, are flawed, frequently neurotic human beings.

Frank Sinatra was a mobbed-up manic depressive. Al Capp was a sex offender. Edgar Allan Poe had a couple of problems. And do we really want to go into what made Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler tick?

All these people owe us is their art.

Steve Oerkfitz said...

Loved him as a kid but i find it painful to watch his films now. just not very funny. A couple directed by Frank Tashlin have some good sight gags tho.