According to MSN, legendary comedian and actor Jerry Lewis died on August 20, 2017 at the age of 91 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
First introduced to the public in the mid-1940s with his comedic straight man partner, Dean Martin, in Martin and Lewis, first in nightclubs, then radio, then television and films, Jerry Lewis was known and still is as quite simply, “The King of Comedy.” Similarly to the team of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, Dean sang the songs and got the girl, while Jerry told, or acted out, the jokes.
I consider myself very lucky to have grown up with so many classic films and television shows that my parents grew up with, that to be quite honest, most people of my generation completely missed out on. While I was not exposed to Jerry Lewis at a young age, I do remember starting to watch some of his movies when I was an early teenager around the time when I was in my late middle school or early high school years. I watched Cinderfella (1960), The Disorderly Orderly (1964), The Patsy (1964), The Bellboy (1960), the original Nutty Professor (1963), The Ladies Man (1961), The Errand Boy (1961), and even his brief but memorable cameo in It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), to name a few, many of which besides starring in, he wrote and directed himself. All of them made me laugh out loud constantly, as they do to this day when I watch them.
Lewis’ klutzy, loud-mouthed but always universally lovable goofball protagonists, speaking in that unmistakable, quacking-like voice with uproarious slapstick like falling down a laundry shute or knocking over a film set was, and still is, just too funny to ignore. One of my favorite things Jerry Lewis could do almost better than anyone was pantomiming, as evidenced below in some great and iconic scenes.
The Typewriter
The Errand Boy
The Bellboy
The Disorderly Orderly
It’s safe to say that I grew up with Jerry Lewis, and was heartbroken like so many others to hear this news. It’s so sad to be losing more and more of the golden age of comedians with Lewis now and Don Rickles just a few months ago; it’s hard to fathom that many of these entertaining people are getting fewer and fewer in number, so many of the influences on my life and career, but more apparently the entertainment industry at large.
Lewis became an even bigger inspiration to me, like Mary Tyler Moore, when I found out that he had been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, one of many health issues that he would face and a disease that I am currently living with. I reached out just a few months ago and wrote him a letter about it, and was very lucky to receive a signed photo from him in return. I will treasure that always.
Jerry Lewis’ last role was in the thriller film The Trust (2016), starring Nicolas Cage as Officer Stone and Elijah Wood as Officer Waters, where Lewis played Stone’s father. However, even though the film was made in 2013, Max Rose was released less than six months after The Trust in 2016 to the general public, where Lewis plays a jazz pianist in the title role believing his sixty-five year marriage to be a sham. You can watch the trailer below.
Rest in peace, Jerry Lewis. You brought so much joy, laughter, and hope into the hearts and minds of audiences all around the world. The genre of comedy owes a great deal to you, and I can’t tell you how much we’ll miss that cross-eyed, confused expression and irresistible scream of yours.
