Jerry Lewis

Jerry's book, "Dean & Me" brought back a wonderful time, the late 40's-early 50's. People today have no concept of how big Martin & Lewis were back then. We couldn't get enough of them. We anxiously awaited the latest movie to come out. There were huge posters on the sides of buildings downtown Chicago advertising the soon-to-be newest treasure. And then, how soon it was over. But, Jerry's book brings out the true love between the two totally different men. Without that, the act would have fizzled quickly. And, Jerry shows what he is made of when he emphasizes, over and over, Dean's (underappreciated) talent, especially in the comedy vein. They both had great careers after the break-up, but the two of them together was lightning in a bottle. Thanks, Jerry, for writing the book.

RIP, Paul.

best comidain in the world i saw all his moviz

Jerry Lewis is one of the most respected,loving,caring people in the world.He really loves his kids. I watch his labor day show every year.I love it when he sings You\'ll Never Walk Alone.The way he sings it well it makes chills go up and down your spine.He is so much loved by people all over the world. He will be so missed if something ever happens to him.I have always loved his movies.I have watched them all.When he is doing his MS every year,one minute he will have you laughing and then the next he can have you in tears.I don\'t know of any one who doesn\'t love Jerry. He has been a house whole name ever since I can remember.There will never be another Jerry.No one will ever replace him. God bless him,and what he believes in.

Jerry Lewis is one of the most talented actors to hit the big screen in his days. He brought laughter and humor into our homes. His comedy was clean and fun. He has an incredible nack for immitations. He can portray any challange of a character that is put in front of him. He teamed up with Dean Martin and brought us movie after movie that we can watch again and again and still laugh. He is one of the all time greats.

I always get asked: "Why do you like Jerry Lewis?" And this is what I tell them:









There are many answers to that question and believe me, I’ve asked myself that very same question a number of times before due to events in Mr. Lewis’ life and my own personal life.







I wish I could give you one good answer but unfortunately I am unable to do so due to personal reasons. I think one of the main reasons is because of my fondness for the man behind the hidden mask.







Mr. Lewis’ life has been a continuous parade of public and private faces; some the world has loved, while others have been almost universally loathed and despised.







But few entertainers have shed so many skins in public as Jerry Lewis. The first was Jerry the Skinny Maniac. After the shattering split of the comedy team ‘Martin & Lewis’ emerged Jerry the Consummate Showman and then in the 1960s came Jerry the Total Filmmaker.







In the 1970s Jerry became Jerry the Elder Statesman. He became familiar to the international legion of fans that carried him through a very successful career since 1946. He would appear on talk shows with claims of greatness in movies, TV shows, and in magazine interviews.







Presently, Jerry the Philanthropist was born, pleading with the American public to write checks for muscular dystrophy research each Labor Day.







Many people argue that the cadences of this evolution echo our own history. No American entertainer embodied the fate of the nation since World War II more succinctly – many people believe comedian Bob Hope held this role more profoundly and more honestly than Jerry Lewis.







Yet love it or hate it, Jerry’s best work is the product of a completely unique comic sensibility. Jerry’s gift, of course, was that he could allude to so many different comedic and performing styles while maintaining an air of soft ease.







He’s been influential to every comedian from Sid Caesar to Robin Williams. And it’s pretty easy to see why he was so influential:







▪ He was one of the last, and probably the biggest of the Borscht Belt comedians.







▪ One of the last performers to pass from the variety stage to film and television.







▪ Half of the most popular two-man performing acts of all time.







▪ The uncontested premier practitioner of physical comedy during most of his career.







▪ The first director who debuted in talking films to direct himself.







▪ The first Jewish comedian to direct himself.







▪ A technological innovator in the cinema.







▪ The highest paid performer in Hollywood and network television – an accomplished feat that was done before he turned forty-years-old!







▪ In philanthropy he raised well over $2 billion for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.







And the list could go on and on…







Of course there is more to Jerry Lewis than a list of public accomplishments. It’s the story as well of a private man:







▪ The only child of small-time Vaudeville show people.







▪ A lonely kid who dropped out of high school to follow his parents onto the stage.







▪ A young comic who made Hollywood his rumpus room.











And once again the list could go on and on…







Jerry acknowledged all the conflicts of his life – the gaps between Jester, Thinker and Private man. He, more than anyone, knew that behind his hidden mask of clown, showman, director, and the philanthropist stood another person altogether – the “real” Jerry Lewis.







He posed for a photograph with half his face is clown makeup and the other half at rest in humorless stolidity; if this website attempts to decipher anything, it’s that imperfect line where the mask ends and the man begins.







Chronicling Jerry Lewis’s private and professional life in photographs on this website reveals how vital his contributions to the culture have been; detailing his private life in photographs reveals the roots of some those contributions.







But by looking at these photographs simultaneously at his work, his life, and those thrilling and strange spaces in between, it’s also possible to drive anybody to either love or hate him as a person – but maybe to see Jerry Lewis as one of the most neglected and forgotten clowns in show business and quite possibly the man behind the mask: a human being as well.