Jerry Lewis

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Jerry Lewis bigraphy, stories - American comedian, actor, film producer, writer and film director

Jerry Lewis : biography

March 16, 1926 –

Jerry Lewis (born March 16, 1926) is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis. In addition to the duo’s popular nightclub work, they starred in a successful series of comedy films for Paramount Pictures. Lewis 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, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and 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. On February 22, 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Lewis the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Personal life

Family

Lewis has been married twice:

  • Patti Palmer (née Esther Calonico),In Person, p. 106 a former singer with Ted Fio Rito;In Person, p. 104 married October 3, 1944, divorced September 1980.
  • SanDee Pitnick; married February 13, 1983; a 32-year-old Las Vegas dancer. They were married in Key Biscayne, Florida; Lewis was 56. published by CBS News

He has six sons (one adopted) and one adopted daughter:

  • Gary Harold Lee Levitch was born on July 31, 1945In Person, p. 128 to Lewis and Patti Palmer. Gary Levitch’s name was subsequently legally changed to Gary Lewis. As a 1960s pop musician, Gary Lewis had a string of hits with his group Gary Lewis & the Playboys.
  • Ronald Steven "Ronnie" Lewis; born December 1949 (adopted) with Patti Palmer
  • Scott Anthony Lewis; born February 22, 1956 to Patti Palmer
  • Christopher Joseph Lewis; born October 1957 to Patti Palmer
  • Anthony Joseph Lewis; born October 1959 to Patti Palmer
  • Joseph Christopher Lewis; born January 1964 to Patti Palmer, died October 24, 2009 from a narcotics overdose.
  • Danielle Sara Lewis (daughter); adopted March 1992 with SanDee Pitnick.

Health concerns

1950s
  • 1952 – Winner of the special Photoplay Award
  • 1952 – Nominee for Best Comedian or Comedienne
  • 1954 – Winner for the Most Cooperative Actor, Golden Apple Award
1960s
  • 1965 – Winner, Golden Laurel, Special Award – Family Comedy King at Internet Movie Database
1980s
  • 1983 – Nominee, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The King of Comedy, British Academy Film Awards
1990s
  • 1997 – Winner, Lifetime Achievement Award, American Comedy Awards, published by the Los Angeles Times. Accessed March 8, 2009
  • 1999 – Winner, Honorary Award, Golden Lion
2000s
  • 2004 – Winner, Career Achievement Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Association
  • 2005 – Winner, Governors Award, Primetime Emmy Awards
  • 2005 – Winner, Honorary Award, Goldene Kamera
  • 2006 – Winner, Satellite Award for Outstanding Guest Star on TV’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
  • 2009 – Induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame
  • 2009 – Winner, Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 81st Academy Awards, Xinhua News Agency, February 2, 2009
2010s
  • 2010 – Received Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Chapman University during the 2010 MDA Telethon.
  • 2011 – Recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor
  • 2013 – Homage from the Cannes Film Festival, with the screening of the latest film Lewis stars in, Max Rose

Career

Teaming with Dean Martin

Lewis followed The Bellboy by directing several more films which he co-wrote with Richmond, including The Ladies Man (1961), The Errand Boy (1961), The Patsy (1964) and the well-known comedy, The Nutty Professor (1963). Lewis occasionally handed directing reins to Frank Tashlin, who directed several of his productions, including It’s Only Money (1962) and Who’s Minding the Store? (1963). In 1965, Lewis directed and (along with Bill Richmond) wrote the comedy film The Family Jewels about a young heiress who must choose among six uncles, one of whom is up to no good and out to harm the girl’s beloved bodyguard who practically raised her. Lewis played all six uncles and the bodyguard.