Jerry Lewis, a Jester Both Silly and Stormy, Dies at 91
Jerry
Lewis, the comedian and filmmaker who was adored by many, disdained by
others, but unquestionably a defining figure of American entertainment
in the 20th century, died on Sunday morning at his home in Las Vegas. He
was 91.
His death was confirmed by his publicist, Candi Cazau.
Mr.
Lewis knew success in movies, on television, in nightclubs, on the
Broadway stage and in the university lecture hall. His career had its
ups and downs, but when it was at its zenith there were few stars any
bigger. And he got there remarkably quickly.
Barely
out of his teens, he shot to fame shortly after World War II with a
nightclub act in which the rakish, imperturbable Dean Martin crooned and
the skinny, hyperactive Mr. Lewis capered around the stage, a
dangerously volatile id to Mr. Martin’s supremely relaxed ego.
After
his break with Mr. Martin in 1956, Mr. Lewis went on to a successful
solo career, eventually writing, producing and directing many of his own
films.
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As
a spokesman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Mr. Lewis raised
vast sums for charity; as a filmmaker of great personal force and
technical skill, he made many contributions to the industry, including
the invention in 1960 of a device — the video assist, which allowed
directors to review their work immediately on the set — still in common
use.
A
mercurial personality who could flip from naked neediness to towering
rage, Mr. Lewis seemed to contain multitudes, and he explored all of
them. His ultimate object of contemplation was his own contradictory
self, and he turned his obsession with fragmentation, discontinuity and
the limits of language into a spectacle that enchanted children,
disturbed adults and fascinated postmodernist critics.
Jerry
Lewis was born on March 16, 1926, in Newark. Most sources, including
his 1982 autobiography, “Jerry Lewis: In Person,” give his birth name as
Joseph Levitch. But Shawn Levy, author of the exhaustive 1996 biography
“King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis,” unearthed a birth
record that gave his first name as Jerome.
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