Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed "The King of Comedy", he is regarded as one of the greatest comedians of the 20th century. His fame rose to prominence together with singer Dean Martin, billed as Martin and Lewis, in 1946 and for ten years, the two did a series of sixteen buddy-comedy films, along with their televised run on The Colgate Comedy Hour, live stage performances, guest spots on other shows and a radio series. After the team's split in 1956, Lewis became a highly popular solo movie star in twenty-nine motion pictures from 1957 to 1972, including the critically acclaimed smash hit The Nutty Professor (1963). For television, he hosted The Jerry Lewis Show (both the ABC and NBC telecasts in 1963 and 1967) and did guest shots on other TV programs. Lewis starred in six more comedic features from 1981 to 1984, including Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy (1982), in which he played the role of a talk show host, earning a nomination for a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also had a lasting friendship and bond with Sammy Davis Jr., after meeting around 1950. The two performed together into the 1980s. While winning the Best Director of the Year award eight times in five countries, Lewis raised funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) through his annual Labor Day telecast The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon, a live event, which raised over $2.6 billion. Lewis performed in concert stages, nightclubs, audio recordings and appeared in at least 117 film and television productions. He was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and France awarded him the Legion of Honor in 2006.