Rest In Peace, Jerry Lewis: (1926-2017)

JERRY LEWIS
March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017 (age 91)
Cause of Death: Ischemic cardiomyopathy (coronary artery disease)

Before Eddie Murphy was the Nutty Professor, comedian Jerry Lewis held those reigns, in the 1963 version of “The Nutty Professor,” to which Lewis also wrote, produced, and directed, as well as starring lead. That was what Lewis did throughout his entire career. He would begin his career with Dean Martin in 1946, forever known as the comedy team Martin and Lewis. The next phase of his career would be comedies that he also wrote, directed, and sometimes produced including the aforementioned “The Nutty Professor,” “The Bellboy” (1960), “The Ladies Man” (1961), and “The Family Jewels.” He would go on hiatus from 1995 to 2008 with some health scares in between including a heart attack and a bout with viral meningitis. He would return to do some voice work and few last appearances, mainly in “Max Rose” (2013) alongside Kerry Bishé and “The Trust” (2016) as Nicolas Cage’s character’s father. The role I most known him for was from Martin Scorsese’s “The King Of Comedy” (1982), where Lewis played Jerry Langford, a successful comedian and talk show host to which Robert De Niro’s aspiring, mentally-deranged comedian Rupert Pupkin is obsessed. Pupkin eventually takes Langford hostage in order to get a spot on his national television show. It is said that Lewis had some input on Zimmerman’s script for the film and at times even directed some of the minor actors on set during their scenes. Lewis was an icon to those in the comedy world.

JERRY LEWIS’S ACADEMY AWARDS

JERRY LEWIS’S FILMOGRAPHY

JERRY LEWIS’S TELEVISION APPEARANCES