Talk:Jerry Lewis

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Contents 1 Jerry & Marilyn 2 The Day the Clown Cried 3 Trivia 4 Jerry's stalker 5 Photo changing 6 Move to Jerry Lewis (entertainer)? 7 Date of birth

[edit] Jerry & Marilyn

Did anyone watch tonight's Larry King interview in which (I am told) Jerry Lewis claimed that he had had sex with Marilyn Monroe (and that the Kennedys had not)? I don't know that it's encyclopedic, but it has all the fascination of a horrific automobile accident... -- Someone else 04:38 25 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Is it just me or is this article somewhat biased? I feel like there are very blatent PR elements in here rather than retaining objective journalistic views on Jerry Lewis.

I've now seen it: it was pundit Bill O'Reilly, not Larry King, and I think, from the inflection of his voice and the three extremely broad winks following the statement, that Jerry Lewis was joking. -- Someone else 03:45, 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)

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[edit] The Day the Clown Cried

Why is the unreleased movie The Day the Clown Cried in bad taste? Since its unreleased, how can anyone say its in bad taste? Is it the subject matter? If so, it should be mentioned in the paragraph. —Frecklefoot 17:11, 6 Feb 2004 (UTC)

The Day the Clown Cried can be considered to be in bad taste because the final draft of the script is available online. Heptapod 19:54, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Did a (hopefully) NPOV expansion of the comment on The Day The Clown Cried. 209.149.235.254 00:20, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)

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I softened the sentence on the alleged popularity of Jerry Lewis in France. I'm French and I'm always surprised that this alleged popularity is generally only discussed... in the American media. I think that Jerry Lewis was once considered a comedy genius by some high-brow cinema magazine, but that most of his (small) popularity for decades now arises from his charity work. I have not watched any of his films. David.Monniaux 18:40, 26 May 2004 (UTC)

Indeed French critics considered The Ladies Man as a masterwork, especially due to the innovative stage design and way it is used.Hektor 18:27, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

I wouldn't say his popularity was exactly small. I lived in Italy when I was a child in the late '60s and early '70s where we received French TV from across the border. Jerry Lewis was on at least one station weekly for years, while maybe not a superstar he seemed to be popular.Virgil61 10:18, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

After writing the above I've found out that Jerry Lewis was recently awarded the 'Legion of Honor' from the French Minister of Culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres who called Lewis "France's favorite clown". [1]Virgil61 01:48, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

Read Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres' biography and then judge for yourself whether you would trust such a person with good judgment. David.Monniaux 02:11, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia

The trivia section ranges from obscene fancruft to actual information that can and should be incorporated into the article. Also, I think there needs to be a section about his recent health troubles and steroided face. --TheGrza 09:29, Dec 21, 2004 (UTC) --TheGrza 10:44, Feb 20, 2005 (UTC)

Does anyone have any detail on Lewis' short-lived boxing career? Rogerthat ^Talk 08:12, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

Wasn't it Dean Martin, who briefly boxed? GoodDay 23:03, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jerry's stalker

Jerry Lewis once had a housekeeper engaged to schizophrenic Gary Randolph Benson, who became enraged when she asked Jerry to check on his criminal background. The couple married anyway, but Gary's obsession with Lewis just kept getting worse and escalated to numerous death threats. He divorced and remarried, but still couldn't or wouldn't get over it. Lewis didn't contact the authorities until his daughter's life was also threatened by Benson, who was given a suspended sentence that didn't take long to come down on him. Gary continued threats from prison and was stupid enough to sign his final very-short-but-sweet death threat letter shortly after he completed his sentence. Jerry got the last laugh, though---Gary died in prison of natural causes. It wasn't very wise on Jerry's part to say to the press with Gary's release impending that he wanted the stalker to come to his home just one time (implying he would shoot him), since that may very well have antagonized and provoked him.--65.54.155.46 14:24, 11 July 2006 (UTC) [2][3]

Also check out the hundreds of entries and links in the list of stalked celebrities

[edit] Photo changing

Why do we have a recent photo of Lewis on TV for MDA at the top of the page, and a more publicity-like photo on the section which talks about his work for MDA? They should be changed between themselves. I would do it, but I don't know yet how to. Nazroon 16:56, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Move to Jerry Lewis (entertainer)?

Hey. I was just looking over my contributions and came upon this. There are three other people named "Jerry Lewis". Would it be better if this article was moved to reflect that? ACS (Wikipedian); Talk to the Ace. See what I've edited. 22:01, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

I don't think that would be a good idea. Jerry Lewis, the entertainer, is a more well known individual than the others, so if someone is doing a search for "Jerry Lewis", they are more likely to want this page and not the others. To have a search for "Jerry Lewis" go to the disamb page would inconvenience many individuals who are looking for this page because they would have to click a second time. Less people are looking for the other Jerry Lewises, so it makes sense to direct everyone to this page first. Thanks Donaldd23 22:44, 22 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Date of birth

We start out with "Jerry Lewis (born on 16 March 1926, according to most sources)". Then later, "He began in burlesque in 1942 at age 16 (if the birth year of 1926 is correct)". This seems to undermine our belief that 1926 is the right year. I'd prefer to cite the references that give an alternative year, and leave it at that. If we believe 1926 is right, we shouldn't be qualifying it with words such as "if the birth year of 1926 is correct". JackofOz 04:54, 16 March 2007 (UTC)