Talk:Jerry Lewis

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[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)

[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)

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)

Likewise, I grew up in France and have never heard of him outside of US media. I don't know where this cliche comes from. French wikipedia calls this allegation an "old US stereotype".

[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)

[edit] Boxing

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)

There was a short period when Jerry wore boxers, yes. He soon went commando - late 50's, early 60's - and has since, for what turns out to be a very long time, worn briefs.Homely (talk) 18:58, 12 January 2008 (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)

[edit] Repeated Suicide Story

About 2 years ago I saw a piece on Lewis where he claimed that he was ready to commit suicide because of his health problems, but was prevented from doing so by his adopted daughter (who I beleive was 5 or 6 at the time of the interview, about mid-2005). In the interview, Lewis says he was in his bathroom (or bedroom, I forget) with a gun to his head, when he heard his daughter calling for him. He put the gun down and went to her rather than kill himself.

Thing is, I remember in about 1980, a summer camp counselor telling us all the exact same story about Lewis! The counselor's source for the story was a TV interview! All of the facts were the same, except that in the original, Lewis was depressed over his alcoholism, and it was his son who called for him. In the new version, he's unable to bear his debilitating back pain and health problems. Either Lewis has told modified versions of this story 25 years apart, or in fact he has (at least) twice been saved from suicide by one of his (otherwise unattended?) children.

If anyone knows about the original interview and can help me find a citation for it, I will update the article.DougRWms 21:53, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Jerry Lewis' daughter was born in the early 1980's, so any story saying she was "5 or 6" in 2005 is definately incorrect and should be taken with a grain of salt. Donaldd23 22:10, 16 May 2007 (UTC)
Lewis' official website gives Danielle's year of birth as 1992. Another page I just found tells me that the suicide attempt occured in 2002.DougRWms 22:56, 16 May 2007 (UTC)
That is correct, I meant to type "early 1990's", but I used an 8 instead of a 9! In any case, a 2005 interview with Danielle would make her 13, not 5 or 6. While this story may be true (I seem to recall hearing this as well), unless there are some hard facts to back it up, we shouldn't add it to the article just yet. Donaldd23 01:28, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

I will not add it to the article unless I can verify the earlier interview, in which he first told the story. I KNOW the second story is his own (whether or not it is true), because Mr. Lewis himself told the story in the interview. Surely he told the story earlier too, because for my summer-camp counselor to make up an almost identical story 25 years before the re-telling would be highly unlikely. However, I will track the interview down, or not add the material to the article. The reason I posted the query in the first place was to see if anyone knew where and when Mr. Lewis first told the story.--DougRWms60.238.73.10 03:32, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Filmography

Recently an unregisted user reformatted the filmography section. Information that may be relevant, such as film role, films Jerry directed, and notes about alternative titles and release dates was removed. Having this information in one easy readable table instead of having to scour each film's article is preferable to me, and seemingly others as it has been in that format for well over a year. The new format eliminated all of that and put it in a list format with one or two notes left. I reverted it to the old way, but what is the general consensus on the proper format on Wikipedia? Donaldd23 10:37, 5 June 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Controversy

I'm surprised there is not some reference in here to Jerry Lewis' controversial comments regarding women comedians. Does anyone know enough about this/remember this well enough to include it? It seems relevant and important.--ChllyJess 15:01, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm surprised that there isn't reference in here to his controversial comments about the disabled, considering that mention of them was apparently removed from the Muscular Dystrophy Association page in favor of having the information here.75.35.242.200 22:13, 27 August 2007 (UTC)
I'm surprised there isn't reference in here to his controversial and racist portrayal of Asians, too. There, have we covered everything? --68.95.246.239 00:14, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
  • I don't think adding information about a momentary lapse of judgment during a point of exhaustion in the scheme of Lewis' 50+ year career is a way to "stay focused on the topic without going into unnecessary details" as suggested at Wikipedia:What is a good article?. -- Jreferee (Talk) 18:26, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Pity he wasn't born in Germany. —Preceding unsigned comment added by HaroldFranklin (talk • contribs) 14:00, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pics Plz

There's not a single actual picture of Jerry Lewis in this entire article. In its current configuration, Jerry Lewis might as well be the name of a tile. Kevin 15:32, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

You have a free picture of him? If so, add it! Donaldd23 03:32, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "First and Only Media Celebrity nominated for Nobel Prize"

The charity section mentions "In 1977, he became the first and only media celebrity to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize". This should be changes to "the first celebrity to be..." because Bono was nominated in 2005 (http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-02-24-nobel-list_x.htm)

Mitcheca 04:42, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Controversy section

The description of the 2007 gay joke incident was too close to the wording of the AOL News item linked (almost verbatim for a sentence, in fact) so I reworded it. 68.146.41.232 (talk) 04:59, 11 May 2008 (UTC)