Jerry Lewis, the high prince of low-brow comedy on stage and in movies as well as a fundraising powerhouse with his annual Labor Day telethon in the US, died on Sunday of “natural causes” at the age of 91.
“Famed comedian, actor and legendary entertainer Jerry Lewis passed away peacefully today of natural causes at 91 at his home in Las Vegas with his family by his side,” a statement from the Lewis family said.
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Jerry Lewis dies at 91
The legendary entertainer had ‘great success being a total idiot’, starring in more than 45 films in a career spanning five decades.
His spokeswoman, Candi Cazau, said that he died around 9:30 am local time.
Lewis rose to fame as goofy foil to suave partner Dean Martin.
He once summed up his career by saying “I’ve had great success being a total idiot” and said the key was maintaining a certain child-like quality.
“I look at the world through a child’s eyes because I’m nine,” he told Reuters in a November 2002 interview. “I stayed that way. I made a career out of it. It’s a wonderful place to be.”
Lewis was 87 when his last movie, Max Rose, came out in 2013, playing a jazz pianist who questions his marriage after learning his wife of 65 years may have been unfaithful.
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The son of vaudeville entertainers, Lewis became a star in the early 1950s as Martin’s sidekick on television, in nightclubs and in 16 movies. At their height, they set off the kind of fan hysteria that once surrounded Frank Sinatra and the Beatles.
Jerry Lewis, pictured in 2016. Photo: AP
Their decade-long partnership ended with a bitter split and Lewis went on to star in his own film comedies.
Lewis’ movie persona, like the character he created in the act with Martin, varied little from film to film. He was zany and manic, forever squealing, grimacing and flailing his way through situations beyond his control.
Dynamic duo: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Photo: AP
He starred in more than 45 films in a career spanning five decades. His cross-eyed antics often drew scorn from critics but he was for a time a box-office hit who commanded one of the biggest salaries in Hollywood.
Long after his celebrity faded at home, Lewis was wildly popular in France, where he was hailed as “le Roi du Crazy” (the king of crazy) and inducted into the Legion of Honour, France’s highest award, in 1984.
Jerry Lewis was known to younger American audiences for his Labor Day Telethon appearances. Photo: Julie Markes
He explained his popularity in France, by saying: “The French are very visually oriented even though they are cerebral. They enjoy what they see and laugh. Then, later, they ask why.”
Lewis acknowledged that he elicited either love or hate from audiences – and little in between.
After his split with Martin, he starred in and directed a slew of hit films such as The Nutty Professor.
Later generations in America knew him primarily as the tireless conductor of the Labor Day weekend telethons to raise funds for victims of muscular dystrophy.
Hollywood friends and former co-stars, including Robert DeNiro, Whoopi Goldberg and Jim Carrey, paid tribute to the comedian following news of his passing.
“Jerry was a pioneer in comedy and film. And he was a friend,” said DeNiro in a statement. “I was fortunate to have seen him a few times over the past couple of years. Even at 91, he didn’t miss a beat. Or a punchline. You’ll be missed.”
Jerry Lewis was a comic and philanthropic icon. I send love to his family today.
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow)
August 20, 2017
That fool was no dummy. Jerry Lewis was an undeniable genius an unfathomable blessing, comedy’s absolute! I am because he was! ;^D pic.twitter.com/3Zdq9xhXlE
— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey)
August 20, 2017
It was incredible knowing laughing with the Amazing Jerry Lewis! He’ll keep’em laffin in the ever after!
— Samuel L. Jackson (@SamuelLJackson)
August 20, 2017
AAP, Fairfax Media
Article source: http://watoday.com.au/small-business/managing/work-in-progress/intercultural-relationships-a-factor-in-entrepreneurial-success-research-shows-20170720-gxfmwo.html
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