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Celebrity Salary: Jerry Lewis became a household name in the 1950s as part of the popular comedy team “Martin and Lewis.” He is well-versed in filmmaking and can write and produce scripts in addition to his acting abilities.
Because his family worked in the show business, he was exposed to it when he was just five years old. As a teenager, he came up with his now-iconic comic routine, “Record Act,” a satirical take on today’s greatest hits.
The nightclub singer Dean Martin introduced him to Jerry Lewis, and the two would go on to become the comedic duo, Martin and Lewis. Before their success in the media (especially on radio, film, and television), the band would often perform at nightclubs. After a series of successful comedies in which they were known for their signature slapstick antics, the duo became overnight sensations.
Each member of the group developed niche expertise while they were together, setting the stage for their subsequent individual success. Jerry’s breakthrough role as a cameo actor in the pioneering and highly acclaimed film The Delicate Delinquent. This movie was his first time working without his regular co-worker Martin. The actor eventually moved roles to focus on producing and directing films, and he ended up winning the award for Best Director of the Year in Europe an astounding eight times!
Jerry Lewis Net Worth
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, director, producer, and screenwriter who made over $50 million in his career. By the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, Jerry Lewis had become one of the highest-paid celebrities in the world, thanks to the massive salary he had negotiated for himself and the earnings his films had earned.
Jerry Lewis’s initial success as a comic was largely due to his collaboration with Dean Martin. Following that, he started working as an independent actor, director, producer, and singer in movies and TV shows. Jerry Lewis received well over seventy acting nominations.
His achievements as an actor were acknowledged by the American Comedy Awards, the Venice Film Festival, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Circle. The Hollywood Walk of Fame has awarded Lewis two stars in his name. Lewis rose to fame as the voice of the MDA’s Labor Day Telethon. As national chair, he also oversaw the entire MDA. Jerry Lewis passed away on August 20, 2017, at the age of 91.
The Childhood of Jerry Lewis
Since Lewis was born on March 16, we may safely assume that he was raised in the Garden State. Lewis was brought up in a Jewish family. His father, Daniel Levitch, was a vaudevillian and emcee in the entertainment industry. His parents were Russian immigrants who settled in the United States. His mother Rachael, a Polish musician and director, was a major influence on him. Joseph Lewis changed his name to Jerry so that he wouldn’t be confused with other comedians like the boxer Joe Louis. He was a sophomore at Irvington High School when he got kicked out for getting into mischief.
Private Life of Jerry Lewis
In October 1944, Jerry Lewis married Patti Palmer. Five of the couple’s kids were biological and one was adopted, for a total of six kids. During their 35 years of marriage, Lewis never hid the fact that he had slept with other women, including Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich.
Lewis’s first wife filed for divorce in 1980, citing his infidelity and the couple’s inability to maintain their lavish lifestyle. After Lewis and Palmer’s divorce in 1983, Lewis made sure Palmer’s children didn’t inherit anything from him. Lewis married former dancer and airline attendant SanDee Pitnick the same year his divorce was finalized. They first crossed paths while working on Lewis’s film “Hardly Working,” in which Pitnick had a bit part.
They had been married for 34 years and had adopted a daughter before Lewis passed away. Lewis had numerous health problems that plagued him throughout his life. Lewis’s Percodan abuse began after he injured his back while performing stand-up comedy. For the next 13 years, he was a regular user before he finally sobered up in 1978.
At the age of 34, in 1960, he had his first heart attack, the beginning of a lifetime of cardiac issues. In 1982, he suffered a second heart attack, necessitating a second bypass operation. His deterioration in health mirrored the development of his diabetes, lung fibrosis, and prostate cancer.
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In 2017, at the age of 91, Lewis passed away from peripheral and cardiac artery disease in his home in Las Vegas. He left everything to his second wife and her daughter. After Lewis passed away, posters honoring his legacy as a Las Vegas headliner adorned billboards throughout the city.
The Professional Life of Jerry Lewis
Lewis began his career as a mime in New York City bars, theatres, and hotels even before he was 16. It was in 1945 that Lewis met the future pop star, Dean Martin. They decided to work together on an act that would become a national sensation since they found each other attractive and charismatic.
appearances on nationally broadcast television and radio programs, such as “Welcome Aboard” and “Toast of the Town.” The pair joined NBC in 1950 to host “The Colgate Comedy Hour,” which debuted that year on Sundays.
Paramount Pictures began casting Martin and Lewis in ensemble roles in films like “My Friend Irma,” “The Stooge,” and “Scared Stiff” the year after their performance at the Paramount Theatre in New York attracted such a large audience.
Because of their widespread appeal, DC Comics released a comic book series titled “Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis” from 1952 to 1957. Conflicts arose between the two performers, however, as Martin’s fame declined and Lewis’s film roles were praised more highly.
They performed together again at a nightclub for the last time in 1956 before going their ways to have very successful lives. Jerry Lewis’s Just Sings, which he recorded after much consideration, debuted in the Top 3 on the “Billboard” charts. Upon the release and subsequent popularity of his second album, he began performing regularly at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, as well as other locations across the United States.
These appearances helped propel Lewis’s career even further. From 1957 until 1971, DC Comics published “The Adventures of Jerry Lewis,” which featured the comic book hero. Lewis’s film career developed similarly until 1959 when he signed a contract with Paramount that would pay him $10 million over seven years and a percentage of the profits from any future pictures in which he acted.
Lewis made his directorial debut with the 1960 film “The Bellboy,” which he also produced. Eventually, he expanded his role in the film industry to include producing and acting in addition to directing. His breakthrough comedy “The Nutty Professor,” which he co-wrote, directed, and starred in, was released in 1963 and has since inspired many imitations and ripoffs.
Lewis worked steadily and secured noteworthy film roles throughout the 1960s and 1970s, but she didn’t make another dramatic appearance until 1981’s “Hardly Working.” Despite negative reviews, the picture made $50 million at the box office.
Lewis’s health declined in the second half of his life, yet he continued to work as an actor, director, and musician in cinema and television. With 2016’s “Max Rose,” he made his final film appearance. In his later years, he became a frequent participant on hit podcasts and talk shows including “WTF with Marc Maron” and “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.”
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