Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. Across his seven-decade career, Lewis was regarded as one of the greatest comedians of the 20th century. He is nicknamed the "King of Comedy". Rising to prominence with singer Dean Martin, billed as Martin and Lewis, in 1946, the two did a series of sixteen buddy-comedy films, their televised run on The Colgate Comedy Hour, live stage performances, guest spots on other shows and a radio series until their split in 1956. Lewis went into filmmaking while continuing on his own in thirty-five motion pictures from 1957 to 1984, guest hosted The Tonight Show a record fifty-two times, while helming his own nightly series and from 1950 to 1989, performed closely with Sammy Davis Jr.
Biography adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Read more Senses of CinemaTSPDTAcademy AwardsIMDb
Photo: According to Bonhams, the reverse side was stamped with "Paramount Photo by B..., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Films
Critical context
To note that the films of Jerry Lewis are a rich, pleasurable and endlessly fascinating meditation on their medium is to say little. With Lewis, it’s necessary to specify which medium. Film, of course; but this is a medium that Lewis’ work has changed and redefined – through such inventions as the video assist, which he introduced in 1960, and through the inventions of sound, image and performance that proliferate in his films. Then there’s the medium of selfhood; and as Lewis’ selfhood is…
