Well, It Looks Like We Lost Jerry Lewis and Dick Gregory in The Same Weekend
For his trailblazing comedy duo, Martin & Lewis, with Dean Martin, his streak of films (including The Bellboy and The Nutty Professor back in the 60s and 70s whose effect on comedy still reverberate today), and being the superb chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (Lewis’ telethon for the MDA was probably one of the most recognizable telethons to this day), Jerry Lewis has undoubtedly left his mark on comedy and the entertainment business, both here in America and in Europe (where he was often times more celebrated).
This news of Jerry Lewis’ passing at 91 comes right on the heels of Dick Gregory succumbing to heart failure yesterday at the age of 84.
It should be noted that Jerry Lewis was always unapologetically himself, which has brought up his fair share of controversy (The Day The Clown Died, his very problematic opinions on women in comedy) as well as this 2016 interview he tolerated giving to The Hollywood Reporter that many people loved for how awkward he made it.
Lewis was definitely the sort of person that Sinatra’s My Way was for.