Poll: Facts You May Not Know About Jerry Lewis

Results of 252 votes:

1. 1.
   

   George Lucas and Steven Spielberg in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

    

   While teaching a class in movie directing at USC, two of his students were Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
2. 2.
   

   Jerry Lewis in The Bellboy (1960)

    

   He was the first to develop and use video-assist while shooting on location. This has since become the industry standard.
3. 3.
   

   #2

    

   Lewis wrote, produced and acted in The Day the Clown Cried. Its release was delayed due to legal difficulties. In the ensuing months, he decided that film, which follows a clown imprisoned in Auschwit…
4. 4.
   

   Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon (1966)

    

   Jerry was nominated for a Nobel Prize for his long-time work with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. His yearly telethons raised nearly $2.5 billion.
5. 5.
   

   #5

    

   Lewis turned down the role of Jerry/Daphne in Some Like It Hot, supposedly because he didn't want to dress in drag. Jack Lemmon took the role and was awarded with an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. R…
6. 6.
   

   Jerry Lewis in The Geisha Boy (1958)

    

   He got a base hit off Detroit Tigers pitcher Mike Strahler during an exhibition game in 1973.
7. 7.
   

   Albert Einstein

    

   Seventeen year-old Jerry made his TV debut on a local TV show broadcast to Princeton, NJ. The performers from the show were driven to meet Albert Einstein, who had watched the show. "You did a go…
8. 8.
   

   Hank Azaria and Jerry Lewis in The Simpsons (1989)

    

   Hank Azaria voices the Professor Frink character on the Simpsons. The first time he performed the character he used a voice similar to Julius Kelp, Lewis's character from the Nutty Professor. The voic…
9. 9.
   

   Jerry Lewis

    

   Jerry never forgot his poverty-filled upbringing, including always having holes in his socks. After hitting it big he started wearing socks only one time. Once he had worn a pair, he would throw them …
10. 10.
    

    Jerry Lewis and Gary Lewis

     

    Lewis's oldest child, son Gary Lewis, was the leader of the '60s rock group Gary Lewis & the Playboys. The band had seven Top 10 singles in two years, including their biggest hit, "This Diamo…
11. 11.
    

    Jean-Luc Godard in Aria (1987)

     

    The joke about the French loving Jerry Lewis is no joke. He was known there as "the King of Crazy" and was awarded the Legion of Honor, the highest decoration in France. In his acceptance sp…
12. 12.
    

    Jerry Lewis in The Patsy (1964)

     

    A huge movie fan, Jerry often screened films at his home. If he came across a scene he didn't like, he would reedit the film with his own editing equipment.
13. 13.
    

    Martin Scorsese and Jerry Lewis in The King of Comedy (1982)

     

    Lewis's character in King of Comedy was original named Bobby. He suggested to director Martin Scorsese that it be changed to Jerry so they could catch random people coming up to or yelling at him on t…
14. 14.
    

    Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin

     

    Jerry partnered with singing sot Dean Martin beginning in 1946. The act broke up exactly 10 years to that day, having made 16 films, a TV series and numerous appearances on radio, on stage and in club…
15. 15.
    

    Jerry Lewis in The 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009)

     

    Lewis won the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 2009 Oscars. He often carried his Oscar around with him, and even brought it in a duffel bag to a press conference at Cannes.
16. 16.
    

    Jerry Lewis and Tamba the Chimp at an event for My Friend Irma Goes West (1950)

     

    His parents being vaudeville performers, Jerry got his start in the Catskills at the age of five. He claimed he sang the hit song, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime."
17. 17.
    

    On l'appelle Catastrophe (1983)

     

    A French philosophy teacher was inspired to become an actor by Lewis. Michel Leeb, AKA the "French Jerry Lewis," effected the same type of wacky humor Lewis was known for.