American comedian Jerry Lewis, dead at 91
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One of Hollywood’s most successful comedians, entertainer and humanitarian Jerry Lewis, known for his part in the duo with Dean Martin, passed away on Saturday, according to BBC.
Lewis was found dead at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada at 9:15 AM local time, Las Vegas Review-Journal says.
He was last hospitalized in June this year after being diagnosed with a urinary tract infection.
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The actor collaborated with Dean Martin from 1949 until 1956 on television show Lewis and Martin.
During the early 1960s, Lewis became Hollywood’s best-paid actor after starring in The Nutty Professor, Cinderfella and The Bell Boy.
He was also known for his intense 44 year-long humanitarian activities. Lewis created an annual telethon, held every Labour Day, to fundraise for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).
The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon aired from 1966 to 2014 and was hosted by the actor until 2011. Lewis also served as national chairman of the MDA until the same year
In 1995, he reached out to become the highest remunerated artist in Broadway history as Mr. Applegate in the musical Damn Yankees.
Other notable cinema productions in which Lewis starred included The King of Comedy in 1983 in which he played a talk show host stalked by Robert de Niro.
For his achievements, Jerry Lewis received awards from the American Comedy Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Venice Film Festival and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He was also honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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Lewis was born on March 16, 1926, at Newark Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, New Jersey to Russian Jewish parents.
The American actor was already performing at age five and, by 15, he had developed his own act in which he exaggeratedly mimed the lyrics to songs playing on a phonograph.
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