Jerry Lewis was born on 16 March 1926.

Most people know him today for The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon. The first was in 1966 and they went on for decades. I remember watching them when I was a kid. And honestly, I never quite knew what to think of the man I saw in those. Because I knew him from something else — something very different.

In 1945, Lewis partnered with the singer Dean Martin to form a comedy act. Martin was the straight man and Lewis was, well, insane. They worked the nightclub circuit. And they were very successful. They also created a popular radio show. And, starting in 1949, Paramount Pictures hired them. From there, they made 16 feature films over a 7-year period.

The first two of these films were My Friend Irma and My Friend Irma Goes West. They played supporting roles. At War with the Army was the first true Martin and Lewis film. These were basically expansions of their existing act. At least at first. Over time, they got more elaborate. And also, Dean Martin became less important. That’s because audiences were the same as I was. We were all there for Lewis and we put up with Martin and his songs.

But Jerry Lewis’ comedy is based on him being a man-child. And that worked well through these films. By the end of their partnership in 1956, Lewis was still a youthful 30. But even in their last film, Hollywood or Bust, his body didn’t really work for his style of comedy — much less a couple of years later in Visit to a Small Planet. Or it didn’t and doesn’t for me. He continued to star in a lot of films — often as writer and director. And they were generally very successful with audiences.

For the record, I think Lewis was a genius. And he did great work behind the camera. He was also great in The King of Comedy. He didn’t need to do anything different in his career, even if I would have preferred it.

These films are all pretty much the same so let’s watch The Stooge, since it is the one I best remember from childhood.

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Jerry Lewis via Wikipedia. It is in the public domain.