Biographical Note
Comedian, actor, and filmaker Jerry Lewis was born Joseph Levitch in Newark, New Jersey, Mar. 16, 1926. Beginning in 1946, his partner act with Dean Martin, popularly known as Martin and Lewis, were successively among the most popular entertainers in nightclubs, radio, film, and television. Following a professional breakup with Martin, Jerry Lewis embarked on a solo film and television career from 1957-1971. During this period, Lewis increased the scope of his work to include screenwriting, directing, and producing, becoming the total filmmaker, as summed up in his monograph of that title. Sporadic film roles resumed in 1980. Later in his career, Lewis made a critically acclaimed transition to the stage, playing the devil in the Broadway revival of Damn Yankees, beginning in 1995. He died August 20, 2017.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1926, Mar. 16 | Jerry Lewis born as Joseph Levitch in Newark, New Jersey |
| 1946, July 25 | Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis debut as a team at Atlantic City's 500 Club |
| 1948-1953 | The Martin and Lewis Show on the National Broadcasting Company radio network |
| 1949 | Martin and Lewis are featured supporting actors in My Friend Irma |
| 1950 | Martin and Lewis reprise their roles in My Friend Irma Goes West Martin and Lewis are in starring roles for At War with the Army |
| 1951 | Martin and Lewis in That's My Boy |
| 1952 | Martin and Lewis in Sailor Beware, Jumping Jacks, and The Stooge |
| 1953 | Martin and Lewis in Scared Stiff, The Caddy, and Money from Home |
| 1954 | Martin and Lewis in Living It Up and 3 Ring Circus |
| 1955 | Martin and Lewis in You're Never Too Young and Artists and Models |
| 1956 | Martin and Lewis in Pardners and Hollywood or Bust |
| 1954 | Martin and Lewis in Living It Up and 3 Ring Circus |
| 1957 | Jerry Lewis makes his solo film debut in The Delicate Delinquent and The Sad Sack |
| 1958 | Jerry Lewis in Rock-a-Bye Baby and The Geisha Boy |
| 1959 | Jerry Lewis in Don't Give Up the Ship |
| 1960 | Jerry Lewis in Visit to a Small Planet, The Bellboy, and Cinderfella |
| 1961 | Jerry Lewis in The Ladies Man and The Errand Boy |
| 1962 | Jerry Lewis in It's Only Money |
| 1963 | Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor and Who's Minding the Store? The Jerry Lewis Show on the National Broadcasting Company television network |
| 1964 | Jerry Lewis in The Patsy and The Disorderly Orderly |
| 1965 | Jerry Lewis in The Family Jewels and Boeing Boeing |
| 1966 | Jerry Lewis in Three on a Couch and Way...Way Out |
| 1967 | Jerry Lewis in The Big Mouth |
| 1967-1969 | The Jerry Lewis Show on the American Broadcasting Company television network |
| 1968 | Jerry Lewis in Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River |
| 1969 | Jerry Lewis in Hook, Line & Sinker |
| 1970 | Jerry Lewis in Which Way to the Front? |
| 1972 | Jerry Lewis films the unreleased motion picture The Day the Clown Cried |
| 1981 | Jerry Lewis in Hardly Working |
| 1983 | Jerry Lewis in Marti Scorsese's The King of Comedy |
| 1995 | Jerry Lewis makes his Broadway debut in the revival of Damn Yankees |