Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis was an American comedian, actor, singer, and filmmaker whose work in the Martin and Lewis duo and in solo features such as The Bellboy, The Ladies Man, The Errand Boy, and The Nutty Professor made him one of Hollywood's biggest comedy stars from the 1950s through the 1970s. He was born Joseph Levitch on March 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey, to vaudeville performer Daniel Levitch and pianist Rachel Brodsky Levitch.

He dropped out of Irvington High School at fifteen and developed a record-pantomime act in Catskills resorts. In 1946 he teamed with singer Dean Martin at the 500 Club in Atlantic City, and the pair became one of the highest-paid comedy acts in nightclubs, radio, television, and film.

Martin and Lewis split in 1956, and Lewis quickly proved his solo bankability with The Delicate Delinquent and The Bellboy. He moved into directing and writing at Paramount, and his 1963 self-directed feature The Nutty Professor remains his most-cited film.

From 1966 to 2010 he hosted the annual Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon, raising more than 2.6 billion dollars. He was married twice and had seven children. He died on August 20, 2017, in Las Vegas at age 91.

Their name Jerry derives from a short form of Jerome, from the Greek Hieronymos meaning "sacred name," or of Gerald and Gerard, based on the Germanic ger meaning "spear." Jerry was a top-thirty boys' name in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s.