laugh. lewis used his name to make a difference taking up the fight against muscular dystrophy. for more than four decades his annual labor day telethons helped raise more than a billion dollars for research and treatment and almost always ended with his signature song you ll never walk alone. walk on with hope in your heart and you ll never walk alone reporter: lewis struggled with his own health problems over the years, including prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes, pulmonary fibrosis and heart disease. it s been a long, long grueling ride. i ve ingested more than 24,000 pills. reporter: but through it all he kept his sense of humor. you better laugh at it because there s the alternative is not funny. that signature laugh. imagine, he started at 20 years
heart and you ll never walk alone reporter: lewis struggled with his own health problems over the years including prostate cancer, type-one diabetes, pulmonary fibrosis, and heart disease. it s been a long, long, grueling ride. i ve ingested more than 24,000 pills. reporter: through it all, he kept his sense of humor. you better laugh at it because the alternative is not funny. [ laughter ] good stuff. raised more than a billion dollars for muscular dystrophy. unreal. what a legacy it is. so will the weather cooperate today for a little tiny event being called the eclipse of the century? a big day, guys. let s get to meteorologist pedram javaheri. the big day here. and we re watching the forecast very carefully because easy to see what s going on at least across the northwestern corner of the country, oregon, idaho into wyoming, generally clear
be a hit. score. get the audience laughing and happy. that s the secret. of success in this business. reporter: he didn t just make audiences laugh. lewis used his fame to make a difference taking up the fight against muscular dystrophy. for more than four decades his annual labor day telethons helped raise more than $1 billion for research and treatment and almost ended with his signature song you ll never walk alone. walk on with hope in your heart and you ll never walk alone reporter: lewis struggled with his own health problems over the years including prostate cancer, type i diabetes, pulmonary fibrosis and heart disease. a long, long grueling ride. i ve ingested more than 24,000 pills. reporter: through it all, he kept his sense of humor. you better laugh at it.
that s the secret of success in this business. he didn t just make audiences laugh. lewis used his fame to make a difference, taking up the fight against muscular dystrophy. for more than four decades his annual labor day telethons helped raise more than $1 billion for research and treatment and almost always ended with his signature song you ll never walk alone walk off with hope in your heart and you ll never walk alone lewis struggled with his own health problems over the years including prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes, pulmonary fibrosis and heart disease. it s been a long, long grueling ride. i ve ingested more than 24,000 pills. but through it all, he kept his sense of humor. you better laugh at it because the alternative is not funny.
you ll never walk alone walk on with hope in your heart and you ll never walk alone reporter: lewis struggled with his own health problems over the years. it s been a long, long, grueling ride. i ve ingested more than 24,000 pimms. reporter: but through it all, he kept his sense of humor. you better laugh at it, because the alternative is not funny. [ laughter ] another legend, larry king, sat down multiple times with jerry lewis. look at his recount of the breakup of that famous comedy duo, martin and lewis. without dean, i d have been back doing a record act. i was only good, because he was there. i was only good, because he was the centerpiece. this isn t false modesty. it happens to be the truth.