ringleader. interesting. all right. trying to piece all of that together for us this morning. thank you, isa. the world of showbiz and the nation mourning the death of jerry lewis this morning. police best known for slapstick comedy and commitment to fund rising as a telethon host for the muscular dystrophy association. he died sunday after a brief illness at 91. we look back at his life and legendary career. reporter: he was born joseph levit kc levitch in 1926. he became known to the world as jerry lewis, famous for the nutty professor. he hit had big at age 20 when he teamed up with another young entertainer, dean martin. dean was the virile, macho, and i was the monkey. and i knew we had lightning in a barrel. reporter: martin and lewis became one of the most popular comedy teams in history. thousands of soldout
known to the world as jerry lewis, the zainy but loveable fool in films such as the bellboy and the nutty professor he hit it big at age 20 when he teamed up with dean martin. dean was the macho and i was the monkey and i knew we had lightning in a barrel. martin and lewis became one of the most popular comedy teams in history. thousands of sold out performances, 16 hit movies and dozens of radio and tv appearances. on his own lewis signed a seven year $10 million contract with paramount in 1959. at that time it was the largest contract ever between a studio and performer. lewis went on to act in or direct shows in movies for several decades. he later offered this advice to fellow entertainers be a hit. score. get the audience laughing and happy. that s the secret of success in this business. he didn t just make audiences
at jerry lewis career. everyone else calls the bellboy. the ladies man and the original nutty professor. in a career spanning over half a century jerry lewis became king of comedy. remember that only people born in 1926 danny made his new york stage debut at the tender age of 5 but enjoyed only limited success. together the comedy team of martin and lewis quickly became the hottest nightclub act in the eastern sea board. having conquered new york, the pair went hollywood. what are you doing? sleeping? are you ridding, i m here standing like a horse and working like a dog. sometimes directed a series
pantheon of great comedians from george burns to robin williams, through eddie murphy, today you and through penn and teller, where do you place him in that pantheon of great american comic actors and directors? i think i want to go a step further. i mean, people don t really remember this, but when martin and lewis were at their peak in the 50s, they were bigger than the beatles. bigger than sinatra, bigger than bing crosby. bigger than any star has ever been in the history of the united states of america. when they were in times square in a hotel room, it stopped traffic in new york. it was a much bigger deal than the beatles, and, you know, i have a short memory one in a while. martin and lewis really did change the world, and i think you know, to where very focused on individuals, it s important to remember that teams were
dystrophy telethon for many years. a true legend sure to be remembered. reporter: born in 1926 and became known to the world at jerry lewis. the zany, but lovable, fool in films such as the bellboy and the nutty professor. lewis hit it big at age 20 teaming up with another young entertainer dean martin. dean was the virile, macho, i was the monkey. i knew we had lightning in a barrel. reporter: martin and lewis became one of the most popular comedy teams in history. thousands of sold-out performances 16 hit movies and duz dozens of radio and tv appearances. on his own lewis signed a tract with paramount in 1959. at that time, the large effort contract ever between a studio and performer. lewis went on to act in and direct shows for several decades and later offered this advice to fellow entertaining.