AllMovie

This edition of Biography, the long running documentary series from A&E, explores the life of Jerry Lewis. The video looks at the life of the film actor, director, producer; born Joseph Levitch in Newark, N.J. When only five years old Jerry made his debut at a hotel in New York's Borscht Circuit singing "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?" He worked as a one-night-stand entertainer until he met singer Dean Martin in 1946. The team made their first screen appearance in My Friend Irma. After 16 more films, they split up. Lewis began producing and then directing his own movies, becoming a special favorite in France. Jerry has won the Best Director of the Year award eight times in Europe since 1960. He also recorded several records and albums; one of them "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby", released by Decca Records, has sold nearly four million copies. The video tells the story of how he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977. A dedicated campaigner for charitable causes, he became closely identified with the annual fundraising telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. In 1991, Lewis was presented with the Comic Life Achievement Award and was inducted into the Broadcast Hall of Fame that same year.