Terry Gibbs - My Friend (?) Jerry Lewis
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2017
- Jazz legend Terry Gibbs talks about working with Jerry Lewis in Las Vegas.
Jerry Lewis, original name Joseph Levitch, (born March 16, 1926, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.-died August 20, 2017, Las Vegas, Nevada), American comedian, actor, and director whose unrestrained comic style made him one of the most popular performers of the 1950s and ’60s.
Lewis was born into a vaudeville family, and at age 12 he developed a comedy act in which he mimed to records. He dropped out of high school in order to perform his specialty in New York City theatres, burlesque shows, and nightclubs. He first met singer Dean Martin in 1944, and two years later they officially became a performing team. Their act consisted of Martin singing, Lewis clowning, and both joining forces for a rousing finale of music and comedy. Well-received performances in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and at New York City’s Copacabana nightclub resulted in an offer from Paramount.
Their first film, My Friend Irma (1949), established Martin and Lewis as box-office stars, and the follow-ups My Friend Irma Goes West and At War with the Army (both 1950) were equally successful. Martin and Lewis became the most popular comedy team of the decade and appeared in 16 films in eight years, including Scared Stiff (1953), Living It Up (1954), Artists and Models (1955), and Hollywood or Bust (1956). They were also frequent television guests and part of a series of rotating hosts of NBC’s The Colgate Comedy Hour. It was during their stint with NBC that Lewis began his long involvement with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA)
Jerry Lewis was at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City and Lou Rawls had finished his set and took the table next to Jerry. People began stopping by Lou Rawls table getting autographs and asking for photos and Jerry interrupted and said “Excuse me, Lou. We are eating. This is not the time nor the place for all of this” to Lou Rawls. Lou Rawls said “this is not a telethon”. Jerry said “oh I’m going to remember this”. Lou Rawls said “no, you won’t remember this Jerry, you’re going to go upstairs to your room, take a nap and forget where you are and who you are with”. Apparently they knew one another. Jerry was a total di#% and Lou had the final word.
Years ago, when the MDA Telethon came out of the Americana Hotel in NYC, with David Hartman as co-host...Jerry and 'his kids' - there were like 20 people in the group, came into Nathan's Times Square. The Handwerker family picked up the tab and made a donation to MDAA...I was working in Nathan's as a waitress at the time. We had been alerted that Lewis and his people would be coming in. And we bent over backwards, happily doing everything we could to serve them and make them comfortable. A few of the staff, not needed on shift that day, came in anyway; they saw it as an 'honor' to look after Mr. Lewis, since he was a 'great star." Well, lemme tell ya. It was one of the most unpleasant intervals I have ever spent in a restaurant - ever. Jerry was loud, rudely obnoxious, demanding, (no he didn't leave a tip, either). He made fun of the shy Chinese busboy, a sweet young man who really admired Lewis. The kid was so puzzled to have been humiliated by his hero, ok? When I heard a year or so ago that Lewis had cut his first family entirely out of his will...I was sad for them, but not a bit surprised.
My Dad worked at a men's clothing store in Buffalo for 35 years, and it wasn't unusual for sports stars and celebrities to stop in while in town as it was known for very good quality items. I vividly remember him coming home from work one day when I was quite young, maybe ten or so, and heard him telling my Mother that he and his entourage came into the store that day and all of the other customers were excited and tried to talk to him. My Father said it was incredible how rude and nasty, OUTRIGHT mean, he was to everyone who approached. He was very surprised and I never forgot that, and after reading nothing but bad things about him in subsequent years, it fits in perfectly. He must have been one miserable prick for sure.
Norman Lear was a young writer on the M&L Colgate Comedy Hour series and mentioned how it was common knowledge on the set that Martin was much funnier than Lewis. He said he lost count of the times Dean would have the staff on the floor with ad libs during rehearsals. When it came time to do the show live Jerry would invariably steal Dean’s ad lib and bring the the house down with it. Lear said the only surprise about the breakup was that Dean put up with it as long as he did. They all knew Dean was wasting his talent.
I met him at the Sahara in '74. He was as self-important as one could be. A true feminine hygiene apparatus.
If Dean had a problem with him, then there was a problem with him.
I MET JERRY LEWIS IN A AIRPORT IN 1970. I WAS 10. I RAN TO GET AUTOGRAPH FROM HIM, HE PUSH ME OUT OF HISWAY. THE ONLY THING I REMEMBER TO THIS DAY ABOUT JERRY IS GET OUT OF MY WAY KID.
As a kid I thought he was funny watching him on talk shows when I got older you could see how mean and petty he really was.
Never ever meet your idols
My mom worked at CBS Television city in the late 50's when she first immigrated to Los Angeles from England. I never heard her speak poorly of anyone during her time there, Except Jerry Lewis, she always said he was the single biggest jerk that she had ever met.
I remember meeting Terry at a Foster's Freeze as a ten year old in Woodland Hills California in the early 1960's. My Father was a serious Jazz aficionado (We were written up twice in FM Stereo Review) and instantly recognized Terry in line behind us. They chatted together most affably and my now 94 year old Dad still vividly recalls that meet up.
Terry you are a treasure. I wish there were more oral historians like you. Setting aside the Jerry thing which I totally believe, you provided a wonderful window into a golden age of show business
I met Jerry Lewis at McCarren Airport around 2010. Iworked at TSA as a screener. I LOVED Jerry's movies as a child so I REALLY wanted to talk to him. As his entourage gathered his belongings I knelt beside his wheelchair, told him I was A HUGE FAN and asked him what he thought about Vegas now. He said I have a home here. I said ohhhh I didn't know. And he spat out "WELL I GUESS I SHOULD HAVE CALLED YA TO LET YOU KNOW" with a sneer.
I love Terry Gibbs! Never knew who he was until this video
All I really wanted was to see Terry Gibbs. Thank you, it was great.
The number of anecdotes about Jerry Lewis being a jerk cannot be ignored.
What a great interview. Kind of a forgotten character but what a treasure. Some of the best Jerry Lewis stories I've ever heard. You know, paying a guy so you can hit him on the arm when you're peeved about something is probably not a sign of good mental health. I love how he tells this story that makes Jerry come off as a complete sociopath and they he says "But he could be an asshole at the same time." Great line.
I loved watching Jerry Lewis in the early 70s when I was a kid. I thought he was the funniest guy ever. As I got older I remember learning, watching and seeing some of his antics. Eventually we all learned he was a pretty brutally abusive guy behind closed doors. He disowned all of his kids from his first and long-term marriage. He has a son that’s the spitting image of him and he states that his father wanted nothing to do with him. What a torture life that poor young man must’ e lived while his Dad was still alive.
I loved him when I was a child.
As a child, I adored Jerry Lewis! Knowing what I know now, I can’t laugh with him anymore; but just feel I immense sadness in having lost that adoration of a man that would have so easily turned his back on his children.