'A big loss for comedy'

Jerry Lewis has died at the age of 91.

A statement from his  family said the comedian died of natural causes at his home in Las Vegas this morning.

He was famed for films such as Cinderfella and The Nutty Professor, and his ten-year, 16-film partnership with Dean Martin  – as well as 1983’s The King of Comedy, in which he played a talk show host stalked by would-be comic Rupert Pupkin, played Robert de Niro.

Among those playing tribute were Whoopi Goldberg, who called Lewis’s death ‘a gain for heaven, but big loss for comedy’.

Jim Carrey said: ‘That fool was no dummy. Jerry Lewis was an undeniable genius an unfathomable blessing, comedy's absolute! I am because he was!’

Filmmaker Carl Reiner added: ‘So saddened to learn of  the passing of Jerry Lewis, a true comic icon. In Boston 1947 I roared at his and Dean's first ever performance.’

He was also known for his annual telethon that raised millions of dollars for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

However, he also caused controversy with racist and misogynistic jokes, and in 2007 he was forced to apologise using the phrase  ‘illiterate fags’ during the fundraiser.

Lewis was born on March 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey to Russian Jewish parents and formed his partnership with Martin in the  1940s, making their first TV appearance in 1948.

They were hugely successful in their decade together but split in 1958. Reasons given include Lewis being a workaholic while Martin preferred spending time on the golf links, and Martin's fears that his role in the act was being diminished.

Lewis continued to have success as a solo film performer, and his brand of absurd slapstick proved especially popular in France, where fans also hailed him as an auteur who had total control over all aspects of his film.

In 2002, he hit the headlines in the UK when he collapsed backstage at the London Palladium, where he was due receive an award at the end of a long fundraising night.

Here is Lewis in The Nutty Professor: 

Published: 20 Aug 2017