Lewis a born entertainer

By Bill Spitalnick, Newport Beach, Calif.

Friday, Sept. 1, 2017 | 2 a.m.

I saw Jerry Lewis twice. Once was in the late 1940s or early ’50s in downtown Los Angeles, when he sat on a window perch in a building a few floors up with Dean Martin tossing out photos of him and Dean to the crowd below. I was about 8 and was with my younger brother and our grandmother, who drove us to see the duo.

I never made it to one of Jerry’s muscular dystrophy telethons in Las Vegas, but I did see him in March 2014 at La Mirada Theater doing a one-man show.

Jerry was born to entertain, with an insatiable need to make people laugh. From his days hosting the Labor Day telethon, raising in excess of $2 billion for M.D. research, to making his slapstick comedies despite suffering a number of maladies and illnesses, he spent the major portion of his life in his chosen field.

It is said, and I agree, that “The Nutty Professor” was his best film, and I can still visualize his transition from the square and nerdy Prof. Julius Kelp to the flamboyant and arrogant Buddy Love. I recall hearing Jerry say to someone on TV not too long ago that he aspired to accomplish what George Burns and Bob Hope did in reaching age 100. But at 91, Jerry sadly left us, leaving his comedic signature on millions of people and the entertainment field but unfortunately never reaching that 100-year goal as did Burns and Hope.

He was definitely one of a kind and is probably doing his slapstick humor, screaming “Laaadyyy” and singing “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby” in comedy central with his old pal Dean Martin.