King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

"Americans had never seen a grown man behave this way before," notes Shawn Levy. From Lewis' upbringing as the son of a struggling show biz dad, to his heyday as one half of the Lewis and Martin team that was the hottest act in the business, to his career as the host of charity telethons, Levy presents Lewis in all his comic glory and horror. There's his inspired work with Dean Martin at Atlantic City's 500 Club in 1946; the "Jewish Bataan death march" promotional tour for the movie "The Nutty Professor"; and, later, Lewis, star of movies for kids, who mistreated his family. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere Ausgabe: Gebundene Ausgabe .

Anyone who has paid more than cursory attention to daft comedian Jerry Lewis knows he has a dark, angry side. That fascinating contradiction lies at the heart of Levy's account of Lewis' phenomenally successful half-century as movie and TV star, director, credible dramatic actor, and now Broadway star (his production of Damn Yankees is touring to sellout crowds). Lewis inspires polarized reactions, from mawkish acclaim to hostile scorn, sometimes simultaneously: one critic called him a "witless genius." Levy reconciles the various Jerries--the shrieking, infantile idiot, Mr. Showbiz, earnest artiste, Gallic film auteur, philanthropist, and elder statesman--and probes such touchy areas as the controversy behind his role as muscular dystrophy spokesperson (virtually his only gig during a lengthy dry spell) and his addiction to Percodan. In a bizarre epilogue, Levy recites his personal encounters with Lewis, who capriciously turned from cooperative subject to hostile adversary, sounding an appropriately unsettling note to conclude this riveting account of a performer who is virtually the last remnant of a showbiz tradition stretching from the borscht belt to Vegas and beyond. Gordon Flagg -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere Ausgabe: Gebundene Ausgabe .

Put your mitts together for this ``sock'' biography of one of the last of the great entertainers. Few entertainers have inspired such irrational excesses of bile and adoration as actor, director, occasional songster, and Muscular Dystrophy Association pitchman Jerry Lewis. On one hand, he is reviled as a crude, mean-spirited, one-trick putz. Yet in Europe he is feted as a misunderstood comic genius; the French even went so far as to make him a commander of their Legion of Honor. Levy, a film critic for The Oregonian, convincingly demonstrates that both sides are right. Like a dark variety show, Jerry certainly offers something for everyone to hate. He has lived a breathtaking Hollywood excess (traveling everywhere with 75 pieces of luggage, never wearing the same socks twice), and some of his 50-plus films are embarrassingly bad--mawkish, sentimental, often wildly unfunny. But he also has created a number of comic masterpieces, most notably The Nutty Professor and The Patsy. Even his worst films have their moments of redeeming comic brilliance. No wonder then that Jerry has influenced the very shape of modern comedy. Comedians from Robin Williams to Woody Allen to that vile epigone Jim Carrey have drawn inspiration from the free-form id- driven comic style Lewis created. He began his career in the dying days of vaudeville, playing in small venues to little notice until a chance double-bill with the almost equally unsuccessful Dean Martin. By his late 20s, despite a nasty split with Martin, Lewis was the most popular, best-paid entertainer in America. Twenty years later, he was a ridiculed has-been. Marred only by a lack of a bibliography and footnotes, this scrupulous, skillful, incessantly fair account should go a long way toward restoring Lewis to his proper place in the entertainment firmament. (32 pages b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere Ausgabe: Gebundene Ausgabe .

You don't have to be French to enjoy this exhaustive and exhausting study of one of the great icons of American comedy. It's exhaustive because Levy, a former senior editor at American Film, includes all aspects, personal and showbiz, of his subject's life and exhausting because the reader will tire from merely keeping track of Lewis's life. The insightful first chapters explain a lot about the personality we have all seen and read about. This thread carries over to the chapters on Lewis and Dean Martin, a team that remained on top of the heap for a decade. The contrast between the two personalities made for years of great entertainment but ultimately brought about the demise of the partnership. Levy's story of what happened to Lewis's career thereafter is a fascinating look at the entertainment industry, fickle audiences, and a star who had a tough time fitting into a genre as he aged. Broad in scope yet minutely detailed, this work covers the many sides of Lewis: dark, lonely, generous, childish, frightened, yet always the comedian. Recommended for most collections.?Judy Hauser, Oakland Sch., Waterford, Mich.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere Ausgabe: Gebundene Ausgabe .

The French love the man; America loves this noholds-barred life of the uncomfortably funny Nutty Professor himself

Jerry Lewis is -- by his own admission -- an American icon. He has been the highest-paid performer in history in film, on TV, and (in 1995!) on Broadway. A direct influence on giants from Woody Allen to Jim Carrey, today he has become a billion-dollar fundraiser -- and, arguably, one of the best-known faces on earth. And, as Eddie Murphy's Lewis-backed remake of The Nutty Professor shows, he isn't through with us yet.

Shawn Levy's thorough and witty biography made news in 1996 for its frank portrait of the clown and his demons, and was singled out by voices from USA Today to People as a landmark life. From his salad days with Dean Martin, to the trough of pain, pills, and depression he suffered in the 1970s, the book paints Lewis with a mix of candor and understanding, leaving us with a man to whom there is no neutral response. Love him or hate him, King of Comedy proved the point Jerry Lewis always seemed to be making himself: He deserves our attention.

"A model of what a celebrity bio ought to be -- smart, knowing, insightful, often funny, full of fascinating stories". -- Los Angeles Times

A portrait of one of America's most influential comedians analyzes the complex, sometimes disturbing world of Jerry Lewis, from his rise to fame and his philanthropic work to the dark side of his career and personal life.