Jerry Lewis has died.
The legendary entertainer – who rose to fame in the 1950s as one half of comedy duo Martin and Lewis with singer Dean Martin – passed away on Sunday (20.08.17) at 9.15am at the age of 91 at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada.
His family told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in a statement: ”Legendary entertainer Jerry Lewis passed away peacefully today of natural causes at 91 at his home [with] family by his side.”
Jerry – whose real name was Jerome Levitch – starred in 16 films with Dean, including ‘At War With the Army’, ‘The Caddy’, ‘You’re Never Too Young’ and ‘Hollywood or Bust’.
After he and the ‘Ain’t That a Kick in the Head’ singer – who passed away in 1995 – stopped performing together – he went on to star in the likes of ‘The Nutty Professor’, ‘Cookie’, ‘Arizona Dream’ and ‘Funny Bones’. Jerry appeared in two movies last year, ‘Max Rose’ and ‘The Trust’.
Jerry was married twice, to Patti Palmer from 1944 until 1980, and then SanDee Pitnick, who he wed in 1983.
From his marriage to Patti, he had sons Gary, Ronald, Scott, Christopher, Anthony, and the late Joseph, who died from an overdose in October 2009. He and SanDee had a daughter, Danielle, who like Ronald, was adopted.
The ‘King of Comedy’ actor was the highest paid actor in Hollywood at one time, and in 1995 his portrayal of Mr. Applegate in the musical ‘Damn Yankies’ saw him become the highest-paid star in Broadway history.
