King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis (Hardcover)

by Shawn Levy (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
"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.

From Publishers Weekly
Levy interviewed comedian Jerry Lewis extensively for this penetrating unauthorized biography, probably the fullest, most revealing portrait to date of the elusive star. Dumped by his parents, both small-time burlesque/vaudeville performers, and raised by his maternal grandmother, high-school dropout Lewis, born in 1926, eventually followed his parents onto the stage. Beneath the manic, zany persona, Oregonian film critic Levy finds an anxiety-ridden, lonely man with a shaky self-image, a psychologically abusive husband and distant, disciplinarian father, driven by a constant need to prove himself to the parents who ignored him; to partner Dean Martin, who deserted him; to the world that had jeered at him when he was a kid. Philanthropist and host of telethons against muscular dystrophy, Lewis in 1965 suffered a spinal injury causing persistent pain that led to drug addiction and a suicide attempt. Levy persuasively shows how Lewis, one of the last Borscht Belt comedians and burlesque performers, always brought traces of those bygone forms to his movies and stand-up acts. Photos.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312132484
• ISBN-13: 978-0312132484
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #301,456 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compulsively readable, very detailed and fair, September 5, 2003

By	Pageturner in NYC (Manhattan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis (Paperback)

Whether you love Jerry Lewis or hate him, you won't be able to stop reading this definative biography that corrects years and years of misinformation and paints a brutally honest picture of the entertainer. It's certainly a warts-and-all bio, filled with unflattering information, but its leveled with a real appreciation for Lewis's work as a comedian, actor and director. This biography gets beneath the skin and gives you a real insight to Lewis. He's not a monster but he's also not someone you'd want to spend a lot of time with off the pages of this excellent biography.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Lives of Buddy Love, November 28, 2003

By	The JuRK (Our Vast, Cultural Desert) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis (Paperback)

We all grew up watching Martin & Lewis movies and Jerry's solo projects, but there were those National Enquirer stories in the 1970's about Jerry being nasty to old people. Then a good friend of mine told me about when he worked at the Vegas Aladdin and saw Jerry Lewis completely lose his mind on a group of little children who'd talked their way backstage during a telethon to give him a donation. Jerry screamed every type of profanity at them. (A humiliated Chad Everrett hustled the kids to his limo for a ride home and my friend said he trembled in rage to keep from throttling Jerry).
When I saw Jerry on stage in the 1990's, I was stunned by the amount of swearing he did--even as I've seen him in interviews swear he never cusses on stage!
Obviously, any honest account of Jerry Lewis will have to try to reconcile the sweet, clumsy "nine-year-old" clown and the rampaging, egocentric monster. Shawn Levy has done that and I admire his book for not going too far one way or the other. I picked up the book to read about the unseen film, THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED, and for any insight into the Martin & Lewis split (I'd also read Nick Tosches' DINO), and I'm glad I did.

For the people (including Jerry himself) who would dismiss this book as a "hatchet job," you only have to look at Jerry's behavior and quotes himself to see both sides of him: Jerry not only disowned one of his sons for talking to the Enquirer, he completely wrote him out of every biography of him ("Love hard, hate hard"); Jerry's dismissal of all women comics as "unfunny" and "predominately here to have children"; his recent interview with Bill O'Reilly where he declares that JFK never had an affair with Marilyn Monroe--because Jerry did! (Even O'Reilly, a man not known to be caught unawares, blinked, speechless).

Jerry's wretched behavior, whether drug-induced or simply chosen, can't diminish his contribution to entertainment, only diminish one's opinion of him as a human being. And I don't think Jerry cares what you think about him.
I can just see him as Buddy Love (a creation mistaken for Dean when it was really Jerry), lighting up a smoke and saying, "I've done it all, baby."

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buddy Love in the Flesh, July 8, 2000

By	Scott Rivers (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis (Paperback)

Shawn Levy has written a fascinating and objective critical biography of Jerry Lewis - an entertainment legend whose flaws and virtues cannot be denied. Levy tried to collaborate with Lewis on "King of Comedy," but found himself cut off by Jerry's volatility and distrust. It's easy to see why, since Lewis would prefer to emphasize the positive aspects of his life and work. Nevertheless, Levy delivers a balanced account of Jerry's enduring show-biz career and monstrous personal life - Buddy Love in the flesh. Whether you like or loathe Lewis, "King of Comedy" remains a compelling study of a multi-faceted artist unable to control his demons. Levy rightfully acknowledges Jerry Lewis' comic legacy and cinematic influence, but never lets the reader forget the pain and turmoil that lies within.