legendary comedic actor jerry lewis achieved a lot in his career before passing away in 2017
at age 91 but the star's incredible success on the screen and stage sadly wasn't mirrored in
his personal life join facts first as we take a look at jerry lewis's sad and lonely life
jerry lewis was born on march 16 1926 in newark new jersey his father was a vaudeville performer
and his mother was a pianist and young jerry often accompanied them during their act however the two
also often left to tour leaving jerry alone with other relatives because of this jerry had
a very lonely childhood infamously his parents were said to have missed the young boy's bar
mitzvah which left a devastating impact on his psyche jerry's lack of strong paternal influence
also caused him to engage in deviant behaviors starting at a young age he claimed to have lost
his virginity to a burlesque dancer when he was only 12. the young boy enjoyed the
performance elements of burlesque clubs by age 15 jerry had dropped out of high school and
was performing comedy at burlesque clubs around the area jerry met dean martin in 1946 the two
instantly hit it off and began performing as a comedic duo dean played the straight man while
jerry goofed off together the two began to make a major impression on audiences around new york
city eventually they made their way to films over a period of seven years jerry and dean made 16
films together their first was 1949's my friend irma and their final was 1956's hollywood or bust
over the time they were performing as a duo jerry and dean rocketed to stardom but this stardom
started going to their heads as each one believed they were the reason that martin and lewis were
successful their separation was not amicable and the two didn't speak to each other for two decades
afterwards as legend has it dean told jerry the only reason he worked with him was for the money
this devastated jerry who idolized his friend and performance partner after the separation both
jerry and dean maintained successful careers apart from one another jerry went on to perform in and
direct many classic films including the bellboy and the nutty professor jerry was a perfectionist
and was always looking to take his comedic performances to the next level sometimes this
drive for perfection was beneficial other times it had a negative impact on his personal life
he was said to have been unable to wear a pair of socks more than once and had to keep all his
money arranged consecutively by serial number and fold it up in his pocket jerry's drive to
impress the audience is what caused the 1965 accident that led to him becoming addicted to
painkillers during a performance on stage jerry attempted to do a double cartwheel off a piano
shockingly the comedian landed on his back in front of the audience and ended up severely
injured the injury changed jerry's life forever and his back never fully recovered doctors gave
jerry a prescription to the painkiller perkadan to help alleviate the pain from his injury and this
kicked off a 13-year battle with addiction for the injured actor and during the period where he was
addicted to perkadan his latent mental issues were exacerbated jerry was married to his first wife at
the time and also had several kids in 1973 under the influence of perkidan jerry claimed to have
placed a gun into his mouth before deciding not to pull the trigger after hearing his kids playing
down the hall jerry's addiction to perkadan was also said to have caused another brush with death
when jerry was found to have been suffering from a stomach ulcer that nearly killed him
numerous mental health issues plagued jerry over the course of his life but he was always
afraid to get to the bottom of them one reason he always declined to exercise his personal demons
was that he felt it might prevent him from being as funny even if his neuroses and obsessions were
a detriment to his personal life they were useful during performances as jerry put it all the pain
he experienced in his life was worth it when it melted away on stage sadly his demons weren't
always funny this truth could be seen in the failures of his relationships with his first
wife and children and also in the notorious 1972 film the day the clown cried directed by written
by and starring jerry himself the film told the story of a circus clown tasked with leading
children to their deaths in a concentration camp understandably the film's premise drew a great
deal of controversy and it was never released before his death he gave the only existing copy of
the film to the u.s library of congress apparently there are plans to eventually make the film public
sometime after 2024. one person who has seen the day the clown cried is harry shearer
a comedic actor who idolized jerry while he was growing up according to harry the film deserves
its notorious reputation hey if you're enjoying this video so far be sure to give it a like
and subscribe to facts first for more jerry lewis was only 18 years old when he met his first wife
his first wife was patty palmer a woman who worked around the same clubs as he did in new york city
the two were married within two months of meeting despite the fact they had numerous children
together and were married for many decades it has since become apparent jerry was far from a good
husband to his first wife according to the late comedian himself he would take the opportunity
to sleep with any other woman who would have him early on in his marriage one of the many
women jerry was said to have had an affair with during his marriage to patty was marilyn monroe
the two had a romantic fling that apparently didn't end too well as it caused jerry to turn
down a role he was offered in the 1959 comedy some like it hot he turned it down because he didn't
want to have to work with maryland and recommended fellow comedic actor jack lemmon instead the film
was a major success for jack garnering him an academy award nomination he was said to have sent
jerry a box of chocolates every year following the film's release jerry and patty had six sons and
their names were anthony scotty chris gary ronnie and joseph in the years following their divorce
patty and all of her six sons came forward with allegations that jerry had been an incredibly
abusive husband and father figure joseph died at age 45 as a result of a drug overdose and jerry
refused to pay for his son's funeral gary blamed joseph's death on his relationship with his father
and the abuse he had suffered at his hands jerry himself claimed later on he felt a great deal of
guilt after joseph's death but the pain went away whenever he was on stage there's always been an
element of escapism to jerry's comedy as the actor used it as therapy to vent his own neuroses jerry
once claimed he made a career of doing things that children would get in trouble for doing in class
perhaps this is what kept jerry from retiring in his later years even as his health began failing
jerry stayed married to patty until 1980. after their divorce he married a stripper named sandy
pitnick in 1983. though the two never had children they adopted a daughter named danielle during his
later years jerry became known for his charitable work with the muscular dystrophy association
he hosted numerous telethons for the organization that proved incredibly profitable but the muscular
dystrophy association distanced itself from jerry for undisclosed reasons in 2010. in addition to
his numerous health problems he also suffered from many physical health problems over the years many
of these stemmed from his 1965 double backflip injury while others were separate issues he
suffered from type 1 diabetes as well as multiple heart attacks during his life his first occurred
during the filming of 1960s cinderfella in the 90s he began going through prednisone treatment to
help with his pulmonary fibrosis it caused him to gain a good deal of weight and drastically altered
his appearance jerry died august 20th 2017. he was 91. jerry left his estate to his second wife and
adopted daughter and made special care to leave out his first wife the sons they'd had together
and any of their relatives now it's time to hear from you comment down below to share what your
favorite jerry lewis movie is and before you go be sure to give this video a like and subscribe to
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