[solemn music]
- [Director] Speeds, perfect.
Ms. Holiday, take one, marker.
- Kramer, take one, mark.
- [Interviewer] If there's anything I ask you
and you don't wanna answer, that's totally fine.
[Hope sighs]
[intense music]
- One of the most successful men,
I guess in the history of show business,
Mr. Jerry Lewis. [applause]
- [Narrator] Jerry Lewis, the lovable and daffy leading man
in film, such as "The Nutty Professor" and "The Bellboy."
Lewis' popularity soared when he teamed up with Dean Martin
to become one of the most beloved comedy teams of all time.
- Wanna come up for coffee?
[crowd cheers]
We ain't got any!
[crowd cheers]
[men yelling]
- [Narrator] In 1959, Lewis landed a seven year,
$10 million contract with Paramount.
It was, at the time, the largest ever
between a studio and entertainer.
- I was dating a young actor
by the name of Danny Arnold,
and he was very close to Jerry and Dean Martin,
so I sort of knew him socially.
And he was so charming.
I worked with a lot of leading men.
I worked with John Wayne
and I worked with Clint Eastwood.
So I had a call from my agency, William Morris,
and they said, "Mr. Lewis, he'd like to offer you
to play his leading lady, Karen,
in his film he's getting ready to shoot."
He was a major film star, plus comedian,
plus he was just an icon of the day.
And he did tell great stories for families,
he was Disney.
I said, "Okay, I'll meet with him."
So I did, and he said, "Here's what I'm gonna do,
I'm gonna trip with your salary three times,
I'm gonna have Edith Head",
who was, of course, a top designer in our industry,
"make all your clothes,
I'm gonna give you a fantastic dressing room.
You're you're gonna be treated
like the lady you should be treated."
And I said, "It's an offer I can't refuse."
So I said, "Well, I'll do it. Absolutely."
- I've known Jerry Lewis since I was 13,
he was a friend of my father's.
So to me, he was family.
[upbeat music]
Come on, tiger!
How about it?
I was in, I don't know how many movies,
some in the mid 60s, the 70s.
I feel a draft.
A lot of them were schlocky movies,
but some of them were really good movies.
I loved it when I did parts like I did in "The Apartment"
with Jack Lemmon and working with Billy Wilder.
Jerry was doing a movie called "The Ladies Man",
and he said, "Would you like to be in it?"
I said, "I'd love to, I'd love to."
The first day we were working,
he said, "Can you come to the dressing room afterward?"
He said, "I wanna discuss what we're gonna shoot tomorrow
where you beat me up."
I said, "Okay." I went.
- He was very specific about how he wanted me to dress.
I thought that was unique and interesting
that he wanted to look at the sketches,
he wanted to look at the clothes on me
to make sure that he didn't wanna delete something
or add something to the way I looked.
So I was then asked to come over to the location.
- I go into this garish dressing room
and I sit down and he presses a button,
locks me in the dressing room with him.
- [Karen] He began to whisper things in my ear
that were very sexy and seductive.
- He said, "You've got a great figure."
He said, "You've got nice boobs."
He said, "You've got lovely legs."
He said, "That's what I like to see."
- And before I knew it, he was all over me.
He had grabbed me, began to fondle me.
- Next thing I know he's unzipping his pants
and out comes the, mm,
and next thing, he's jerking off in front of me,
and I didn't know what to do so I just sat there.
I sat there and I wanted to leave.
I wanted to leave so badly,
I wanted to get out of there.
And I couldn't.
I was under contract to him and to Paramount
and I didn't wanna shake the boat.
I figured I'll just keep my mouth shut.
- I said, "I don't know what you think,
but I don't do this."
I got the feeling that that had never really happened
to him very much.
You know what I mean?
I could see that he was furious.
I said, "Maybe I should resign right now,
because this is gonna be awkward to work with you
with this situation."
He said, "It's too late,
you already signed the contract
and we're gonna go ahead with this."
As my punishment,
no one was allowed to speak to me on that set
or they would be fired.
That was told to me the second day I was there.
He wanted to win in whatever way he could win.
He wanted to win.
Win the girl, win the moment,
put me in my place to let him know,
"I'm the boss here,
you'll do as I say, and if you don't,
this is how I punish you."
- It made me very depressed
and I didn't wanna date.
I didn't wanna go on on dates.
[Hope sighs]
It wasn't good.
Had other problems too.
I'm gonna tell you a story about a different actor.
I was in a group to study acting.
After the first night,
everybody was given a piece of paper
with everybody's name,
and with their address on it.
One day, all of a sudden,
there's somebody at my door, at the screen door.
And this is the God's honest truth.
He came in, he didn't say one word to me,
grabbed me by the hair, pulled me into the bedroom.
He raped me.
I didn't say anything, I didn't say,
"Stop, don't do it."
I was frightened to death, I was frightened to death,
and he was drunk for the night before.
He zipped his pants up and he left.
Never saw him again.
What do I do? I don't know what to do.
I was intimidated by most of these men.
- [Interviewer] Wow.
- It was very difficult for me.
I don't look like the type that would be intimidated,
but I was.
Believe it or not, I was shy.
I was very shy.
- [Interviewer] What would you say to them now,
knowing everything you know?
- You wouldn't wanna hear what I would say.
- [Interviewer] I would.
- I would say, "Go fuck yourself, you motherfucker.
I'd like to kill you."
That's what I would say.
Or if anybody tried to touch me,
I'd probably kick them right between the legs or punch 'em.
I'm different now.
[solemn music]