Jerry Lewis

Often reviled in his native United States for his gross bigotry, but worshiped as a genius throughout much of Europe and especially France, Jerry Lewis took slapstick comedy to new realms of absurdity and outrageousness. Originally paired with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis, the duo's popular nightclub work and flourishing series of comedy films for Paramount Pictures catapulted them to stardom and successful solo careers for years. Lewis became not only one of the biggest stars of the postwar era but also one of the most powerful, and as the writer, director, and producer of many of his features, he qualified as a comic auteur firmly in the tradition of Chaplin and Keaton.. In addition, Lewis is also known for his charity fund-raising telethons and position as national chairman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

He was born Jerome Levitch on March 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey. His father, Daniel Levitch, who went by the stage name Danny Lewis, was an actor, master of ceremonies and all-around performer. His mother, Rae Lewis, played piano for the New York City radio station WOR and was her husband's musical director. Growing up in a show business family, Lewis began following in his parents' footsteps as a performer from a very young age. He made his debut at the age of five, singing "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?" at New York's "Borscht Belt" nightclubs in the Catskill Mountains.

In 1946, Lewis met another struggling performer, a handsome singer named Dean Martin. Later that year, while playing Atlantic City's 500 Club, another act abruptly quit the show, and Lewis suggested Martin to fill the void. Initially the two performed separately, but one night they threw out their routines and teamed on-stage, a Mutt-and-Jeff combo whose wildly improvisational comedy quickly made them a star attraction along the Boardwalk. Within months, Martin and Lewis' salaries rocketed from 350 to 5,000 dollars a week, and by the end of the 1940s, they were the most popular comedy duo in the nation. In 1949, they made their film debut in George Marshall's My Friend Irma, and their supporting work proved so popular with audiences that their roles were significantly expanded for the sequel, the following year's My Friend Irma Goes West. With 1951's At War With the Army, Martin and Lewis earned their first star billing. The picture established the basic formula of all of their subsequent movie work, with Martin the suave straight man forced to suffer the bizarre antics of the manic fool Lewis. Critics often loathed the duo, but audiences couldn't get enough. In all, they made 13 comedies for Paramount, among them 1952's Jumping Jacks, 1953's Scared Stiff, and 1955's Artists and Models, a superior effort directed by Frank Tashlin. For 1956's Hollywood or Bust, Tashlin was again in the director's seat, but the movie was the team's last; after Martin and Lewis' relationship soured to the point where they were no longer even speaking to one another, they announced their breakup following the conclusion of their July 25, 1956, performance at the Copacabana, which celebrated to the day the tenth anniversary of their first show.

Working again as a solo performer, Lewis also served as producer on his first post-Martin star vehicle, 1957's The Delicate Delinquent. Reviews were good, and later that same year he starred in The Sad Sack. With 1958's Rock-a-Bye Baby, he teamed again with Tashlin, the first of six Lewis comedies the director helmed; they next united for The Geisha Boy. Under Norman Taurog, Lewis returned in 1959 with Don't Give up the Ship. At the time of its release, he signed an exclusive contract with Paramount for ten million dollars and 60 percent of his box-office profits, the biggest payday of its kind in Hollywood history; at its peak, his popularity was so great that he even starred in a DC Comics book. Lewis celebrated his success by making another feature for Taurog, 1960's Visit to a Small Planet, before returning to work under Tashlin for Cinderfella.

With 1960's The Bellboy, Lewis made his directorial debut. Here his comic vision began to truly take flight, with only a bare-bones plot and virtually no dialogue to best serve his ambitious gags. He also directed and produced 1961's The Ladies' Man, a lavishly filmed, vicious satire on American femininity, followed by The Errand Boy, another collection of sight gags which earned favorable comparison to the work of Jacques Tati. Under Tashlin, Lewis next starred in 1962's It's Only Money. Returning to the director's chair, he filmed his masterpiece, The Nutty Professor, a comic retelling of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tale which, while dismissed by American critics, solidified his following among European filmgoers, especially the staff of the influential Cahiers du Cinema.

In between 1963's Who's Minding the Store? and 1964's The Disorderly Orderly, both written and directed by Tashlin, Lewis also helmed The Patsy, his most ambitious work to date. In 1965's The Family Jewels, he not only wrote and directed, but also played seven different roles. The picture was among his first not to become a major box-office success. He subsequently traveled to France to star in John Rich's Boeing Boeing. There "Le Roi du Crazy" (as he was dubbed) was met by adoring fans and critics with a three-week film festival, as well as a complete retrospective at the Cinematheque Francais. However, the feature was Lewis' last for Paramount, who found his insistence upon complete artistic control to be at odds with the increasingly disappointing box-office showings of his films.

In 1966, after landing at Columbia to direct and star in Three on a Couch, Lewis hosted his first Labor Day telethon to raise funds in support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The star-studded event quickly became an institution, annually bringing in millions upon millions in charitable contributions. Lewis next starred in the Gordon Douglas space comedy Way, Way Out, followed by 1967's The Big Mouth, which he directed and co-wrote. He next appeared in Jerry Paris' Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River and George Marshall's Hook, Line and Sinker, subsequently directing (but, for the first and only time, not starring) in 1969's One More Time. None of the movies found favor with audiences or critics, however, and after the failure of 1970's Which Way to the Front?, Lewis' career in Hollywood was in grave condition. While seeking funding for his next project, in 1971 he wrote a book, The Total Filmmaker. With financing from the Swedish-based Cinema and Film Enterprises, in 1972 Lewis mounted The Day the Clown Cried, a disturbing tale focusing on a famous clown forced by the Nazis to lead children to their deaths in the gas chambers. Widely speculated to be either a transcendent masterpiece or an obscene failure, the radical feature was never released, remaining trapped in legal limbo. Lewis spent the remainder of the decade out of film, appearing instead in the disastrous Broadway production Helzapoppin as well as in concert and on the lecture circuit. Finally, in 1979 he wrote, directed, and starred in Hardly Working; though not released until two years later because of financial entanglements, the movie proved to be a major success, grossing over 50 million dollars in North America alone.

In late 1982, Lewis was declared clinically dead after suffering a massive heart attack. He was miraculously revived, and the excessive lifestyle that led to his near-death experience became the subject of his 1983 feature Smorgasbord, which later premiered on HBO as Cracking Up before finally bowing in theaters in 1985. In the meantime, Lewis garnered some of the best reviews of his career for his work in Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy, but his performance did not lead to work in other major Hollywood productions. As a result, he traveled to France, appearing in the 1984 comedies To Catch a Cop and Par Ou T'es Rentre? on T'a Pas Vue Sortir. The dismal Slapstick of Another Kind also arrived in 1984, with only small roles in the 1987 telefilm Fight for Life and Susan Seidelman's 1989 effort Cookie, as well as an extended supporting turn in the television series Wiseguy. By the 1990s, Lewis experienced something of a resurgence. Although he remained unable to secure directorial work, he did appear in the major studio films Mr. Saturday Night and Funny Bones. Additionally, he starred on Broadway in a successful revival of Damn Yankees and in 1996, The Nutty Professor was remade by Eddie Murphy.

Personal Life

Lewis has been married twice:

• Patti Palmer (née Esther Calonico), a former singer with Ted Fio Rito; married October 3, 1944, divorced September 1980.
• SanDee Pitnick; married February 13, 1983; a 32-year-old Las Vegas dancer. They were married in Key Biscayne, Florida; Lewis was 56.

He had six sons (one adopted) and one adopted daughter:

• Gary Harold Lee Levitch was born on July 31, 1945 to Lewis and Patti Palmer. Gary Levitch's name was subsequently legally changed to Gary Lewis. As a 1960s pop musician, Gary Lewis had a string of hits with his group Gary Lewis & the Playboys.
• Ronald Steven Lewis; born December 1949 (adopted) with Patti Palmer
• Scott Anthony Lewis; born February 22, 1956 to Patti Palmer
• Christopher Joseph Lewis; born October 1957 to Patti Palmer
• Anthony Joseph Lewis; born October 1959 to Patti Palmer
• Joseph Christopher Lewis; born January 1964 to Patti Palmer, died October 24, 2009 from a narcotics overdose.
• Danielle Sara Lewis (daughter); adopted March 1992 with SanDee Pitnick.

Lewis last resided in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sources: Wikipedia, Biography, Starpulse, Answers

Bock spoke at the funeral of 98-year-old Fiddler playwright Joseph Stein just 10 days before his own death, from heart failure at the age of 81, four weeks before his 82nd birthday. His remains were cremated.

Awards:

1960 Tony Award for Best Musical – Fiorello! 1960 Pulitzer Prize for Drama – Fiorello! 1965 Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist – Fiddler on the Roof 1965 Tony Award for Best Musical – Fiddler on the Roof

Nominations:

1964 Tony Award for Best Musical – She Loves Me 1967 Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist – The Apple Tree 1967 Tony Award for Best Musical – The Apple Tree 1971 Tony Award for Best Original Score – The Rothschilds

References:

Guide to the Jerry Bock Papers, 1945-2004 Bock listing bmifoundation.org "FIDDLER Composer Jerry Bock Dies at 81". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 3 November 2010.

External references:

Jerry Bock at Find a Grave Jerry Bock at the Internet Broadway Database Jerry Bock at the Internet Off-Broadway Database Jerry Bock at the Internet Movie Database Jerry Bock papers in the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. PBS biography Songwriters Hall of Fame biography TonyAwards.com Interview with Jerry Bock

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Lewis

ג'רי לואיס

' (באנגלית: Jerry Lewis, ‏16 במרץ 1926 - 20 באוגוסט 2017) היה קומיקאי, שחקן, מפיק ובמאי קולנוע יהודי-אמריקני. נודע בזכות הומור הסלפסטיק שלו ומבצעי ההתרמה הטלוויזיוניים שערך. לואיס זכה למספר רב של פרסים יוקרתיים למפעל חיים, כדוגמת פרסי הקומדיה האמריקאיים, ארגון מבקרי הקולנוע בלוס אנג'לס, פסטיבל הסרטים של ונציה, וכן שני כוכבים בשדרת הכוכבים של הוליווד.

תוכן עניינים 1 קריירה 1.1 תחילת קריירה 1.2 סרטים 2 עבודת צדקה 3 בעיות בריאות 4 חייו הפרטיים 5 קישורים חיצוניים קריירה תחילת קריירה לואיס נולד ב-16 במרץ 1926, בבית החולים בית ישראל (אנ') בניוארק, ניו ג'רזי, להורים יהודים רוסים. אביו, דניאל לויץ' (1902–1980), היה עורך-מנחה טקסים (אנ') ובדרן וודוויל שהשתמש בשם המקצועי דני לואיס. אמו, רחל ("ריי") (לבית ברודסקי) לויץ', הייתה פסנתרנית בתחנת רדיו. לואיס החל להופיע בגיל חמש ולעיתים קרובות הופיע לצד הוריו בחגורת הבורשט במדינת ניו יורק. בגיל 15 הוא פיתח את "חוק ההקלטות" שלו, שבו הוא חיקה בצורה מופרזת את המילים לשירים על פטיפון.

הוא השתמש בשם המקצועי ג'ואי לואיס אך ​​עד מהרה שינה אותו לג'רי לואיס כדי למנוע בלבול עם הקומיקאי ג'ו א. לואיס (אנ') ואלוף האגרוף במשקל כבד ג'ו לואיס. בכיתה י' נשר מבית הספר התיכון ארווינגטון (אנ'). הוא היה פרחח בשנות העשרה שלו, ביצע מעשי קונדס בשכונה שלו כולל התגנבויות לתוך מטבחים כדי לגנוב עוף מטוגן ופשטידות. במלחמת העולם השנייה נדחה משירות צבאי בגלל אוושה לבבית, ובגיל 20 החל לצבור פרסום ראשוני יחד עם הזמר דין מרטין, כשהופיעו יחדיו במועדוני לילה ומאוחר יותר בסרטים ובתוכנית הטלוויזיה "שעת הקומדיה של קולגייט" ב-NBC. הם המשיכו להופיע יחד גם בטלוויזיה עד לשנת 1956, בה נפרדו דרכיהם. בשנת 1976 נפגשו השניים לאחר 20 שנות פירוד בתוכנית ההתרמות של ג'רי, וזאת ביוזמתו של הזמר פרנק סינטרה שהתארח בתוכנית.

סרטים

ג'רי לואיס בשנות ה-60

כוכב על שמו של ג'רי לואיס בשדרת הכוכבים של הוליווד מאז שנת 1949 השתתף ג'רי לואיס בלמעלה מ-40 סרטי קולנוע, 12 מהם ביים בעצמו. בין סרטיו הידועים "ילד הגיישה" (1958), "נער המעלית" (1960), "הפרופסור המטורף" (1963), "מי דואג לעסקים?" (1963), "תכשיטי המשפחה" (1965), "בואינג בואינג" (1965), "מלך הקומדיה" (1983) בבימויו של מרטין סקורסזה והסרט הצרפתי -"מאיפה חזרת? לא ראינו אותך יוצא" (1984). בזמן הפקת "נער המעלית" פיתח לואיס טכניקת צילום לפיה יוכל לפקח על עבודת הבימוי תוך כדי משחק.

מאז 1966 הצלחת סרטי הקומדיות שלו דעכה בגבולות ארצות הברית. אך לואיס התפרסם מחוץ לגבולותיה, בעיקר בצרפת, שם נחשב לגאון קולנועי. במרץ 2006 שר התרבות הצרפתי העניק ללואיס את "אות לגיון הכבוד" וקרא לו "הליצן המועדף על העם הצרפתי".

ב-1972 יצר את הסרט "היום שבו בכה הליצן". הסרט נגנז ומעולם לא הוקרן. לואיס שחתום גם על התסריט ערך שינויים מפליגים בסיפור המקורי שעליו היה מבוסס. לצד הבימוי גילם את הדמות הראשית, ליצן קרקס גרמני, הלמוט דורק, שנאלץ ללוות חבורה של ילדים יהודים בדרכם לתאי הגזים באושוויץ. בניגוד לסרטיו הקומיים מדובר בדרמה אפלה. הסרט נודע בהיסטוריה של הקולנוע כסרט המפורסם ביותר שמעולם לא הוקרן. עותק מהסרט נמסר לספריית הקונגרס האמריקני ויצא להקרנה חד פעמית בלתי מסחרית באולם הספרייה לא לפני 2024. הקרנות נוספות, אם יהיו, יותרו רק באישור בעלי עיזבונו של לואיס.

במאי 2007 סיים כתיבת גרסה בימתית ל"הפרופסור המטורף", שעלה בסן דייגו בסתיו 2007 וכן בברודוויי, ניו יורק בשנת 2008.

ב-25 בנובמבר 2008 יצא סרט המשך אנימטיבי ל"פרופסור המטורף", ובו שב לואיס לדבב את דמותו של הפרופסור ג'וליוס קלפ. ב-2016 גילם את התפקיד הראשי בסרט "מקס רוז".

ג'רי לואיס בפסטיבל קאן בשנת 2009 עבודת צדקה ג'רי לואיס עזר להקמתו של ארגון למען הסובלים ממחלת ניוון שרירים בשנת 1952, ואף כיהן כיו"ר הארגון, ומאז שנת 1966 ערך מבצע התרמה טלוויזיוני מדי שנה, תוך שהוא מגייס מפורסמים להופיע בתוכניתו. מאמציו סייעו להתרמה של למעלה משני מיליארד דולר. ב־1977 היה מועמד לפרס נובל לשלום. בשנת 1985 הוענק לו אות הצטיינות לשירות ציבורי מטעם מחלקת ההגנה של ארצות הברית. בספטמבר 2005 הוענק לו אות הצטיינות על שידורי ההתרמה השנתיים שערך, בידי "אקדמיית אומנויות הטלוויזיה והמדע". במבצע ההתרמה השנתי ה-40, שנערך בשנת 2005, ג'רי לואיס עזר להתרמת כספים לצבא הישע (עבור נפגעי הוריקן קתרינה).

בעיות בריאות ג'רי לואיס סבל במשך שנים מבעיות גב קשות כתוצאה מתרגילי הנפילות שלו, כחלק ממערכוני הסלפסטיק שערך, וכמעט נותר משותק. לאחר שנהג ליטול כדורי פרקודן להרגעת הכאבים, הושתל בגבו מכשיר אלקטרוני נסיוני, שפותח בידי חברת Medtronic, שעוזר לו בהרגעת הכאבים. לואיס נלחם גם בסרטן הערמונית, סוכרת, ומחלת ריאות. טיפולים רפואיים למחלת הריאות גרמו לו לעלות במשקלו באופן ניכר, וביוני 2006 עבר התקף לב.

חייו הפרטיים ג'רי לואיס היה נשוי פעמיים. בשנת 1944 התחתן עם הזמרת פטי פאלמר, והתגרש ממנה ב-1980. ב-1983 התחתן עם הרקדנית סן די פיטניק. היו לו שישה בנים ובת מאומצת בשם דניאל. כמו כן ללואיס בת נוספת בשם סוזן מחוץ לנישואים. התגורר בלאס וגאס שבנבדה.

ג'רי לואיס היה חבר באחוות היהודים אלפא אפסילון פאי.

הוא נפטר ב-20 באוגוסט 2017, בגיל 91.

קישורים חיצוניים ויקישיתוף מדיה וקבצים בנושא ג'רי לואיס בוויקישיתוף Green globe.svg אתר האינטרנט הרשמי של ג'רי לואיס

אלון גור אריה, ג'רי לואיס: פרופסור מטורף עם תעודות , באתר ynet, 16 בדצמבר 2011 כריס לי, אגדה חיה מאוד: ג'רי לואיס לא עוצר , nrg, ‏12 בספטמבר 2010 ג'רי לואיס ביצירה הקלאסית The Typewriter

מתוך הסרט Who'S Minding The Store בעקבות מותו:

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Often reviled in his native United States but worshipped as a genius throughout much of Europe and especially France, Jerry Lewis took slapstick comedy to new realms of absurdity and outrageousness. Originally paired with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis, the duo's popular nightclub work and flourishing series of comedy films for Paramount Pictures catapulted them to stardom and successful solo careers for years. Lewis became not only one of the biggest stars of the postwar era but also one of the most powerful, and as the writer, director, and producer of many of his features, he qualified as a comic auteur firmly in the tradition of Chaplin and Keaton.. In addition, Lewis is also known for his charity fund-raising telethons and position as national chairman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

He was born Jerome Levitch on March 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey. His father, Daniel Levitch, who went by the stage name Danny Lewis, was an actor, master of ceremonies and all-around performer. His mother, Rae Lewis, played piano for the New York City radio station WOR and was her husband's musical director. Growing up in a show business family, Lewis began following in his parents' footsteps as a performer from a very young age. He made his debut at the age of five, singing "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?" at New York's "Borscht Belt" nightclubs in the Catskill Mountains.

In 1946, Lewis met another struggling performer, a handsome singer named Dean Martin. Later that year, while playing Atlantic City's 500 Club, another act abruptly quit the show, and Lewis suggested Martin to fill the void. Initially the two performed separately, but one night they threw out their routines and teamed on-stage, a Mutt-and-Jeff combo whose wildly improvisational comedy quickly made them a star attraction along the Boardwalk. Within months, Martin and Lewis' salaries rocketed from 350 to 5,000 dollars a week, and by the end of the 1940s, they were the most popular comedy duo in the nation. In 1949, they made their film debut in George Marshall's My Friend Irma, and their supporting work proved so popular with audiences that their roles were significantly expanded for the sequel, the following year's My Friend Irma Goes West. With 1951's At War With the Army, Martin and Lewis earned their first star billing. The picture established the basic formula of all of their subsequent movie work, with Martin the suave straight man forced to suffer the bizarre antics of the manic fool Lewis. Critics often loathed the duo, but audiences couldn't get enough. In all, they made 13 comedies for Paramount, among them 1952's Jumping Jacks, 1953's Scared Stiff, and 1955's Artists and Models, a superior effort directed by Frank Tashlin. For 1956's Hollywood or Bust, Tashlin was again in the director's seat, but the movie was the team's last; after Martin and Lewis' relationship soured to the point where they were no longer even speaking to one another, they announced their breakup following the conclusion of their July 25, 1956, performance at the Copacabana, which celebrated to the day the tenth anniversary of their first show.

Working again as a solo performer, Lewis also served as producer on his first post-Martin star vehicle, 1957's The Delicate Delinquent. Reviews were good, and later that same year he starred in The Sad Sack. With 1958's Rock-a-Bye Baby, he teamed again with Tashlin, the first of six Lewis comedies the director helmed; they next united for The Geisha Boy. Under Norman Taurog, Lewis returned in 1959 with Don't Give up the Ship. At the time of its release, he signed an exclusive contract with Paramount for ten million dollars and 60 percent of his box-office profits, the biggest payday of its kind in Hollywood history; at its peak, his popularity was so great that he even starred in a DC Comics book. Lewis celebrated his success by making another feature for Taurog, 1960's Visit to a Small Planet, before returning to work under Tashlin for Cinderfella.

With 1960's The Bellboy, Lewis made his directorial debut. Here his comic vision began to truly take flight, with only a bare-bones plot and virtually no dialogue to best serve his ambitious gags. He also directed and produced 1961's The Ladies' Man, a lavishly filmed, vicious satire on American femininity, followed by The Errand Boy, another collection of sight gags which earned favorable comparison to the work of Jacques Tati. Under Tashlin, Lewis next starred in 1962's It's Only Money. Returning to the director's chair, he filmed his masterpiece, The Nutty Professor, a comic retelling of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tale which, while dismissed by American critics, solidified his following among European filmgoers, especially the staff of the influential Cahiers du Cinema.

In between 1963's Who's Minding the Store? and 1964's The Disorderly Orderly, both written and directed by Tashlin, Lewis also helmed The Patsy, his most ambitious work to date. In 1965's The Family Jewels, he not only wrote and directed, but also played seven different roles. The picture was among his first not to become a major box-office success. He subsequently traveled to France to star in John Rich's Boeing Boeing. There "Le Roi du Crazy" (as he was dubbed) was met by adoring fans and critics with a three-week film festival, as well as a complete retrospective at the Cinematheque Francais. However, the feature was Lewis' last for Paramount, who found his insistence upon complete artistic control to be at odds with the increasingly disappointing box-office showings of his films.

In 1966, after landing at Columbia to direct and star in Three on a Couch, Lewis hosted his first Labor Day telethon to raise funds in support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The star-studded event quickly became an institution, annually bringing in millions upon millions in charitable contributions. Lewis next starred in the Gordon Douglas space comedy Way, Way Out, followed by 1967's The Big Mouth, which he directed and co-wrote. He next appeared in Jerry Paris' Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River and George Marshall's Hook, Line and Sinker, subsequently directing (but, for the first and only time, not starring) in 1969's One More Time. None of the movies found favor with audiences or critics, however, and after the failure of 1970's Which Way to the Front?, Lewis' career in Hollywood was in grave condition. While seeking funding for his next project, in 1971 he wrote a book, The Total Filmmaker. With financing from the Swedish-based Cinema and Film Enterprises, in 1972 Lewis mounted The Day the Clown Cried, a disturbing tale focusing on a famous clown forced by the Nazis to lead children to their deaths in the gas chambers. Widely speculated to be either a transcendent masterpiece or an obscene failure, the radical feature was never released, remaining trapped in legal limbo. Lewis spent the remainder of the decade out of film, appearing instead in the disastrous Broadway production Helzapoppin as well as in concert and on the lecture circuit. Finally, in 1979 he wrote, directed, and starred in Hardly Working; though not released until two years later because of financial entanglements, the movie proved to be a major success, grossing over 50 million dollars in North America alone.

In late 1982, Lewis was declared clinically dead after suffering a massive heart attack. He was miraculously revived, and the excessive lifestyle that led to his near-death experience became the subject of his 1983 feature Smorgasbord, which later premiered on HBO as Cracking Up before finally bowing in theaters in 1985. In the meantime, Lewis garnered some of the best reviews of his career for his work in Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy, but his performance did not lead to work in other major Hollywood productions. As a result, he traveled to France, appearing in the 1984 comedies To Catch a Cop and Par Ou T'es Rentre? on T'a Pas Vue Sortir. The dismal Slapstick of Another Kind also arrived in 1984, with only small roles in the 1987 telefilm Fight for Life and Susan Seidelman's 1989 effort Cookie, as well as an extended supporting turn in the television series Wiseguy. By the 1990s, Lewis experienced something of a resurgence. Although he remained unable to secure directorial work, he did appear in the major studio films Mr. Saturday Night and Funny Bones. Additionally, he starred on Broadway in a successful revival of Damn Yankees and in 1996, The Nutty Professor was remade by Eddie Murphy.

Personal Life

Lewis has been married twice:

• Patti Palmer (née Esther Calonico), a former singer with Ted Fio Rito; married October 3, 1944, divorced September 1980.
• SanDee Pitnick; married February 13, 1983; a 32-year-old Las Vegas dancer. They were married in Key Biscayne, Florida; Lewis was 56.

He had six sons (one adopted) and one adopted daughter:

• Gary Harold Lee Levitch was born on July 31, 1945 to Lewis and Patti Palmer. Gary Levitch's name was subsequently legally changed to Gary Lewis. As a 1960s pop musician, Gary Lewis had a string of hits with his group Gary Lewis & the Playboys.
• Ronald Steven Lewis; born December 1949 (adopted) with Patti Palmer
• Scott Anthony Lewis; born February 22, 1956 to Patti Palmer
• Christopher Joseph Lewis; born October 1957 to Patti Palmer
• Anthony Joseph Lewis; born October 1959 to Patti Palmer
• Joseph Christopher Lewis; born January 1964 to Patti Palmer, died October 24, 2009 from a narcotics overdose.
• Danielle Sara Lewis (daughter); adopted March 1992 with SanDee Pitnick.

Lewis last resided in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sources: Wikipedia, Biography, Starpulse, Answers

Bock spoke at the funeral of 98-year-old Fiddler playwright Joseph Stein just 10 days before his own death, from heart failure at the age of 81, four weeks before his 82nd birthday. His remains were cremated.

Awards:

1960 Tony Award for Best Musical – Fiorello! 1960 Pulitzer Prize for Drama – Fiorello! 1965 Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist – Fiddler on the Roof 1965 Tony Award for Best Musical – Fiddler on the Roof

Nominations:

1964 Tony Award for Best Musical – She Loves Me 1967 Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist – The Apple Tree 1967 Tony Award for Best Musical – The Apple Tree 1971 Tony Award for Best Original Score – The Rothschilds

References:

Guide to the Jerry Bock Papers, 1945-2004 Bock listing bmifoundation.org "FIDDLER Composer Jerry Bock Dies at 81". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 3 November 2010.

External references:

Jerry Bock at Find a Grave Jerry Bock at the Internet Broadway Database Jerry Bock at the Internet Off-Broadway Database Jerry Bock at the Internet Movie Database Jerry Bock papers in the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. PBS biography Songwriters Hall of Fame biography TonyAwards.com Interview with Jerry Bock

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Lewis