The JERRY LEWIS Only I Knew

HIS SON SHARES INTIMATE STORIES OF THE COMEDIAN'S GREATEST HEARTACHES AND TRIUMPHS

- LOUISE A. BARILE and Susan Hornik

Dinnertime could be an unruly affair at the Lewis household. “I can’t tell you how many dinners I sat at that I couldn’t eat be- cause I was laughing so hard,” Christopher Lewis, the son of the famed comedian Jerry Lewis, tells Closer. “My mom would be so mad at him. She’s like, ‘Would you stop and let them eat?’ Which would inspire him more to make us laugh.”

"Getting attention is my business. My whole life's predicated on, 'Hey, look at me." -Jerry Lewis

The son of a vaudevillian, Jerry came up in com- edy clubs as the zany half of the duo Martin and Lewis. After his partnership with Dean Mar- tin ended in 1956, Jerry successfully transitioned into a solo performer in nightclubs and films. A few years later, Jerry would host his first Labor Day Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy, an annu- al event that would become his greatest legacy. “He was on top of everything — every aspect of his life,” says Christopher, who admits his father’s drive and talents were a double-edged blessing. “Number one, he was a genius. But number two, he was a pain in the butt.”

Christopher worked on his dad's telethons from 1972 to 2010.

At home with his first wife Patti Palmer and their six sons, including Christopher, he could be fun- loving but also very strict. “We had curfews,” says Christopher. “If I was a half hour late, he was in my face about it the next morning wanting to know why.” If Patti threatened to tell Jerry the boys had misbehaved, they straightened up. “He never did hit me, but, oh my God, could he yell,” Christopher recalls. “You didn’t want him yelling at you.”