Coordinates	25°44′″N98°18′″N
Name	Norman Lear
Birth name	Norman Milton Lear
Birth date	July 27, 1922
Birth place	New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Known for	''All in the Family'' ''The Jeffersons'' ''Sanford and Son'' ''Good Times'' ''Maude''
Occupation	Television producer
Years active	1951 – present
Spouse	Charlotte Lear (nee Charlotte Rosen) (divorced) Frances Lear (1956-86) (nee Frances Loeb) (divorced) Lyn Davis (1987-present) }}

Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American television writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as ''All in the Family'', ''Sanford and Son'', ''One Day at a Time'', ''The Jeffersons'', ''Good Times'' and ''Maude''. As a political activist, he founded the civil liberties advocacy organization People For the American Way in 1981 and has supported First Amendment rights and liberal causes.

Early life

Lear was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Jeanette (née Seicol) and Herman Lear, who worked in sales. He grew up in a Jewish home and had a Bar Mitzvah. Lear went to high school in Hartford, Connecticut and subsequently attended Emerson College in Boston, but dropped out in 1942 to join the United States Army Air Forces. During World War II, he served in the Mediterranean Theater as a radio operator/gunner on Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers with the 772nd Bombardment Squadron, 463rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) of the Fifteenth Air Force. He flew 52 combat missions, for which he was awarded the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters. Lear was discharged from the Army in 1945. He and his fellow World War II crew members are featured in the book "Crew Umbriago" by Daniel P.Carroll (tail gunner), and also in another book: ''772nd Bomb Squadron: The Men, The Memories'' by Turner Publishing Company.

Career

In 1954, Lear was enlisted as a writer hoping to salvage the new Celeste Holm CBS sitcom, ''Honestly, Celeste!'', but the program was canceled after eight episodes. During this time, he became the producer of NBC's ''The Martha Raye Show'', after Nat Hiken left as the series director. In 1959, Lear created his first television series starring Henry Fonda, a half-hour western for Revue Studios called ''The Deputy''. Starting out as a comedy writer, then a film director (he wrote and produced the 1967 film ''Divorce American Style'' and directed the 1971 film ''Cold Turkey'', both starring Dick Van Dyke), Lear tried to sell a concept for a sitcom about a blue-collar American family to ABC. They rejected the show after two pilots were filmed. After a third pilot was shot, CBS picked up the show, known as ''All in the Family''. It premiered January 12, 1971 to disappointing ratings, but it took home several Emmy Awards that year, including Outstanding Comedy Series. The show did very well in summer reruns, and it flourished in the 1971-1972 season, becoming the top-rated show on TV for the next five years. After falling from the #1 spot, ''All in the Family'' still remained in the top ten, well after it transitioned into ''Archie Bunker's Place''. The show was based on the British sitcom ''Til Death Us Do Part'', about an irascible working-class Tory and his Socialist son-in-law.

Lear's second big TV hit was also based on a British sitcom, ''Steptoe and Son'', about a west London junk dealer and his son. Lear changed the setting to the Watts section of Los Angeles and the characters to African-Americans, and the NBC show ''Sanford and Son'' was an instant hit. Numerous hit shows followed thereafter, including ''Maude'' (the lead character of which was reportedly based on Lear's then-wife Frances), ''The Jeffersons'' (both spin-offs of ''All in the Family''), and ''One Day at a Time''.

What most of the Lear sitcoms had in common was that they were character-driven, had sets that more resembled stage plays than common sitcom sets, were shot on videotape in place of film, used a live studio audience, and most importantly dealt with the social and political issues of the day. Ironically, although Lear's shows are often considered somewhat autobiographical and closely identified with his personal experiences, his early hits were actually all adapted from someone else's creations: the two aforementioned British adaptations and ''Maude'', while reputedly based on Lear's wife, was actually the brainchild of series producer Charlie Hauck.

Lear's longtime producing partner was Bud Yorkin, who served as executive producer of ''Sanford and Son'', split with Lear in 1975. He started a production company with writer/producers Saul Turteltaub and Bernie Orenstein, but they had only two shows that ran more than a year: ''What's Happening!!'' and ''Carter Country''. The Lear/Yorkin company was known as ''Tandem Productions''. Lear and talent agent Jerry Perenchio founded T.A.T. Communications (T.A.T. stood for "Tuchus Affen Tisch", which is Yiddish for "Putting one's butt on the line") in 1974, which co-existed with Tandem Productions and was often referred to in periodicals as Tandem/T.A.T. The Lear organization was one of the most successful independent TV producers of the 1970s.

He also developed the cult favorite TV series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman''. Lear himself stepped down as production supervisor on his shows in 1978 to work on a film dealing with his concerns about the growing influence of radical right-wing evangelists. The film was never fully developed, but the process stimulated his long engagement in political activism.

In 1982, the company bought out Avco Embassy Pictures from Avco Financial Corporation, and the Avco part of its name was dropped. Embassy Pictures was led by (current Warner Bros. President) Alan Horn and Martin Schaeffer, later co-founders of Castle Rock Entertainment with Rob Reiner. In 1985, Lear sold all his film and television production holdings to Columbia Pictures (then owned by the Coca-Cola Company) which acquired Embassy's film and television division (which included Embassy's in-house television productions and the television rights to the Embassy theatrical library) for $485 million in shares of The Coca-Cola Company. Lear and his longtime partner Jerry Perenchio split the net proceeds (about $250 mm). Coke later sold the film division to Dino De Laurentiis and the home video arm to Nelson entertainment (led by Barry Spikings).

The brand Tandem Productions was abandoned in 1986 with the cancellation of ''Diff'rent Strokes'', and Embassy ceased to exist as a single entity in late 1987, having been split into different components owned by different entities. The Embassy TV division became ELP Communications in 1988, but shows originally produced by Embassy were now under the Columbia Pictures Television banner from 1988–1994 and the Columbia TriStar Television banner from 1994-1998.

Lear attempted to return to TV production in the 1990s with the shows ''Sunday Dinner'', ''The Powers That Be'', and ''704 Hauser'', the last one putting a different family in the house from ''All in the Family''. None of the series proved successful, despite critical acclaim.

Today, Lear's TV library is owned by Sony Pictures Television.

However, Lear was successful as a businessman, especially with his leveraged acquisition vehicle Act III Communications, founded in 1986 and led initially by Tom McGrath (who met Lear while negotiating on behalf of Coca-Cola the acquisition of Lear's old company) and later by Hal Gaba, a former Embassy executive. This included: Act III Theatres, sold to KKR in 1997 at what is to this day considered a record premium; Act III Broadcasting, sold to Abry Communications; and Act III Publishing, sold to PriMedia. Lear is also the owner of Concord Records and in 2005 consummated a 50% interest in the film library and production assets of Village Roadshow Productions Pty Ltd.

Lear is unofficially credited with giving Rob Reiner, son of Carl Reiner (and a star of ''All in the Family'') his start as a director by financing the mockumentary ''This is Spinal Tap''. Lear's Act III Communications, founded in 1986 with Tom McGrath as President, produced several notable films, including Rob Reiner's next three films: ''The Sure Thing'', ''Stand By Me'', and ''The Princess Bride'', as well as ''Fried Green Tomatoes''.

In 1997, Lear teamed up with Jim George to produce the Kids' WB cartoon series, Channel Umptee-3. It premiered on Kids WB's Saturday morning lineup on October 25, 1997. The cartoon made television history, as it was the first to meet the Federal Communications Commission's then-new educational/informal programming requirements. Like Lear's other television works, it received positive reviews, but ratings were low due to the network's focus on their core high-rated programming at the time. A time switch from a concrete Saturday schedule to a revolving Friday timeslot caused the show's ratings to dip even more, and it was eventually canceled after one season. September 4, 1998 marked the last airing of ''Umptee-3'' on the WB.

In 2003, Lear made an appearance on ''South Park'' during the "I'm a Little Bit Country" episode, providing the voice of Benjamin Franklin. He also served as a consultant on the episodes "I'm a Little Bit Country" and "Cancelled". Lear has attended a South Park writers' retreat, and served as the officiant at Trey Parker's wedding.

In October 2010, it was reported that Lear is writing a new sitcom, which would star Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson as retirement home residents. It is currently being pitched for the 2011 TV season.

Awards

In 1967, Lear was nominated for an Academy Award for writing ''Divorce, American Style''. Lear was among the first seven television pioneers inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1984. He received four Emmy Awards (two in 1971, and one each in 1972 and 1973) and a Peabody Award in 1978. He received the Humanist Arts Award from the American Humanist Association in 1977. His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located at 6615 Hollywood Boulevard.

In 1999, President Bill Clinton awarded the National Medal of Arts to Lear, noting that “Norman Lear has held up a mirror to American society and changed the way we look at it.” Also in 1999, he and Bud Yorkin received the Women in Film Lucy Award in recognition of excellence and innovation in creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television.

Political and cultural activities

In addition to his success as a TV producer and businessman, Lear is an outspoken supporter of First Amendment and liberal causes. The only time that he did not support the Democratic candidate for President was in 1980: he voted for John Anderson because he considered the Carter administration to be "a complete disaster".

In 1981, Lear founded People For the American Way, a civil liberties advocacy organization. People For ran several advertising campaigns opposing the interjection of religion in politics. In 1987, People For campaigned against Robert Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States. The organization is still active.

In 1989, Lear founded the Business Enterprise Trust, an educational program that used annual awards, business school case studies, and videos to spotlight exemplary social innovations in American business. In 2000, he provided an endowment for a multidisciplinary research and public policy center that exploring the convergence of entertainment, commerce, and society, at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication. It was later named the Norman Lear Center in recognition.

Lear serves on the National Advisory Board of the Young Storytellers Foundation. He has written articles for ''The Huffington Post''.

Lear is a trustee emeritus at The Paley Center for Media.

Declaration of Independence

In 2001, Lear and his wife, Lyn, purchased a Dunlap broadside—one of the first published copies of the United States Declaration of Independence—for $8.1 million. Not a document collector, Lear said in a press release and on the ''Today'' show that his intent was to tour the document around the United States so that the country could experience its "birth certificate" firsthand. Through the end of 2004, the document traveled throughout the United States in the Declaration of Independence Roadtrip, which Lear organized, visiting several presidential libraries, dozens of museums, as well as the 2002 Olympics, Super Bowl XXXVI, and the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia.

Lear and Rob Reiner produced a filmed, dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence—the last project filmed by famed cinematographer Conrad Hall—on July 4, 2001, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The film, introduced by Morgan Freeman, features Kathy Bates, Benicio del Toro, Michael Douglas, Mel Gibson, Whoopi Goldberg, Graham Greene, Ming-Na, Edward Norton, Winona Ryder, Kevin Spacey, and Renée Zellweger as readers. The film was directed by Arvin Brown and scored by John Williams.

Declare Yourself

In 2004, Lear established Declare Yourself, a national nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign created to empower and encourage eligible 18-29 year-olds in America to register and vote. Since then, it has registered almost 4 million young people and contributed significantly to the unprecedented turnout of young voters.

Born Again American

As part of the ongoing drive to promote active and thoughtful citizenship, Lear premiered BornAgainAmerican.org at the Presidential Inauguration in 2009. The BornAgainAmerican campaign includes a specially commissioned song and an interactive website, reminding visitors of the American values expressed in the Declaration of Independence.

TV productions

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Note: The above chart does not include the series ''The Baxters'' (1979), the Made-for-TV movie ''Heartsounds'', which aired on September 30, 1984, or the hit FOX series ''Married... With Children''.

References

External links

The Official Norman Lear Website

Biography of Norman Lear at the Museum of Broadcast Communications website

2005 interview with Norman Lear

2006 story on Lear and ''All in the Family'' that describes Lear's interests and his life in Vermont

Independence Road Trip

463rd Bombardment Group Historical Society

NNDB.com Profile

Norman Lear Archive of American Television interview

Born Again American website

Category:1922 births Category:American businesspeople Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:United States Army Air Forces soldiers Category:American television producers Category:American television writers Category:Emerson College alumni Category:Living people Category:Peabody Award winners Category:People from the Greater Los Angeles Area Category:People from New Haven, Connecticut Category:Recipients of the Air Medal Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:American Jews

de:Norman Lear fr:Norman Lear it:Norman Lear pt:Norman Lear fi:Norman Lear

Coordinates	25°44′″N98°18′″N
name	Tallulah Bankhead
birth name	Tallulah Brockman Bankhead
birth date	January 31, 1902
birth place	Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.
death date	December 12, 1968
death place	New York City, New York, U.S.
years active	1918–68
spouse	}}

Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress, talk-show host, and ''bonne vivante''.

Life and career

Early life and family

Bankhead was born in Huntsville, Alabama, to William Brockman Bankhead and Adelaide Eugenia "Ada" Bankhead (née Sledge). She was named after her paternal grandmother. Her mother died as a result of blood poisoning on February 23, 1902, shortly after Tallulah's birth. Tallulah has been described as "an extremely homely child", overweight and with a deep, husky voice resulting from chronic bronchitis. However, others described her as an exhibitionist, performer, personality, and star from the very beginning.

She came from the powerful Bankhead and Brockman political family, active in the Democratic Party in the South in general and Alabama in particular. Her father was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1936–1940.

She was the niece of Senator John H. Bankhead II and granddaughter of Senator John H. Bankhead. Bankhead herself was a Democrat, albeit one of a more liberal stripe than the rest of her family. Her elder sister and only sibling, Evelyn Eugenia (born January 24, 1901 – died 1979) was known as "Sister". Tallulah's family sent her to various schools in a vain attempt to keep her out of trouble, which included several years at a Roman Catholic convent school (although her father was a Methodist and her mother an Episcopalian). Bankhead herself would be raised as a Methodist.

Early career

In her autobiography, Bankhead claimed that her "first performance" was witnessed by none other than the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur. Her Aunt Marie gave the famous brothers a party at her home near Montgomery, Alabama, in which the guests were asked to entertain. "I won the prize for the top performance, with an imitation of my kindergarten teacher," Bankhead wrote. "The judges? Orville and Wilbur Wright."

At 15, Bankhead won a movie-magazine beauty contest and persuaded her family to let her move to New York. She quickly won bit parts, first appearing in a non-speaking role in ''The Squab Farm''. During these early New York years, she became a peripheral member of the Algonquin Round Table and was known as a hard-partying girl-about-town. During this time she began to use cocaine and marijuana, going as far as saying "Cocaine isn't habit forming. I should know – I've been using it for years." However, she did not consume alcohol to any great degree. She became known for her wit, although as screenwriter Anita Loos, a minor fellow Roundtable member, said: "She was so pretty that we thought she must be stupid." She also became known for her outspokenness. Once, while in attendance at a party, a guest made a comment about rape, and Bankhead reportedly replied "I was raped in our driveway when I was eleven. You know darling, it was a terrible experience because we had all that gravel." She professed to having a ravenous appetite for sex, but not for a particular type. "I've tried several varieties of sex. The conventional position makes me claustrophobic. And the others give me either stiff neck or lockjaw", she said.

Once, at a party, one of her friends brought along a young man who boldly told Bankhead that he wanted to make love to her that night. She didn't bat an eye and said, "And so you shall, you wonderful, old-fashioned boy." Another version of the story holds that Bankhead met Chico Marx at a party before her reputation had overturned the presumption that William B. Bankhead's daughter would be disgusted by Marx's typically crude (yet generally effective) approach. According to Dick Cavett, after Marx had been cautioned to be on his best behavior with Bankhead, the two first spoke at the punch bowl. :"Miss Bankhead." :"Mr. Marx." And, as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Chico told her, "You know, I really want to fuck you.". She replied, "And so you shall, you old-fashioned boy." In 1918 she made her stage debut at the Bijou Theatre in New York. In 1923, she made her debut on the London stage at Wyndham's Theatre. In London she was to appear in over a dozen plays in the next eight years, most famously, ''The Dancers''. Her fame as an actress was ensured in 1924 when she played Amy in Sidney Howard's ''They Knew What They Wanted''. The show won the 1925 Pulitzer Prize. She was famous not only as an actress but also for her many affairs, infectious personality and witticisms like "There is less to this than meets the eye" and "I'm as pure as the driven slush." She had the reputation of being sexually available to anyone she found attractive, famous or not. Her longest known affair during this period in her life was with an Italian businessman named Anthony de Bosdari, which lasted just over one year. By the end of the decade, she was one of the West End's — and England's — best-known and most notorious celebrities.

While in London, Bankhead also bought herself a Bentley, which she loved to drive. She wasn't very competent with directions, however, and constantly found herself lost in the London streets. She would telephone a taxi-cab and pay the driver to drive to her destination while she followed behind in her car.

During her eight years on the London stage, Bankhead earned a reputation for making the most out of inferior material. For example, in her autobiography, Bankhead described the opening night of a play called ''Conchita'':

“In the second act…I came on carrying a monkey…On opening night the monkey went berserk…(he) snatched my black wig from my head, leaped from my arms and scampered down to the footlights. There he paused, peered out at the audience, then waved my wig over his head…The audience had been giggling at the absurd plot even before this simian had at me. Now it became hysterical. What did Tallulah do in this crisis? I turned a cartwheel! The audience roared…After the monkey business I was afraid they might boo me. Instead I received an ovation.”

Mid career

Bankhead returned to the US in 1931, but Hollywood success eluded her in her first four films of the 1930s. She rented a home at 1712 Stanley Street, in Hollywood, and began hosting parties that were said to "have no boundaries". On September 9, 1932, she was featured on the cover of ''Film Weekly''.

Bankhead's first film was ''Tarnished Lady'' (1931), directed by George Cukor, and the pair became fast friends. Bankhead behaved herself on the set and filming went smoothly, but she found film-making to be very boring and didn't have the patience for it. She didn't like Hollywood either. When she met producer Irving Thalberg, she asked him, "How do you get laid in this dreadful place?"

She expressed some interest in spirituality, but did not outwardly pursue it, although in 1932 she met with the Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba.

Although Bankhead was not very interested in making films, the opportunity to make $50,000 per film was too good to pass up. Her 1932 movie ''Devil and the Deep'' is notable for the presence of three major co-stars, with Bankhead receiving top billing over Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, and Cary Grant, and remains the only picture with both Cooper and Grant as the film's leading men. She later said, "The only reason I went to Hollywood was to fuck that divine Gary Cooper." One of Bankhead's most notorious events was an interview that she gave to ''Motion Picture'' magazine in 1932, in which she ranted wildly about the state of her life and her views on love, marriage, and children:

:"I'm serious about love. I'm damned serious about it now.... I haven't had an affair for six months. Six months! Too long.... If there's anything the matter with me now, it's not Hollywood or Hollywood's state of mind.... The matter with me is, I WANT A MAN! ... Six months is a long, long while. I WANT A MAN!"

Bisexuality and alleged sexual exploits

The interview created quite a commotion. ''Time'' ran a story about it, and, back home, Bankhead's father and family were perturbed. Bankhead immediately telegraphed her father, vowing never to speak with a magazine reporter again. However, following the release of the Kinsey Reports, she was once quoted as stating, "I found no surprises in the Kinsey Report. The good doctor's clinical notes were old hat to me...I've had many momentary love affairs. A lot of these impromptu romances have been climaxed in a fashion not generally condoned. I go into them impulsively. I scorn any notion of their permanence. I forget the fever associated with them when a new interest presents itself."

Rumors about her sex life have lingered for years, and she was linked romantically with many notable female personalities of the day, including Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Eva Le Gallienne, Laurette Taylor, Katharine Cornell and Alla Nazimova, as well as writer Mercedes de Acosta, the wealthy Betty Carstairs, and singer Billie Holiday.

Actress Patsy Kelly reportedly made a claim to controversial author Boze Hadleigh, which he included in his 1996 book about lesbianism in Hollywood, that she had had a long affair with Bankhead, although Hadleigh’s work has been criticized as opportunistic and unconfirmable. John Gruen's ''Menotti: A Biography'' notes an incident in which Jane Bowles chased Bankhead around Capricorn, Gian Carlo Menotti and Samuel Barber's Mount Kisco estate, insisting that Bankhead needed to play the lesbian character Inès in Jean-Paul Sartre's ''No Exit'' (which Paul Bowles had recently translated), but Bankhead locked herself in the bathroom and kept insisting "That lesbian! I wouldn't know a thing about it."

In 1933, Bankhead nearly died following a five-hour emergency hysterectomy due to venereal disease. Only when she left the hospital, she stoically said to her doctor, "Don't think this has taught me a lesson!"

Hollywood, Broadway and politics

In 1934, after recuperating in Alabama, she returned to England. After only a short stay, she was called back to New York to play in ''Dark Victory''. Although Bette Davis played the leading character in the film version, she openly admitted in later years that she had emulated Bankhead in the role. Bankhead continued to play in various performances over the next few years, gaining excellent notices for her portrayal of Elizabeth in a revival of Somerset Maugham's ''The Circle''. David O. Selznick, producer of ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939) called her the "first choice among established stars" to play Scarlett O'Hara. Although her screen test for the role in black-and-white was superb, she photographed poorly in Technicolor. Selznick also reportedly believed that at age 36, she was too old to play Scarlett, who is 16 at the beginning of the film (the role eventually went to Vivien Leigh). Selznick sent Kay Brown to Bankhead to "sound her out" about playing prostitute Belle Watling in the film, which she turned down.

Returning to Broadway, Bankhead's career stalled in unmemorable plays. When she appeared in Shakespeare's ''Antony and Cleopatra'' with her husband, John Emery, the ''New York Times'' critic Brooks Atkinson wrote "Tallulah Bankhead barged down the Nile, last night, and promptly sank!" Her portrayal of the cold, ruthless Regina Giddens in Lillian Hellman's ''The Little Foxes'' (1939) won her the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Performance, but Bankhead and Hellman feuded over the Soviet Union's invasion of Finland. Bankhead (a staunch anti-Communist) was said to want a portion of one performance's proceeds to go to Finnish relief, while Hellman (an equally staunch Stalinist) objected strenuously, and the two women didn't speak for the next quarter of a century.

More success and the same award followed her 1942 performance in Thornton Wilder's ''The Skin of Our Teeth'', in which Bankhead played Sabina, the housekeeper and temptress, opposite Fredric March and Florence Eldridge (''Mr. and Mrs. Antrobus'', and also husband and wife offstage). During the run of the play, some media accused Bankhead of a running feud with Elia Kazan, the play's director. Kazan confirmed the story in his autobiography, 'Elia Kazan: A Life', published by Doubleday, 1988, and he stated that Bankhead was one of the few people in his life that he ever actually detested.

In 1944, Alfred Hitchcock cast her as the cynical journalist, Constance Porter, in her most successful film, both critically and commercially, ''Lifeboat''. Her performance was acknowledged as her best on film, and won her the New York Film Critics Circle Award. Almost childlike in her immodesty, a beaming Tallulah accepted her New York trophy and exclaimed, "Dahlings, I was wonderful!" After World War II, Bankhead appeared in a revival of Noel Coward's ''Private Lives'', taking it on tour and then to Broadway for the better part of two years. The play's run made Bankhead a fortune. From that time, Bankhead could command 10% of the gross and was billed larger than any other actor in the cast, although she usually granted equal billing to Estelle Winwood, a frequent co-star and close friend from the 1920s until Bankhead's death in 1968.

Bankhead circulated widely in the celebrity crowd of her day, and was a party favorite for outlandish stunts such as underwearless cartwheels in a skirt or entering a soirée stark naked. Always extravagant, upon leaving the theater one evening she encountered a Salvation Army band passing around the tambourine. Reaching into her purse, Bankhead withdrew a twenty dollar bill, tossed it into the tambourine and exited into a taxi with the remark, ''"There dahlings, I know it's been a rough winter for you Spanish dancers"''.

Like her family, Bankhead was a Democrat, but broke with most Southerners by campaigning for Harry Truman's reelection in 1948. While viewing the Inauguration parade, she booed the South Carolina float which carried then-Governor Strom Thurmond, who had recently run against Truman on the Dixiecrat ticket, splitting the Democratic vote. She is credited with having helped Truman immeasurably by belittling his rival, New York's Governor Thomas E. Dewey. Bankhead said Dewey reminded her of "the little man on the wedding cake", although Alice Roosevelt Longworth is often credited with the comment.

Late career

Though Bankhead's career slowed in the mid-1950s, she never faded from the public eye. Although she had become a heavy drinker and consumer of sleeping pills (she was a life-long insomniac), Bankhead continued to perform in the 1950s and 1960s on Broadway, in the occasional film, as a highly-popular radio show host, and in the new medium of television.

In 1950, in an effort to cut into the rating leads of ''The Jack Benny Program'' and ''The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show'' which had jumped from NBC radio to CBS radio the previous season, NBC spent millions over the two seasons of ''The Big Show'' starring "the glamorous, unpredictable" Tallulah Bankhead as its host, in which she acted not only as mistress of ceremonies but also performed monologues and songs, many of which can be heard on the album ''Give My Regards To Broadway!''. Despite Meredith Willson's Orchestra and Chorus and top guest stars from Broadway, Hollywood and radio, ''The Big Show'', which earned rave reviews, failed to do more than dent Jack Benny's and Edgar Bergen's ratings.

Bankhead, who proved a masterful comedienne and intriguing personality, however, was not blamed for the failure of ''The Big Show'' as television's growth was hurting all radio ratings at the time, so the next season NBC installed her as one of a half-dozen rotating hosts of NBC's ''The All Star Revue'' on Saturday nights. Bankhead's most popular television appearance was her December 3, 1957 appearance on ''The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour''. Bankhead played herself in the episode titled "The Celebrity Next Door". The part was originally slated for Bette Davis, but she had to bow out after cracking her vertebra. Lucille Ball reportedly was a fan of Bankhead's and did a good impression of her. By the time the episode was filmed, however, both Ball and Desi Arnaz were extremely frustrated by Bankhead's behavior during rehearsals. It took her three hours to "wake up" once she arrived on the set and she often seemed drunk. She also refused to listen to the director and she did not like rehearsing. Ball and Arnaz apparently didn't know about Tallulah's antipathy toward rehearsals or her incredible ability to memorize a script quickly. After rehearsals, the filming of the episode was not problematic. Four days before the Lucy-Desi appearance aired, Bankhead was the only guest on the November 30, 1957 episode of the short-lived NBC comedy/variety show, ''The Polly Bergen Show''.

Bankhead appeared as Blanche DuBois in a revival of Tennessee Williams's ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (1956), but reviews were poor. Fans who saw her late into the six-week run at City Center were graced with a far better performance. She received a Tony Award nomination for her performance of a bizarre 50-year-old mother in the short-lived Mary Coyle Chase play, ''Midgie Purvis'' (1961). Her last theatrical appearance was in another Williams play, ''The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore'' (1963), directed by Tony Richardson. Although she received good notices for her last performances, her career as one of the greats of the American stage was coming to an end. Her last motion picture was a British horror film, ''Fanatic'' (1965), co-starring Stefanie Powers, which was released in the U.S. as ''Die! Die! My Darling!.'' Her last appearances onscreen came in March 1967 as the villainous Black Widow in the ''Batman'' TV series, and on the December 17, 1967, episode of ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' comedy-variety TV series, in the "Mahta Harry" skit.

According to author Brendan Gill, when Bankhead entered the hospital for an illness, an article was headed "Tallulah Hospitalized, Hospital Tallulahized". Bankhead's large, charismatic personality inspired voice actress Betty Lou Gerson's work on the character Cruella De Vil in Walt Disney Pictures' ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'', which the studio calls "a manic take-off on famous actress Tallulah Bankhead."

Personal life

Bankhead married actor John Emery, the son of stage actors Edward Emery (circa 1861–1938) and Isabel Waldron (1871–1950), on August 31, 1937 in Jasper, Alabama. They divorced on June 13, 1941 in Reno, Nevada.

Bankhead had no children but was the godmother of Brook and Brockman Seawell, children of her lifelong friend, actress Eugenia Rawls, and Rawls's husband, Donald Seawell. Bankhead was an avid baseball fan whose favorite team was the New York Giants. This was evident in one of her famous quotes, through which she gave a nod to the arts: ''"There have been only two geniuses in the world, Willie Mays and Willie Shakespeare. But, darling, I think you'd better put Shakespeare first."''

Death

Tallulah Bankhead died in St. Luke's Hospital in New York City of double pneumonia, complicated by emphysema and malnutrition, at 7:45 A.M. on December 12, 1968, aged 66. She was buried in Saint Paul's Churchyard, Chestertown, Maryland. Her last coherent words reportedly were "Codeine... bourbon."

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Tallulah Bankhead has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6141 Hollywood Blvd.

Portrayals of Bankhead

Valerie Harper starred as Bankhead in ''Looped'', which originated at The Pasadena Playhouse. It opened on Broadway on March 14, 2010 at the Lyceum Theatre, and closed on April 11, 2010.

Other actresses to portray Bankhead include Eugenia Rawls (in her one-woman stage show "Tallulah, A Memory"), Kathleen Turner (in Sandra Ryan Heyward's one-woman touring show "Tallulah" in the late 1990s), Rock Star Suzi Quatro portrayed Bankhead in musical she wrote with Willie Rushton, named 'Tallulah Who?' in 1991, Carrie Nye (on television in ''The Scarlett O'Hara War'') and Helen Gallagher in an off-Broadway musical, ''Tallulah!''

MI5 investigation of Eton school scandal

In 2000, declassified papers thrust Bankhead into the limelight of public scandal posthumously. She had been investigated by MI5 during the 1920s amid rumors she was corrupting pupils at Eton. The documents alleged that she seduced up to half a dozen public schoolboys into taking part in "indecent and unnatural" acts. This rumor had sent shockwaves through the 1920s British establishment.

The documents compiled by the British Aliens and Immigration Department allege that the investigation was scuttled by a determined cover-up by Eton's headmaster, Dr. Cyril Argentine Alington. The allegations were based purely on gossip and word of mouth, and lacked credible evidence. It appears that they were assembled by MI5 at the urgings of a Home Office minister.

Film and television credits

+ Film
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1918	''Who Loved Him Best?''	Nell	Alternative title: ''His Inspiration''
1918	''When Men Betray''	Alice Edwards	Uncredited
1918	''Thirty a Week''	Barbara Wright	Uncredited
1919	''''	Helen Carson	Alternative title: ''A Woman's Law''
1928		Nina Graham	Silent, based on the play of the same name by Arthur Wing Pinero. Film is believed lost.
1931	''Tarnished Lady''	Nancy Courtney
1931	''My Sin''	Carlotta/Ann Trevor
1931	''The Cheat''	Elsa Carlyle
1932	''Thunder Below''	Susan
1932	''Make Me a Star''	Herself
1932	''Devil and the Deep''	Diana Sturm
1932		Carol Morgan
1933	''Hollywood on Parade No. A-6''	Herself	Short subject
1943	''Stage Door Canteen''	Herself
1944		Constance "Connie" Porter
1945	''''	Catherine the Great	Alternative title: ''Czarina''
1953	''Main Street to Broadway''	Herself
1959	''''	Narrator	Short subject
1965		Mrs. Trefoile	Alternative title: ''Fanatic''
1966	''''	The Sea Witch	Voice

+ Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1952–1953	''All Star Revue''	Herself	7 episodes
1954	''''	Herself	1 episode
1954–1962	''''	Hedda Gabler	2 episodes
1955	''''	Herself	1 episode
1957	''Schlitz Playhouse of Stars''		1 episode
1957	''General Electric Theater''	Katherine Belmont	1 episode
1957	''''	Herself	1 episode
1965	''''	Mme. Fragrant	1 episode
1967		Black Widow	2 episodes

Stagework

''The Squab Farm'' (March 13 – April 1918) (Broadway)

''39 East'' (March 31, 1919–unknown) (appeared in six performances as a replacement for Constance Binney until Actors' Equity Association strike shut the play down) (Broadway)

''Footloose'' (May 20 – June 1920) (Broadway)

''Nice People'' (March 2 – June 1921) (Broadway)

''Everyday'' (November 16, 1921 – January 1922) (Broadway)

''Sleeping Partners'' (June 11, 1922) (Baltimore)

''Good Gracious, Annabelle'' (June 20, 1922) (Baltimore)

''Danger'' (December 22, 1921 – February 1922) (stepped in as two-week replacement for an ill Kathlene MacDonnel) (Broadway)

''Her Temporary Husband'' (August 31 – November 1922) (replaced during tryouts in May 1922 before the show premiered on Broadway) (Stamford, Connecticut)

''The Exciters'' (September 22 – October 1922) (Broadway)

''The Dancers'' (February 15, 1923–unknown) (London)

''Conchita'' (March 19, 1924–unknown) (London)

''This Marriage'' (May 15, 1924–unknown) (London)

''The Creaking Chair'' (July 22, 1924–unknown) (London)

''Fallen Angels'' (April 21, 1925–unknown) (London)

''The Green Hat'' (September 2, 1925–unknown) (London)

''Scotch Mist'' (January 26, 1926–unknown) (London)

''They Knew What They Wanted'' (May 18, 1926–unknown) (London)

''The Gold Diggers'' (December 14, 1926–unknown) (London)

''The Garden of Eden'' (May 30, 1927–unknown) (London)

''Blackmail'' (February 28, 1928–unknown) (London)

''Mud and Treacle'' (May 9, 1928–unknown) (London)

''Her Cardboard Lover'' (August 21, 1928–unknown) (London and Scotland)

''He's Mine'' (October 29, 1929–unknown) (London)

''The Lady of the Camellias'' (March 5, 1930–unknown) (London)

''Let Us Be Gay'' (August 18, 1930–unknown) (London)

''Forsaking All Others'' (March 1 – June 1933) (Broadway)

''Dark Victory'' (November 7 – December 1934) (Broadway)

''Rain'' (Revival) (February 12 – March 1935) (Broadway)

''Something Gay'' (April 29 – July 1935) (Broadway)

''Reflected Glory'' (September 21, 1936 – January 1937) (Broadway)

''Antony and Cleopatra'' (November 10–14, 1937) (Broadway)

''The Circle'' (April 18 – June 1938) (Broadway)

''I Am Different'' (August 18, 1938–unknown) (opened in San Diego, California, closed during tryouts)

''The Little Foxes'' (February 15, 1939 – February 3, 1940) (Broadway)

''The Second Mrs Tanqueray'' (July 1, 1940) (Maplewood, New Jersey)

''Her Cardboard Lover'' (June 30, 1941) (Westport, Connecticut)

''Clash by Night'' (December 27, 1941 – February 7, 1942) (Broadway)

''The Skin of Our Teeth'' (November 18, 1942 – September 25, 1943) (replaced after 229 performances by Miriam Hopkins) (Broadway)

''Private Lives'' (June 19, 1944) (Stamford, Connecticut)

''Foolish Notion'' (March 13 – June 9, 1945) (Broadway)

''The Eagle Has Two Heads'' (March 19 – April 12, 1947) (Broadway)

''Private Lives'' (Revival) (October 4, 1948 – May 7, 1949) (Broadway)

''Dear Charles'' (September 15, 1954 – January 29, 1955) (Broadway)

''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (Revival) (February 15, 1956–unknown) (New York City Center)

''Ziegfeld Follies'' (April 16, 1956–unknown) (opened in Boston, closed during tryouts, retitled ''Welcome Darlings'' for a one-night-only show in Westport, Connecticut)

''Eugenia'' (January 30 – February 9, 1957) (Broadway)

''House on the Rocks'' (June 1958) (tour)

''Crazy October'' (October 8, 1958–unknown) (opened in New Haven, Connecticut, closed in San Francisco during tryouts)

''Craig's Wife'' (June 30, 1960) (Nyack, New York)

''Midgie Purvis'' (February 1–18, 1961) (Broadway)

''Here Today'' (June 1962) (tour)

''The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore'' (January 1–4, 1964) (Broadway)

''Glad Tidings'' (June 1964) (tour)

References

Further reading

(review)

Oderman, Stuart, ''Talking to the Piano Player 2''. BearManor Media, 2009. ISBN 1-59393-320-7.

External links

Tallulah Bankhead – A Passionate Life – Tribute site

"Dah-ling: The strange case of Tallulah Bankhead" by Robert Gottlieb, ''The New Yorker'', May 16, 2005

Verbal Turpitude, ''Time'' Magazine, Aug. 22, 1932

The Religious Affiliation of Tallulah Bankhead

Gay Great – Tallulah Bankhead

Tallulah Bankhead – The Girl who didn't give a Damn

Tallulah the Lonely by Robert Temple

Photographs and literature

The Demopolis, Alabama history of "The Little Foxes"

Tallulah Bankhead article, Encyclopedia of Alabama

Category:1902 births Category:1968 deaths Category:Actors from Alabama Category:American Methodists Category:Alabama Democrats Category:American film actors Category:20th-century actors Category:American silent film actors Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:Bankhead family Category:Bisexual actors Category:Deaths from emphysema Category:Deaths from pneumonia Category:Infectious disease deaths in New York Category:LGBT people from the United States Category:LGBT Christians Category:People from Huntsville, Alabama

Category:New York Democrats

ca:Tallulah Bankhead da:Tallulah Bankhead de:Tallulah Bankhead es:Tallulah Bankhead fr:Tallulah Bankhead gl:Tallulah Bankhead it:Tallulah Bankhead ja:タルラー・バンクヘッド no:Tallulah Bankhead pl:Tallulah Bankhead pt:Tallulah Bankhead ru:Бэнкхед, Таллула sr:Талула Банкхед sh:Tallulah Bankhead fi:Tallulah Bankhead sv:Tallulah Bankhead

Coordinates	25°44′″N98°18′″N
name	Martha Raye
birthname	Margy Reed
birth date	August 27, 1916
birth place	Butte, Montana, U.S.
death date	October 19, 1994
death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
yearsactive	1934–1985
occupation	Actress/Singer/Comedienne
spouse	Bud Westmore (1937-1938)David Rose (1938-1941)Neal Lang (1941-1944)Nick Condos (1944-1953)Edward T. Begley (1954-1956)Robert O'Shea (1956-1960)Mark Harris (1991-1994) }}

Martha Raye (August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994) was an American comic actress and standards singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She was honored in 1969 with an Academy Award as the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award recipient for her volunteer efforts and services to the troops.

Early years

Raye's life as a singer and comedy performer began very early in her childhood. She was born at St. James Hospital, in Butte, Montana as Margy Reed, where her Irish immigrant parents, Peter F. Reed and Maybelle Hooper, were performing at a local vaudeville theatre as "Reed and Hooper". Two days after Martha was born, her mother was already back on stage, and Martha first appeared in their act when she was three years old. She performed with her brother, Bud, and soon the two children became such a highlight that the act was renamed "Margie and Bud." Some show business insiders speculated that the Judy Garland song from ''A Star Is Born'', "I was born in a trunk in the Princess Theater in Pocatello, Idaho" was inspired by Raye's beginnings.

Raye continued performing from that point on and even attended the Professional Children's School in New York City, but she received so little formal schooling, getting only as far as the fifth grade, that she often had to have scripts and other written documents read to her by others.

Career

In the early 1930s, Raye was a band vocalist with the Paul Ash and Boris Morros orchestras. She made her first film appearance in 1934 in a band short titled ''A Nite in the Nite Club''. In 1936, she was signed for comic roles by Paramount Pictures, and made her first picture for Paramount. Her first feature film was ''Rhythm on the Range'' with crooner Bing Crosby. From 1936-39, covering 39 shows, she was a featured cast member on Al Jolson's weekly CBS radio show, "The Lifebuoy Program” aka “Cafe Trocadero.” In addition to comedy, Martha sang both solos and duets with Jolson. Over the next 26 years, she would eventually appear with many of the leading comics of her day, including Joe E. Brown, Bob Hope, W. C. Fields, Abbott and Costello, Charlie Chaplin, and Jimmy Durante. She joined the USO soon after the US entered World War II.

Martha Raye was known for the size of her mouth, which appeared large in proportion to the rest of her face, thus earning her the nickname The Big Mouth. She later referred to this in a series of commercials for Polident denture cleaner in the 1980s: "So take it from The Big Mouth: new Polident Green gets tough stains clean!" Her mouth would come to relegate her motion picture work to largely supporting comic parts, and was often made up in such a way that it appeared even larger than it already was. In the Warner Brothers cartoon ''The Woods are Full of Cuckoos'', she is caricatured as a jazzy scat-singing donkey named ''Moutha Bray''.

USO

During World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, she travelled extensively to entertain the American troops, even though she had a lifelong fear of flying.

In October 1966, she went to Soc Trang, Vietnam, to entertain the troops at the base which was the home base of the 121st Aviation company, the Soc Trang Tigers, the gunship platoon, The Vikings and the 336th Aviation company. Shortly after her arrival, both units were called out on a mission to extract supposed POWs from an area nearby. Raye decided to hold her troupe of entertainers there until the mission was completed so that all of the servicemen could watch her show. She often served as a nurse while on these trips.

During that time, a serviceman flying a "Huey Slick" helicopter carrying troops recalls that his ship received combat damage to the extent that he had to return to base at Soc Trang:

I was the pilot of that "slick" which had received major damage to the tail-rotor drive shaft from a lucky enemy rifle shot. The maintenance team at the staging area inspected and determined that a one-time flight back to base camp would be okay but grounded the aircraft after that.

Upon arriving back at Soc Trang, I informed Martha (she came right up to us and asked how things were going) that we had a gunship down in the combat area and additional efforts were being made to extract the crew. I don't recall if we had received word of the death of the pilot at that time. Martha stated that she and her troupe would remain until everyone returned from the mission.

As there were no replacements, the servicemen could not return to the mission. While the servicemen waited, Raye played poker with them and helped to keep everyone's spirits up.

I enjoyed playing cards with Martha but regretted it somewhat. It appears that she had plenty of practice playing poker with GIs during her USO service in multiple wars. But I still love her for who she was and what she did.

When the mission was completed, which had resulted in the loss of a helicopter, gunship and a Viking pilot, there was also an officer, the Major who was in command of the Vikings who had been wounded when the ship went down. He was flying pilot position but was not in control of the ship when the command pilot, a Warrant Officer, was shot. When he and the two remaining crewmen were returned to Soc Trang, Raye volunteered to assist the doctor in treating the wounded flyer. When all had been completed, Raye waited until everybody was available and then put on her show. Everyone involved appreciated her as an outstanding trouper and a caring person. During the Vietnam War, she was made an honorary Green Beret because she visited United States Army Special Forces in Vietnam without fanfare, and she helped out when things got bad in Special Forces A-Camps. As a result, she came to be known affectionately by the Green Berets as "Colonel Maggie."

On November 2, 1993, Martha Raye was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Bill Clinton, for her service to her country. The citation reads:

"A talented performer whose career spans the better part of a century, Martha Raye has delighted audiences and uplifted spirits around the globe. She brought her tremendous comedic and musical skills to her work in film, stage, and television, helping to shape American entertainment. the great courage, kindness, and patriotism she showed in her many tours during World War II, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam Conflict earned her the nickname "Colonel Maggie." The American people honor Martha Raye, a woman who has tirelessly used her gifts to benefit the lives of her fellow Americans."

TV career

Raye was an early television star when that medium was very young; for a while she had her own program, ''The Martha Raye Show'' (1954–1956) in which she was the lead and her awkward boyfriend was portrayed by retired middleweight boxer Rocky Graziano. The writer and producer was future ''The Phil Silvers Show'' creator Nat Hiken. Other stars who appeared on her show included Zsa Zsa Gabor, Cesar Romero and Broadway dancer Wayne Lamb. She also appeared on other TV shows in the 1950s, such as ''What's My Line?''. Following the demise of her TV variety show, the breakup of her fifth marriage, and a series of other personal and health problems, she attempted suicide with sleeping pills on August 14, 1956. Well wishers gave her a St. Christopher's medal, a St. Genesius medal and a Star of David. After her recovery, she wore these faithfully, although she was neither Roman Catholic nor Jewish. At the end of her TV programs, she would also thank the nuns at The Sisters of St. Francis Hospital in Miami, Florida, where she recovered. She would always say, "Goodnight, Sisters" as a sign of appreciation and gratitude. Later, Raye served as the television spokesperson for Polident denture cleanser, principally during the 1970s and 1980s.

Later career

In 1970, she portrayed Boss Witch, the "Queen of all Witch-dom" in the feature film ''Pufnstuf'' for Sid and Marty Krofft. This led to her being cast as villainess Benita Bizarre in ''The Bugaloos'' (1970), which the Kroffts produced the same year.

She often appeared as a guest on other programs, particularly ones that often had older performers as guest stars, such as ABC's ''The Love Boat'' and on variety programs, including the short-lived ''The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show'', also on ABC. She also appeared for two years as Mel Sharples' mother, Carrie, on the CBS sitcom ''Alice''. She made guest appearances or did cameo roles in such series as ''Murder, She Wrote'' on CBS and ''The Andy Williams Show'' and ''McMillan & Wife'', both on NBC. She appeared again as housekeeper Agatha for the 6 episode run of the retooled ''McMillan''.

Personal life

Raye's personal life was complex and emotionally tumultuous. She was married seven times.

She was married to Hamilton "Buddy" Westmore from May 30, 1937 until September 1937, filing for divorce on the basis of extreme cruelty; to conductor and composer, David Rose from October 8, 1938 to May 19, 1941; to Neal Lang from May 25, 1941 to February 3, 1944; to Nick Condos from February 22, 1944 to June 17, 1953 which resulted in the birth of her only child Melodye Raye Condos on July 26, 1944; to Edward T. Begley from April 21, 1954 to October 6, 1956; to Robert O'Shea from November 7, 1956 to December 1, 1960; and to Mark Harris from September 25, 1991 until her death in 1994.

Mark Harris

Raye's marriage to Harris in a Las Vegas ceremony made headlines in 1991, partly because Raye was 75 and Harris was 42, and partly because the two had known each other for less than a month. Harris was also bisexual. They remained married until her death in 1994. At that time, Harris received the bulk of Martha Raye's estate, including her home in Bel Air, California. Raye's will left nothing to her only daughter from a previous marriage, Melodye Condos, from whom Raye was estranged at the time of her death. On April 23, 2008, Harris was interviewed on ''The Howard Stern Show'' and revealed that he had spent all but $100,000 of the money left to him in Raye's will, from an estimated $3 million. He also revealed that he had suffered two heart attacks and was living in New York with one of his adult daughters. Before her death, with Harris's support, Raye sued Bette Midler and the producers of the movie ''For The Boys'' in the early 1990s, claiming that the film was based on Martha's extensive experience as a much-loved entertainer of US troops during three wars. She lost the case when the judge after hearing evidence on both sides decided that Raye did not have a case.

Death

Raye's final years were spent dealing with ongoing health problems. She suffered from Alzheimer's disease and had lost both legs in 1993 due to circulatory problems. She died of pneumonia on October 19, 1994, after a long history of cardiovascular disease. Raye was 78 years of age, and residing in Los Angeles at the time of her death.

In appreciation of her work with the USO during World War II and subsequent wars, special consideration was given to bury her in Arlington National Cemetery upon her death. However, at her request, she was ultimately buried with full military honors in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. She is the only woman buried in the SF (Special Forces) cemetery at Ft. Bragg. She was an honorary Colonel in the Marines and an honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army.

Raye has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for motion pictures, located at 6251 Hollywood Blvd., and for television, located at 6547 Hollywood Blvd.

Filmography

Film

''A Nite in a Nite Club'' (1934)

''Rhythm on the Range'' (1936)

''The Big Broadcast of 1937'' (1936)

''Hideaway Girl'' (1936)

''College Holiday'' (1936)

''Cinema Circus'' (1937)

''Waikiki Wedding'' (1937)

''Mountain Music'' (1937)

''Artists & Models'' (1937)

''Double or Nothing'' (1937)

''The Big Broadcast of 1938'' (1938)

''College Swing'' (1938)

''Tropic Holiday'' (1938)

''Give Me a Sailor'' (1938)

''Never Say Die'' (1939)

''$1000 a Touchdown'' (1939)

''The Farmer's Daughter'' (1940)

''The Boys from Syracuse'' (1940)

''Navy Blues'' (1941)

''Keep 'Em Flying'' (1941)

''Hellzapoppin''' (1941)

''Four Jills in a Jeep'' (1944)

''Pin Up Girl'' (1944)

''Monsieur Verdoux'' (1947)

''Billy Rose's Jumbo'' (1962)

''No Substitute for Victory'' (1970) (documentary)

''The Phynx'' (1970)

''Pufnstuf'' (1970)

''The Concorde ... Airport '79'' (1979)

Television

''Four Star Revue'' (host from 1951–1953)

''The Martha Raye Show'' (1954–1956)

''Club Oasis'' (1957-1958)

''The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show'', episode "Circus", December 8, 1962

''The Judy Garland Show (1964)

''The Hollywood Palace, April 2, 1966

''The Carol Burnett Show'' (1969)

''The Bugaloos'' (1970–1972)

''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' (1977)

''Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol'' (1979)

''The Gossip Columnist'' (1980)

''Pippin: His Life and Times'' (1981)

''Alice (cast member from 1982–1984)

''Murder, She Wrote'', episode "Armed Response" (1985)

''Alice in Wonderland'' (1985)

References

External links

''All Star Revue'' episode guide at Classic TV Info.

''The Martha Raye Show'' episode guide at Classic TV Info.

Martha's Bio (from ALICE Website)

Colonel Maggie

Story of Raye

Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American pop singers Category:American television actors Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Actors from Montana Category:People from Butte, Montana Category:Torch singers Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:Vaudeville performers Category:Women comedians Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:American stage actors Category:20th-century actors Category:1916 births Category:1994 deaths

de:Martha Raye es:Martha Raye fr:Martha Raye pl:Martha Raye sh:Martha Raye fi:Martha Raye

Coordinates	25°44′″N98°18′″N
name	Redd Foxx
birth name	John Elroy Sanford
birth date	December 09, 1922
birth place	St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
death date	October 11, 1991
death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
death cause	Heart attack
medium	Stand-up, television, film
nationality	American
active	1935–1991
genre	Word play, observational comedy, black comedy
subject	African-American culture, human sexuality, race relations, everyday life
influences	Muddy Waters, Bill Cosby, Milton Berle, Michael Gough, Kirk Douglas
influenced	Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Andrew Dice Clay, Jamie Foxx, Bernie Mac, Nipsey Russell, Bill Cosby, Michael Douglas, Michael Jackson, Chris Rock
spouse	Evelyn Killebrew (1948–1951) (divorced)Betty Jean Harris (1956–1975) (divorced) 1 child Yun Chi Chung (1976–1981) (divorced)Ka Ho Cho (1991) (his death)
notable work	Fred Sanford in ''Sanford and Son'' and ''Sanford''
website	reddfoxx.com

}}

John Elroy Sanford (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom ''Sanford and Son''.

Early life

Foxx was born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised in Chicago on the South Side. His mother was half Seminole. His father, an electrician, left his family when Foxx was four years old. Foxx was raised by his mother, his minister, and his grandmother. He briefly attended DuSable High School with future Chicago mayor Harold Washington.

In the 1940s, he was an associate of Malcolm Little, later known as Malcolm X. In Malcolm's autobiography, Foxx is referred to as "Chicago Red, the funniest dishwasher on this earth." Foxx earned the nickname due to his reddish hair and complexion. His stage surname was taken from baseball star Jimmie Foxx.

Career

Nightclub act

Foxx gained notoriety with his nightclub act (considered by the standards of the time to be raunchy). His big break came after singer Dinah Washington insisted that Foxx come to Los Angeles, where Dootsie Williams of Dootone records caught his act at the Brass Rail nightclub. He was signed to a long term contract and released a series of comedy albums that quickly became cult favorites.

He was also one of the first black comics to play to white audiences on the Las Vegas Strip. Foxx used his starring role on ''Sanford and Son'' to help get jobs for his friends such as LaWanda Page, Slappy White, Gregory Sierra, Don Bexley, Leroy Daniels, Ernest Mayhand and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita.

''Sanford and Son''

Foxx achieved his most widespread fame starring in the television sitcom comedy ''Sanford and Son,'' an adaptation of the BBC series, ''Steptoe and Son'', which premiered on the NBC television network on January 14, 1972, and was broadcast for six seasons, the final episode airing on March 25, 1977. Foxx played the role of Fred G. Sanford, while Foxx's co-star Demond Wilson played the role of his son LaMont.

Post-''Sanford and Son'' career

In 1977, Foxx left ''Sanford and Son'', after six highly successful seasons (and the show was canceled solely due to his departure) to star in a short-lived variety show, but by 1980 he was back playing Fred G. Sanford in a brief revival/spin-off, ''Sanford''.

Foxx appeared to be making a comeback with the 1991 series ''The Royal Family'', in which he co-starred with his long-time friend Della Reese.

Personal life

Marriages

Redd Foxx was married four times. His first marriage was to Evelyn Killebrew in 1948, but was short-lived and ended in divorce in 1951.

His second marriage was to Betty Jean Harris, a showgirl and dancer, who was a colleague of LaWanda Page, who would later be known as Foxx's TV rival Aunt Esther on ''Sanford & Son''. The couple wed on July 22, 1956. Foxx adopted Harris' daughter Debreca Foxx, who was about nine years old at the time. The marriage ended in divorce in 1975.

Foxx then married Korean-American Yun Chi Chung in 1976, but the marriage was again brief, ending in 1981.

At the time of his death in 1991, Foxx was married to Ka Ho Cho, who used the name Ka Ho Foxx.

Financial and tax problems

According to People Magazine, "Foxx reportedly once earned $4 million in a single year, but depleted his fortune with a lavish life-style, exacerbated by what he called 'very bad management'". Contributing to his problems was a 1981 divorce settlement of $300,000 paid to his third wife. In 1983 he filed bankruptcy, which proceeding continued at least through 1989.

The IRS filed tax liens against Redd Foxx's property for income taxes he owed for the years 1983 through 1986 totaling $755,166.21. On November 28, 1989, the IRS seized his home in Las Vegas and seven vehicles (including a 1927 Model T, a 1975 Panther J72, a 1983 Zimmer, and a Vespa motor scooter) to pay the taxes which by then had grown to $996,630, including penalties and interest. Agents also seized "$12,769 in cash and a dozen guns, including a semiautomatic pistol," among some 300 items in total, reportedly leaving only Foxx's bed. Foxx stated that the IRS "took my necklace and the ID bracelet off my wrist and the money out of my pocket . . . I was treated like I wasn't human."

It has been reported that, at the time of his death in 1991, Foxx owed more than $3.6 million in taxes.

Death

On October 11, 1991, during a break from rehearsals for ''The Royal Family'', he suffered a fatal heart attack on the set. Reportedly, co-star Della Reese and the rest of the cast and crew thought he was doing his classic "I'm coming, Elizabeth!" fake heart attack routine he made famous on ''Sanford and Son'', even going as far as collapsing to the floor, although that was not part of the usual act. However, this heart attack was real, and Foxx did not regain consciousness.

Foxx was posthumously given a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame on May 17, 1992.

A few years after Foxx's death, several buyers of his home claimed his property was "haunted" by him. Some people have even gone as far as claiming Foxx faked his death because he still owed the IRS money. Martin Lawrence poked fun at these claims on the pilot of his sitcom ''Martin''. He said, "The man faked it. If you owed 16 billion dollars in taxes, what would you do?"

Foxx is buried in Las Vegas, at Palm Valley View Memorial Park. In 1993, his mother Mary Carson (1903–1993), who outlived Foxx, died nearly 17 months to the day after Foxx's death, and was buried just to the right of her famed son.

Influence

Comedian Chris Rock cites Redd Foxx as an influence. An episode of his show ''Everybody Hates Chris'' shows young Chris Rock overhearing his parents' Redd Foxx albums and getting started doing stand-up through retelling the jokes at school.

Actor Jamie Foxx chose the Foxx surname as part of his stage name in tribute to Redd Foxx.

Portrayals of Foxx in popular media

In the first season of ''In Living Color'', in reference to Foxx's financial troubles, Foxx was portrayed by Damon Wayans, who is making a public service announcement to encourage people to pay their taxes to prevent the IRS just in case if they were to approach them.

In the film ''Why Do Fools Fall in Love'', Foxx is portrayed by Aries Spears. He is shown performing a stand-up comedy routine.

In the animated television series ''Family Guy'' parody of ''Star Wars'' episode "Blue Harvest", Redd Foxx appears very briefly as an X-wing pilot. When his ship is shot down, he cries "I'm coming Elizabeth!" before dying. In addition to this, he has been parodied on ''Family Guy'' as his ''Sanford and Son'' character, as have other characters of that show, some shown in the form of Peter Griffin.

Foxx was meant to be featured in the MTV show ''Celebrity Deathmatch'', advertised at taking on Jamie Foxx in the episode "When Animals Attack". Instead of Red Foxx though, Jamie Foxx fought Ray Charles.

In the ''Boondocks'' episode "Stinkmeaner 3: The Hateocracy" he is portrayed as Lord Rufus Crabmiser, one of Stinkmeaner's old friends coming to kill the Freeman family. Childhood friend and ''Sanford & Son'' co-star Lawanda Page is also portrayed in the same episode as Lady Esmeralda Gripenasty.

Redd Foxx appears as a minor character in the 2009 ''James Ellroy'' novel ''Blood's A Rover''. He gives a bawdy eulogy at the wake of Scotty Bennett, a murdered rogue LAPD detective including the line "Scotty Benett was fucking a porcupine. I gots to tell you motherfuckers that it was a female porcupine, so I don't see nothing perverted in it."

Filmography

''All the Fine Young Cannibals'' (1960)

''Cotton Comes to Harlem'' (1970)

''Norman... Is That You?'' (1976)

''Harlem Nights'' (1989)

TV work

''Sanford and Son'' (1972–1977)

''The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour'' (1977–1978)

''HBO On Location with Redd Foxx (1978)

''Sanford'' (1980–1981)

''Viva Shaf Vegas'' (1986)

''The Redd Foxx Show'' (1986)

''Ghost of a Chance'' (1987)

''The Royal Family'' (1991)

Discography

Dootone Records discography

''DTL01 - The Best Laff''

''DTL214 - Laff Of The Party Vol. 1''

''DTL219 - Laff Of The Party Vol. 2''

''DTL220 - Laff Of The Party Vol.3''

''DTL227 - Laff Of The Party Vol.4''

''DTL234 - Best Of Foxx Vol. 1"

''DTL236 - Laff Of The Party Vol.7''

''DTL249 - Burlesque Humor''

''DTL253 - The Side Splitter Vol.1''

''DTL265 - The Laff of the Party Vol. 8''

''DTL270 - The Side Splitter Vol. 2''

''DTL274 - Best of Fun (Red Foxx and Others)''

''DTL275 - Racy Tales''

''DTL290 - Redd Foxx Funn''

''DTL295 - Sly Sex''

''DTL298 - Have One On Me''

''DTL385 - The New Soap/Song Plugging''

''DTL390 - The Jackasses/The Race Track''

''DTL397 - The Honeymooners/The Sneezes''

''DTL402 - Beans And Pineapple Sauce/The Army''

''DTL408 - The Two Oars/The Preacher's Bicycle''

''DTl411 - The Dead Jackass/Women Over Forty''

''DTL416 - Real Pretty Baby/It's Fun To Be Living In The Crazy House''

''DTL418 - Best Of Redd Foxx Parts 1&2''

''DTL421 - The House/Sex And Orange Juice''

''DTL426 - Hollywood Playboy/The Dogs Meeting''

''DTL436 - South Of The Border/The Plastic Surgeon''

''DTL453 - The Dear John Letter/Honesty Is The Best Policy''

''DTL455 - The Shoe Shine Boy/The Royal Thighs And Others''

''DTL458 - 118 Ways To Make Love/Pregnancy Co-Operation''

''DTL460 - No Teeth/With My Teeth/The Best Years/Deep Sea Diver''

''DTL464 - Christmas Hard Ties/Jaw Resting''

''DTL801 - Laffarama''

''DTL804 - Wild Party''

''DTL809 - This is Foxx''

''DTL815 - He's Funny That Way''

''DTL820 - Red Foxx At Jazzville U.S.A.''

MF Records discography

''RF1 - Laff Your Head off''

''RF2 - Laff Your Ass Off''

''RF3 - Redd Foxx At Home''

''RF4 - A Whole Lot of Soul''

''RF5 - At His Best''

''RF6 - Doin' His Own Thing''

''RF7 - Say It Like It Is''

''RF8 - Is Sex Here To Stay''

''RF9 - Where It's At''

''RF10 - Huffin' And A Puffin'''

''RF11 - I Am Curious, Black''

''RF12 - Three Or Four Times A Day''

''RF13 - Mr. Hot Pants''

''RF14 - Hot Flashes''

''RF15 - Restricted''

''RF16 - Superstar''

''RF17 - Spice can Be Nice!''

''RF18 - Strictly For Adults''

References

External links

Official website

"I Miss Redd Foxx" by Mark Evanier

Category:1922 births Category:1991 deaths Category:Actors from Chicago, Illinois Category:African American actors Category:African American comedians Category:African American film actors Category:African American television actors Category:American comedians Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American film actors Category:American people of Native American descent Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Deaths onstage Category:People from St. Louis, Missouri Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:People from Los Angeles, California

es:Redd Foxx fr:Redd Foxx he:רד פוקס nl:Redd Foxx pl:Redd Foxx pt:Redd Foxx sh:Redd Foxx

Coordinates	25°44′″N98°18′″N
name	Jerry Lewis
birth name	Joseph Levitch
birth date	March 16, 1926
birth place	Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
occupation	Comedian, actor, film producer, writer, film director, singer, national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association
years active	1931–present
other names	The King of ComedyLe Roi du CrazyPicchiatello
spouse	Patti Palmer (1944-1980)SanDee Pitnick (1983-present)
website	jerrylewiscomedy.com
signature	JerryLewis.png }}

Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926) is an American comedian, actor, film producer, screenwriter, film director and singer. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis. In addition to the duo's popular nightclub work, they starred in a successful series of comedy films for Paramount Pictures.

Lewis is also known for his charity fund-raising telethons and position as national chairman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). Lewis has won several awards for lifetime achievements from The American Comedy Awards, The Golden Camera, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and The Venice Film Festival, and he has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2005, he received the Governors Award of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board of Governors, which is the highest Emmy Award presented. On February 22, 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Lewis the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Early life

He was born Joseph Levitch (some sources say Jerome Levitch) in Newark, New Jersey, to Russian Jewish parents. His father, Daniel Levitch, was a Master of Ceremonies and vaudeville entertainer who used the professional name Danny Lewis, His mother, Rachel ("Rae") Levitch ( Brodsky), was a piano player for a radio station.

Lewis started performing at age five and would often perform alongside his parents in the Catskill Mountains in New York State. By fifteen he had developed his "Record Act", in which he exaggeratedly mimed the lyrics to songs on a phonograph. He used the professional name Joey Lewis, but soon changed it to Jerry Lewis to avoid confusion with comedian Joe E. Lewis and heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis. He graduated from Irvington High School in Irvington, New Jersey.

Career

Teaming with Dean Martin

thumb|With Dean MartinLewis initially gained fame with singer Dean Martin, who served as straight man to Lewis's zany antics in the Martin and Lewis comedy team. They distinguished themselves from the majority of comedy acts of the 1940s by relying on the interaction of the two comics instead of planned skits. In the late 1940s, they quickly rose to national prominence, first with their popular nightclub act, next as stars of their own radio program.

They then made appearances on early live television, debuting first on the June 20, 1948 debut broadcast of ''Toast of the Town'' with Ed Sullivan on the CBS TV Network (later the ''Ed Sullivan Show''), followed on October 3, 1948 by an appearance on the NBC TV series ''Welcome Aboard'', then as the first of a series of hosts of ''The Colgate Comedy Hour'' in 1950, and finally as film stars in a string of successes for Paramount Pictures.

However, as Martin's roles in their films became less important, the partnership became strained. Martin's diminished participation became an embarrassment in 1954, when ''Look'' magazine used a publicity photo of the team for the magazine cover, but cropped Martin out of the photo. The partnership finally ended on July 24, 1956. Attesting the team's popularity, DC Comics published the best-selling ''The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis'' comic books from 1952 to 1957. The series continued a year after the team broke up as DC Comics then featured Lewis solo, until 1971, in ''The Adventures of Jerry Lewis'' comic books. In this latter series, Lewis was sometimes featured with Superman, Batman, and various other DC Comics heroes and villains.

Both Martin and Lewis went on to successful solo careers, but for years neither would comment on the split, nor consider a reunion. They made at least a couple of public appearances together between the breakup and 1961, but then were not seen together in public until a surprise appearance by Martin on Lewis's Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Telethon in 1976, arranged by Frank Sinatra.

The pair eventually reconciled in the late 1980s after the death of Martin's son, Dean Paul Martin. The two men were seen together on stage in Las Vegas when Lewis pushed out Dean's birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday to him. In Lewis's 2005 book ''Dean and Me (A Love Story)'', Lewis wrote of his kinship with Martin, who had died in 1995.

Solo achievements

After the split from Martin, Lewis remained at Paramount and became a major comedy star with his first film as a solo comic, ''The Delicate Delinquent'' (1957). Teaming with director Frank Tashlin, whose background as a Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon director suited Lewis's brand of humor, he starred in five more films, and even appeared uncredited as Itchy McRabbitt in ''Li'l Abner'' (1959).

Lewis tried his hand at releasing an album in the 1950s, having a chart hit with the song "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" (a song largely associated with Al Jolson and later re-popularized by Judy Garland) as well as the song, "It All Depends on You" in 1958. He eventually released his own album titled, ''Jerry Lewis Just Sings''. By the end of his contract with producer Hal B. Wallis, Lewis had several productions of his own under his belt.

His first three efforts, ''The Delicate Delinquent'' (1957), ''Rock-A-Bye Baby'' (1958) and ''The Geisha Boy'' (1958), were all efforts to move away from Wallis, who Lewis felt was hindering his comedy. In 1960, Lewis finished his contract with Wallis with ''Visit to a Small Planet'' (1960), and wrapped up work on his own production, ''Cinderfella''. ''Cinderfella'' was postponed for a Christmas 1960 release, and Paramount, needing a quickie feature film for its summer 1960 schedule, held Lewis to his contract to produce one. Lewis came up with ''The Bellboy''. Using the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami as his setting—and on a small budget, with a very tight shooting schedule, and no script—Lewis shot the film by day and performed at the hotel in the evenings. Bill Richmond collaborated with him on the many sight gags.

In a 2005 interview, Lewis revealed that Paramount were not happy financing a 'silent movie' and withdrew backing. Lewis used his own funds to cover the $950,000 budget. Much to Paramount's dismay, the movie had grossed in excess of $200,000,000 by the time of the interview. During production Lewis developed the technique of using video cameras and multiple closed circuit monitors, which allowed him to review his performance instantly. His techniques and methods, documented in his book and his USC class, enabled him to complete most of his films on time and under budget.

Later, he incorporated videotape, and as more portable and affordable equipment became available, this technique would become an industry standard known as video assist. Lewis followed ''The Bellboy'' by directing several more films which he co-wrote with Richmond, including ''The Ladies Man'' (1961), ''The Errand Boy'' (1961), ''The Patsy'' (1964) and the well-known comedy hit, ''The Nutty Professor'' (1963), which was later successfully remade as a vehicle for Eddie Murphy in 1996 and followed by a sequel in 2000, ''Nutty Professor II: The Klumps'' both executive produced by Lewis for Universal Pictures and Image Entertainment.

Lewis occasionally handed directing reins to Frank Tashlin, who directed several of his productions, including ''It's Only Money'' (1962) and ''Who's Minding the Store?'' (1963). In 1965, Lewis directed and (along with Bill Richmond) wrote the comedy film ''The Family Jewels'' about a young heiress who must choose among six uncles, one of whom is up to no good and out to harm the girl's beloved bodyguard who practically raised her. Lewis played all six uncles and the bodyguard.

By 1966, Lewis, now 40, was no longer an angular juvenile and his routines seemed more labored. His box office appeal waned to the point where Paramount Pictures new executives felt no further need for the Lewis comedies. Undaunted, Lewis packed up and went to Columbia Pictures, where he made several more comedies. Lewis taught a film directing class at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles for a number of years; his students included Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

In 1968, he screened Spielberg's early film, ''Amblin''' and told his students, "That's what filmmaking is all about." Lewis starred in and directed the unreleased ''The Day the Clown Cried'' in 1972. The film was a drama set in a Nazi concentration camp. Lewis rarely discusses the experience, but once explained why the film has not been released, by suggesting litigation over post-production financial difficulties. However, he admitted during his book tour for ''Dean and Me'' that a major factor for the film's burial is that he is not proud of the effort.

Lewis also appeared in stage musicals. In 1976, he appeared in a revival of ''Hellzapoppin''' with Lynn Redgrave, but it closed on the road before reaching Broadway. In 1994, he made his Broadway debut, as a replacement cast member playing the Devil in a revival of the baseball musical, ''Damn Yankees'', choreographed by future film director Rob Marshall (''Chicago''). Lewis returned to the screen in 1981 with ''Hardly Working'', a film he both directed and starred in.

Despite being panned by the critics, the film did eventually earn $50 million. He followed this up with a critically acclaimed performance in Martin Scorsese's 1983 film, ''The King of Comedy'', in which Lewis plays a late-night TV host plagued by obsessive fans (played by Robert De Niro and Sandra Bernhard). The role had been based on and originally offered to Johnny Carson. Lewis continued doing work in small films in the 1990s, most notably his supporting roles in 1994's ''Arizona Dream'' and 1995's ''Funny Bones''. He appeared on television on one episode of ''Mad About You'''s first season in 1992, playing an eccentric billionaire. In 2008, Lewis reprised his role as Prof. Kelp in ''The Nutty Professor'', his first CGI animated film and follow-up to his original 1963 film co-starring Drake Bell as his nephew, Harold Kelp.

On television, Lewis starred in three different programs called ''The Jerry Lewis Show''. The first was a two-hour Saturday night variety show on ABC in the fall of 1963. The lavish, big-budget production failed to find an audience and was canceled after 13 weeks. His next show was a one-hour variety show on NBC in 1967-69. A test of a syndicated talk show for Metromedia in 1984 was not continued beyond the scheduled five shows. Lewis and his popular movie characters were animated in the Filmation cartoon series, ''Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down''. First aired on ABC in 1970, it lasted only one season and eighteen episodes. The show starred David Lander (''Laverne & Shirley'') as the voice of the animated Lewis character.

Lewis has long remained popular in Europe: he was consistently praised by some French critics in the influential magazine ''Cahiers du Cinéma'' for his absurd comedy, in part because he had gained respect as an ''auteur'' who had total control over all aspects of his films, comparable to Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock. In March 2006, the French Minister of Culture awarded Lewis the Légion d'honneur, calling him the "French people's favorite clown". Liking Lewis has long been a common stereotype about the French in the minds of many English-speakers, and is often the object of jokes in Anglosphere pop culture.

In 1994, the Columbia Pictures film, ''North'' featured footage of Lewis's classic movies. In June 2006, Lewis first announced plans to write and direct a stage musical adaptation of his 1963 film, ''The Nutty Professor''. In October 2008, in an interview on Melbourne radio, Lewis said he had signed composers Marvin Hamlisch and Rupert Holmes to write the show for a Broadway opening in November 2010. In 2009, Lewis traveled to the Cannes Film Festival to announce his return to the silver screen after a 13 year absence for the film ''Max Rose'', his first leading role since Martin Scorsese's ''The King of Comedy''. In early 2011, Lewis had signed a deal with Artificial Intelligence Entertainment and Capital Films to remake the three of his 60s cinema classics ''The Bellboy'', ''Cinderfella'' and ''The Family Jewels''. Lewis will serve as co-executive producer of the films.

On May 16, 2011, it was originally announced by MDA that the 2011 edition of his annual telethon will be Lewis' last as host, after hosting the annual event since 1954, he will continue to serve as the association's national chairman. Soon afterward, however, Lewis denied that he was leaving the telethon at all, but on August 3, 2011, the MDA announced that Lewis resigned as chairman and telethon host, the circumstances leading to his resignation unknown.

Lewis has been criticized by members of the disability rights community. In 1990, he wrote a first-person essay entitled "If I Had Muscular Dystrophy" for ''Parade'' magazine, in which he characterized those with muscular dystrophy as "being half a person". Many in the disabled community viewed his remarks as prejudicial, contributing to the idea that people with disabilities are "childlike, helpless, hopeless, non functioning and noncontributing members of society". Members of the disability rights community object to Lewis receiving the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

In February 2000, Lewis stunned an audience gathered to honor his work at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival by saying he did not like female comics. Lewis said, "I don't like any female comedians. A woman doing comedy doesn't offend me, but sets me back a bit. I, as a viewer, have trouble with it. I think of her as a producing machine that brings babies in the world." He later defended the remark, saying it was taken wildly out of context, and added that he made 11 movies with comic character actress Kathleen Freeman.

During the 2007 Labor Day Telethon, Lewis almost let slip the word "faggot" while live on air. While talking to a cameraman, he joked: "Oh, your family has come to see you. You remember Bart, your oldest son, Jesse, the illiterate fag--no...", at which point he turned away from the camera.

Film portrayal

Lewis was portrayed by Emmy Award winner Sean Hayes (''Will and Grace'') in the 2002 made for television movie ''Martin and Lewis''. The film depicts Lewis' partnership with Dean Martin (played by Jeremy Northam). Hayes met Lewis during shooting of the televised film and went on to receive a Screen Actors Guild Award for best actor.

Personal life

Family

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 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 Lewis; adopted July 1950 with Patti Palmer

Scott Lewis; born February 1956 to Patti Palmer

Christopher Joseph Lewis; born October 1957 to Patti Palmer

Anthony Lewis; born October 1959 to Patti Palmer

Joseph Lewis; born January 1964 to Patti Palmer, died October 24, 2009 from a narcotics overdose. Danielle Sarah Lewis (daughter); adopted March 1992 with SanDee Pitnick.

Lewis currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Health concerns

thumb|Jerry Lewis, 2005Lewis has suffered years of back pain after an injury that almost left him paralyzed when he did a comedic pratfall from a piano on March 20, 1965 while performing at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas.

He became addicted to the pain killer Percodan, but says he has been off the drug since 1978 and has not taken one since. In April 2002, Lewis had a "Synergy" neurostimulator, developed by Medtronic, implanted in his back, which has helped reduce the discomfort. He is now one of Medtronic's leading spokespeople.

In December 1982, Lewis suffered a serious heart attack and then a second minor heart attack on June 11, 2006, at the end of a cross-country commercial airline flight en route home from New York City. It was discovered that he had pneumonia as well as a severely damaged heart. He underwent a cardiac catheterization and two stents were inserted into one of his coronary arteries, which had become 90% blocked. The surgery resulted in a return of blood flow to his heart and has allowed him to continue his rebound from earlier lung problems. Having the cardiac catheterization also meant canceling several major events from his schedule, but Lewis fully recuperated in a matter of weeks.

In 1999, his Australian tour was cut short when he had to be hospitalized in Darwin with viral meningitis. He was ill for more than five months. It was reported in the Australian press that he had failed to pay his medical bills; however, Lewis maintained that the payment confusion was the fault of his health insurer. The resulting negative publicity caused him to sue his insurer for US$100 million.

Lewis has had prostate cancer, diabetes I, and pulmonary fibrosis, and has had at least two heart attacks. A third heart attack, claimed to have been sustained while filming ''Cinderfella'' in 1960, has not been confirmed officially. Prednisone treatment in the early 2000s for pulmonary fibrosis resulted in weight gain and a noticeable change in his appearance.

In September 2001, he was unable to perform at a planned charity event produced by comedian Steven Alan Green at the London Palladium. (Green's take on the event was turned into a one-person show, ''I Eat People Like You For Breakfast'', which Green performed at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival.) Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy which weaned him off prednisone and enabled him to return to work.

Charity work

Throughout his career, Lewis has supported fundraising for research into muscular dystrophy. From the early 1950s until 2011, he served as national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

Lewis began hosting telethons to benefit MDA in 1952. From 1966 to 2010 he hosted the annual ''Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon'', since renamed the ''MDA Labor Day Telethon''. It has raised over $2.6 billion. On August 3, 2011, it was announced that Lewis would no longer host any further telethons.

Honors and awards

;1950s

1952 – Winner of the special Photoplay Award 1952 – Nominee for Best Comedian or Comedienne 1954 – Winner for the Most Cooperative Actor, Golden Apple Award

;1960s

1965 – Winner, Golden Laurel, Special Award – Family Comedy King

;1970s

1977 – Nominee, the Nobel Peace Prize, by US Representative Les Aspin. Aspin noted that in 11 years, the ''MDA Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon'' had raised more than $95 million for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

;1980s

1983 – Nominee, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for ''The King of Comedy'', British Academy Film Awards

;1990s

1997 – Winner, Lifetime Achievement Award, American Comedy Awards

;2000s

2004 – Winner, Career Achievement Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Association

2005 – Winner, Governors Award, Primetime Emmy Awards 2006 – Winner, Satellite Award for Outstanding Guest Star on TV's ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''

2009 – Induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame

2009 – Winner, Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 81st Academy Awards

;2010s

2010 - Received Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Chapman University during the 2010 MDA Telethon.

2011 – Recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor

Bibliography

''The Total Film-Maker'' by Jerry Lewis. New York: Random House, 1971, ISBN 0-394-46757-4

''Jerry Lewis: In Person'' by Jerry Lewis with Herb Gluck. New York: Atheneum, 1982, ISBN 0-689-11290-4

''Dean & Me (A Love Story)'' by Jerry Lewis with James Kaplan. New York: Doubleday, 2005, ISBN 0-7679-2086-4

In popular culture

In ''Back to the Future'', Dr. Emmett L. Brown mentions Jerry Lewis as the supposed Vice President of the United States in 1985 after Marty McFly mentions Ronald Reagan is President in 1985.

Voice actor Hank Azaria cites Lewis as an inspiration for his character Professor Frink from ''The Simpsons''. In a 2003 episode, Lewis actually voiced the character of Frink's father.

A plotline of an episode of ''Seinfeld'' revolved around Jerry searching for his cufflinks which had been worn by Jerry Lewis in the film ''Cinderfella''. He plans to wear them to a party Lewis is attending, using them as a conversation starter.

Before Tom Lehrer introduces the song "National Brotherhood Week", he mentions the non-existent "Make Fun of the Handicapped Week", that Frank Fontaine and Jerry Lewis are in charge of as you Know." (Source: "That was the Year that Was" Tom Lehrer. 1965.)

See also

Jerry Lewis filmography and television appearances

MDA Labor Day Telethon

Martin and Lewis

References

Further reading

''Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime (Especially Himself): The Story of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis'' by Arthur Marx, New York, NY: Hawthorn Books, 1974, ISBN 978-0801524301

''The Jerry Lewis Films'' by James L. Neibaur and Ted Okuda (Lewis is quoted throughout). Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 1994, ISBN 0-89950-961-4

''King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis'' by Shawn Anthony Levy. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0-312-13248-4

''That Kid: The Story of Jerry Lewis'' by Richard Gehman. New York: Avon Books, 1964.

External links

Jerry Lewis interview for the Archive of American Television

Official Jerry Lewis Website

Drum Solo Battle (1955) with Buddy Rich at DrummerWorld

;Videos

2009 Oscars Jean Hersholt Award

Colgate Comedy Hour, 1950s

Scene from ''The Bellboy''

With drummer Buddy Rich, 1965

Typewriter scene on Colgate Hour

Category:1926 births Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American Jews Category:American television personalities Category:Cancer survivors Category:Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Category:Decca Records artists Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish comedians Category:Liberty Records artists Category:Living people Category:People from Irvington, New Jersey Category:People from Newark, New Jersey Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:Vaudeville performers Category:Jewish activists

an:Jerry Lewis bg:Джери Люис ca:Jerry Lewis cs:Jerry Lewis da:Jerry Lewis de:Jerry Lewis es:Jerry Lewis fa:جری لوئیس fr:Jerry Lewis is:Jerry Lewis it:Jerry Lewis he:ג'רי לואיס nl:Jerry Lewis ja:ジェリー・ルイス pl:Jerry Lewis pt:Jerry Lewis ro:Jerry Lewis ru:Джерри Льюис sq:Jerry Lewis simple:Jerry Lewis sl:Jerry Lewis fi:Jerry Lewis sv:Jerry Lewis ta:ஜெர்ரி லுவிஸ் tr:Jerry Lewis