This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2011)

Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich at the Arcadia Ballroom in New York City in May 1947.
Background information
Birth name	Bernard Rich
Also known as	Traps the Drum Wonder (as a boy) and "B" (as an adult)
Born	(1917-09-30)September 30, 1917
Origin	Brooklyn, New York, US
Died	April 2, 1987(1987-04-02) (aged 69)
Genres	Jazz, big band, swing, bebop
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, bandleader, actor
Instruments	Drums, percussion
Years active	1919–1987
Associated acts	Joe Marsala Bunny Berigan Artie Shaw Tommy Dorsey Benny Carter Harry James Les Brown Frank Sinatra Charlie Ventura Jazz at the Philharmonic Nat King Cole Ella Fitzgerald Gene Krupa and Louis Armstrong
Website	http://www.buddyrich.com/

Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer"^[1] and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.

Early life[link]

Rich was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish vaudevillians Robert and Bess Rich.^[2] His talent for rhythm was first noted by his father, who saw that Buddy could keep a steady beat with spoons at the age of one. He began playing drums in vaudeville when he was 18 months old, billed as "Traps the Drum Wonder." At the peak of Rich's childhood career, he was reportedly the second-highest paid child entertainer in the world (after Jackie Coogan).^[3] At 11 he was performing as a bandleader. He received no formal drum instruction, and went so far as to claim that instruction would only degrade his musical talent. He also never admitted to practicing, claiming to play the drums only during performances^{[citation needed]} and was not known to read music. He expressed great admiration for, and was influenced by, the playing of Chick Webb, Gene Krupa, Dave Tough, and Jo Jones, among others.^{[citation needed]}.

Jazz career[link]

Buddy Rich in New York City in August 1946.

Rich first played jazz with a major group in 1937 with Joe Marsala and guitarist Jack Lemaire. He then played with Bunny Berigan (1938) and Artie Shaw (1939), and even instructed a 14-year-old Mel Brooks in drumming for a short period when playing for Shaw.^[4] At 21, Rich participated in his first major recording with the Vic Schoen Orchestra (the band that backed the Andrews Sisters).^[5] In 1938, he was also hired to play in Tommy Dorsey's orchestra where he met and performed with Frank Sinatra. In 1942, Rich left the Dorsey band to join the United States Marine Corps. He rejoined the Dorsey group after leaving the Marines two years later. In 1946, Rich formed his own band with financial support from Sinatra, and continued to lead different groups on and off until the early fifties.^[6][7]

Buddy Rich performing with a jazz group in the 1940s.

In addition to Tommy Dorsey (1939–1942, 1945, 1954–1955), Rich also played with Benny Carter (1942), Harry James (1953-1956–1962, 1964, 1965), Les Brown, Charlie Ventura, and Jazz at the Philharmonic, as well as leading his own band and performing with all-star groups. In the early fifties Rich played with Dorsey and also began to perform with trumpeter Harry James, an association which lasted until 1966. In 1966, Rich left James in order to develop a new big band. For most of the period from 1966 until his death, he led successful big bands in an era when the popularity of big bands had waned from their 1930s and 40s peak. In this later period, Rich continued to play clubs but he had stated in multiple interviews that the great majority of his big band's performances were at high schools, colleges and universities, with club performances done to a much lesser degree. Rich also served as the session drummer for many recordings, where his playing was often much more understated than in his own big-band performances. Especially notable were Rich's sessions for the late-career comeback recordings of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, on which he worked with pianist Oscar Peterson and his famous trio featuring bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Herb Ellis.

Drumming technique and well known performances[link]

Buddy Rich drumming at a concert in Cologne, Germany on March 3, 1977.

Rich's technique has been one of the most standardized and coveted in drumming. His dexterity, musicality of playing style, speed and smooth execution are considered "holy grails" of drum technique and have been considered next to impossible to duplicate. While Rich typically held his sticks using traditional grip, he was also a skilled "match grip" player, and was one of few drummers to master the one-handed roll on both hands. Some of his more spectacular moves are crossover riffs, where he would criss-cross his arms from one drum to another, sometimes over the arm, and even under the arm at great speed.

He often used contrasting techniques to keep long drum solos from getting mundane. Aside from his energetic explosive displays, he would go into quieter passages. One passage he would use in most solos starts with a simple single-stroke roll on the snare picking up speed and power, then slowly moving his sticks closer to the rim as he gets quieter and then eventually playing on just the rim itself while still maintaining speed. Then he would reverse the effect and slowly move towards the center of the snare while increasing power.

Rich also demonstrated incredible skill at brush technique. On one album, 1955's The Lionel Hampton Art Tatum Buddy Rich Trio, Rich plays brushes almost exclusively throughout.

Another Rich technique that few drummers have been able to perfect is the stick-trick – a fast roll performed by slapping two drumsticks together in a circular motion.

In 1942, Rich and drum teacher Henry Adler co-authored the instructional book Buddy Rich's Modern Interpretation of Snare Drum Rudiments, regarded as one of the more popular snare-drum rudiment books.^{[citation needed]}

One of Adler's former students introduced Adler to Rich. "The kid told me Buddy played better than [Gene] Krupa. Buddy was only in his teens at the time and his friend was my first pupil. Buddy played and I watched his hands. Well, he knocked me right out. He did everything I wanted to do, and he did it with such ease. When I met his folks, I asked them who his teacher was. 'He never studied,' they told me. That made me feel very good. I realized that it was something physical, not only mental, that you had to have."

In a 1985 interview^{[citation needed]}, Adler clarified the extent of his teacher-student relationship to Rich and their collaboration on the instructional book:

"I had nothing to do with [the rumor that I taught Buddy how to play]. That was a result of Tommy Dorsey's introduction to the Buddy Rich book," Adler said. "I used to go around denying it, knowing that Buddy was a natural player. Sure, he studied with me, but he didn't come to me to learn how to hold the drumsticks. I set out to teach Buddy to read. He'd take six lessons, go on the road for six weeks and come back. He didn't have time to practice."^{[citation needed]}

"Tommy Dorsey wanted Buddy to write a book and he told him to get in touch with me. I did the book and Tommy wrote the foreword. Technically, I was Buddy's teacher, but I came along after he had already acquired his technique."^{[citation needed]}

When asked about Rich's ability to read music, Bobby Shew, lead trumpeter in Rich's mid-60s big band replied,

"No. He’d always have a drummer there during rehearsals to read and play the parts initially on new arrangements... He’d only have to listen to a chart once and he’d have it memorized. We'd run through it and he'd know exactly how it went, how many measures it ran and what he'd have to do to drive it... The guy had the most natural instincts."^[8]

[edit] The West Side Story Medley

Perhaps his most popular later performance was a big band arrangement of a medley derived from the Leonard Bernstein classic West Side Story, first released on the 1966 album Buddy Rich's Swingin' New Big Band

The West Side Story medley is a complex and difficult-to-perform big-band arrangement which highlights Rich's remarkable ability to blend the rhythm of his drumming into his band's playing of the musical chart. Penned by Bill Reddie, Rich received the West Side Story arrangement of Leonard Bernstein's melodies from the famed musical in the mid-1960s and found it to be very challenging even for him. It consists of many rapid-fire time changes and signatures and took almost a month of constant rehearsals to perfect. It since became a staple in all his performances, clocking in at various lengths from seven to fifteen minutes. Bernstein himself had nothing but praise for it.^{[citation needed]} In 2002, a DVD was released called The Lost West Side Story Tapes that captured a 1985 performance of this along with other numbers.^[9] These tapes had been previously thought to have been lost in a fire. Rich's ability to create spontaneous drum solos that matched and melded with the musical intricacies and intensity of big band scores was chief among his musical brilliance.

[edit] Channel One Suite

After the West Side Story Medley, Rich's most famous performance was the Channel One Suite by Bill Reddie. Like the West Side Story Medley, the Channel One Suite generally was a quite long performance ranging from about 12 minutes to about 26 minutes and usually contained 2 or 3 drum solos. Although 26 minute performances of the Channel One Suite were not incredibly common, they were not unheard of. A recording of one of his live performances was released in 2006 which contained a 26 minute Channel One Suite.^[10]

In Italy, Rich's version of Winning the West was from 1973 to 1976 the musical theme of a weekly TV sports magazine broadcast, La domenica sportiva.

TV appearances[link]

In the 1950s, Rich was a frequent guest on The Steve Allen Show and other television variety shows.^[11] Beginning in 1962, Rich was also a frequent guest on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show and The Merv Griffin Show, among others, and appeared with his Big Band on British television, on Michael Parkinson's talk show Parkinson and on the Terry Wogan Show (the last on October 29, 1986, only a few months prior to his death).^[12] Along with singer Buddy Greco and comedian George Carlin, Rich starred in a 1967 summer replacement television series called Away We Go.^[13] One of his most widely seen television performances was in a 1981 episode^[14] of The Muppet Show, where he engaged Muppet drummer "Animal" (played by Ronnie Verrell) in a drum battle. Rich also made guest appearances on the TV shows Here's Lucy and Hee Haw.

In an episode of Michael Parkinson's British talk show, Parkinson kidded Rich about his Donny Osmond kick, by claiming that Rich was the president of The Osmonds' fan club.^{[citation needed]}

Instruments[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Buddy was known as a performer and endorser of Slingerland Radio King, and Rogers Drums. He switched to Ludwig drums for much of the 1970s to the early 1980s. While recovering from a heart attack in 1959,^[15] Rich was presented with an original Slingerland Radio King 5X14 wood snare drum completely reconditioned by the Eames drum company. Later, a mismatched Radio King set was completely refurbished for Rich and he used that set right up to his death in 1987. His typical setup included a 14"X26" bass drum, 9"X13" mounted tom, two 16"X16" floor toms (although he rarely used the second tom where he would simply place a towel on the surface), and a 5"X14" snare drum. His cymbals were typically Zildjian consisting of standard 14" hi hats, 20" ride, either a 6" or 8" splash, two 18" crashes, and a 20" swish.

Personality[link]

Although Rich was usually helpful and friendly, he had a short temper. While he threatened many times to fire members of his band, he seldom did so, and for the most part he lauded his band members during television and print interviews. Dusty Springfield allegedly slapped Rich after several days of "putting up with Rich's insults and show-biz sabotage."^[16][17]

In the Beastie Boys song "Sabotage", the lyrics "I'm Buddy Rich when I fly off the handle," referred to Rich's temper. Buddy Rich held a black belt in karate, as mentioned in a CNN television interview with Larry King, c. 1985.

Band member and lifelong friend David Lucas says that "Rich had a soft heart underneath it all. His favorite song was "It's Not Easy Being Green".

The tapes[link]

Rich's temper, mercurial attitude and imposing personality are documented in secret recordings that pianist Lee Musiker made during some of his tantrums on tour buses and backstage in the early 1980s.^[18] These recordings, long circulated in bootleg form, have done much to fuel the reputation of Rich's personality. The tapes were popular with comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, who used three quotes from them more or less verbatim on Seinfeld:^[19]

• "If I have to tell you again, we're gonna take it outside and I'm gonna show you what it's like!" ("The Opposite")
• "This guy – this is not my kind of guy." ("The Understudy")
• "Then let's see how he does, up there, without all the assistance!" ("The Butter Shave")

On one recording, Rich threatens to fire Dave Panichi, a trombonist, for wearing a beard.^[20][21] Days before Rich died, he was visited by Mel Tormé, who claims that one of Rich's last requests was "to hear the tapes" that featured his angry outbursts.^{[citation needed]} At the time, Tormé was working on an authorized biography of Rich which was released after Rich's death, titled Traps, The Drum Wonder: The Life of Buddy Rich.

Death and legacy[link]

Buddy Rich remained active performing until the end of his life. On April 2, 1987, Rich died of heart failure following surgery for a malignant brain tumor. He is interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. He was 69.

Since Rich's death, a number of memorial concerts have been held. In 1994, the Rich tribute album Burning for Buddy: A Tribute to the Music of Buddy Rich was released. Produced by Rush drummer/lyricist Neil Peart, the album features performances of Rich staples by a number of rock and jazz drummers such as Kenny Aronoff, Carl Palmer, Matt Sorum, Dave Weckl, Steve Gadd, Vinnie Colaiuta, Max Roach, Steve Smith, and Peart himself, accompanied by the Buddy Rich Big Band. A second volume was issued in 1997.

Discography[link]

Studio and live albums as leader or co-leader[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Buddy Rich

Biography portal

• Official website
• Buddy Rich on Drummerworld
• Buddy Rich at Wikiquote
• Buddy Rich at Allmusic (Discography and brief biography)

Jerry Lewis
Photo c. 1960
Born	Joseph Levitch (1926-03-16) March 16, 1926 (age 86) Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Residence	Las Vegas, Nevada
Other names	The King of Comedy Le Roi du Crazy Picchiatello
Education	Irvington High School
Occupation	Comedian, actor, film producer, writer, film director, singer, national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (early 1950s-2011)
Years active	1931–present
Spouse	Patti Palmer (1944–80) SanDee Pitnick (1983–present)
Children	7 including: Gary Lewis (two adopted)
Parents	Daniel Levitch, Rachael (née Brodsky) Levitch
Awards	American Comedy Award, Golden Camera Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Award
Signature
Website
jerrylewiscomedy.com

Jerry Lewis (born March 16, 1926) is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. 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.^[1] On February 22, 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Lewis the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Early life[link]

He was born Joseph Levitch (some sources say Jerome Levitch)^[2] in Newark, New Jersey, to Russian Jewish parents. His father, Daniel Levitch, was a Master of Ceremonies and vaudeville entertainer^[3][4][5] who used the professional name Danny Lewis,^[6] His mother, Rachel ("Rae") Levitch (née Brodsky),^[7] 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.^[8] He graduated from Irvington High School in Irvington, New Jersey. During World War II he was rejected for military service because of a heart murmur.^[9]

Career[link]

Teaming with Dean Martin[link]

With Dean Martin

Lewis initially gained fame with singer Dean Martin, who served as straight man to Lewis's zany antics in the Martin and Lewis comedy team. The pair distinguished themselves from the majority of comedy acts of the 1940s by relying on their interaction together 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. Within a year of their first act together, they went from earning $150-175 a week each at one club to $30,000.00 a week as a team at The Copacabana.^{[citation needed]}

Martin & Lewis made many appearances on early live television, their 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). This was followed on October 3, 1948 by an appearance on the NBC TV series Welcome Aboard, then a stint as the first of a series of hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour in 1950. The duo began their Paramount film careers in 1949 as ensemble players in My Friend Irma, based on the popular radio series of the same name. This was followed by a sequel in 1950, My Friend Irma Goes West. Starting with At War with the Army (1950), Martin and Lewis were the stars of their own vehicles, in fourteen additional titles at Paramount, ending with Hollywood or Bust (1956). All sixteen were produced by Hal Wallis.

As Martin's roles in their films became less important over time 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 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, after which DC featured Lewis solo in The Adventures of Jerry Lewis until 1971. In this latter Lewis was sometimes featured with Superman, Batman, and various other DC heroes and villains. It inspired the Filmation cartoons production company to make a 1970 series called Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down, with Jerry as the one reality-based character alongside other fictitious one, including fictionalized Lewis relatives.

While both Martin and Lewis went on to successful solo careers for years neither would comment on the split nor consider a reunion. They made occasional public appearances together between their breakup and 1961 but were not seen together until a surprise appearance by Martin on Lewis's Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Telethon in 1976 arranged by Frank Sinatra.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[10] In Lewis's 2005 book Dean and Me (A Love Story), Lewis wrote of his kinship with Martin, who died in 1995.

Solo[link]

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.^{[citation needed]} 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. 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.^[11]

In 1968, he screened Spielberg's early film, Amblin' and told his students, "That's what filmmaking is all about."^[12] 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.^[13] 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).^[14] 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). 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 sequel to his original 1963 film co-starring Drake Bell as the voice of his nephew, Harold Kelp.

at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival

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".^[15] 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.^[16]

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.^[17] In October 2008, in an interview on Melbourne radio, Lewis said he had signed composers Marvin Hamlisch^[18] and Rupert Holmes to write the show for a Broadway opening in November 2010.^{[citation needed][19]} In 2009, Lewis traveled to the Cannes Film Festival to announce his return to cinema after a 13 year absence for the film Max Rose,^[20][21] his first leading role since Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy. In early 2011, Lewis signed a deal with Artificial Intelligence Entertainment and Capital Films to remake three of his 1960s films: The Bellboy, Cinderfella and The Family Jewels, with Lewis serving as co-executive producer of the new films.

On May 16, 2011, the MDA announced that the 2011 edition of its annual telethon would be Lewis' last as emcee. After hosting the annual event since 1954, he was to continue serving as the association's national chairman.^[22] Soon afterward, however, Lewis denied that he was leaving the telethon at all,^[23] but on August 3, 2011, the MDA announced that Lewis resigned as chairman and telethon host, the circumstances leading to his resignation unknown.^[24] Lewis made no appearance, live or recorded, on the 2011 MDA Telethon.

Film portrayal[link]

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[link]

Family[link]

Lewis has been married twice:

• Patti Palmer (née Esther Calonico),^[25] a former singer with Ted Fio Rito;^[26] married October 3, 1944, divorced September 1980.^[27]
• SanDee Pitnick; married February 13, 1983; a 32-year-old Las Vegas dancer. They were married in Key Biscayne, Florida; Lewis was 56.^[28]

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

• Gary Harold Lee Levitch was born on July 31, 1945^[29] 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.^[30]
• Ronald Steven Lewis; born December 1949 (adopted) with Patti Palmer
• Scott Anthony Lewis; born February 22, 1956 to Patti Palmer^[31]
• Christopher Joseph Lewis; born October 1957 to Patti Palmer
• Anthony Joseph Lewis; born October 1959 to Patti Palmer
• Joseph Christopher Lewis; born January 1964 to Patti Palmer, died October 24, 2009 from a narcotics overdose.^[32]
• Danielle Sara Lewis (daughter); adopted March 1992 with SanDee Pitnick.^[27]

Lewis currently resides in Las Vegas.

Health concerns[link]

Jerry Lewis, 2005

Lewis has suffered from a variety of illnesses and addictions related both to aging and a back injury sustained in a comedic pratfall from a piano while performing at the Sands Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip on March 20, 1965.^[33][34]

The accident almost left him paralyzed. In its aftermath Lewis became addicted to the pain killer Percodan for some thirteen years.^[33] He says he has been off the drug since 1978 and has not taken one since.^[34] In April 2002, Lewis had a Medtronic "Synergy" neurostimulator implanted in his back,^[35] which has helped reduce the discomfort. He is now one of the company's leading spokespeople.^[34][35]

It is claimed Lewis suffered his first heart attack while filming Cinderfella in 1960.^[36] In December 1982, Lewis was felled by a serious heart attack. En route home to San Diego from New York City on a cross-country commercial airline flight he endured a minor heart attack on June 11, 2006.^[37] It was then 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.^[38]

Lewis has had prostate cancer,^[39] Type 1 diabetes,^[34] pulmonary fibrosis,^[33] and a decades long history of heart disease. Prednisone^[33] treatment in the early 2000s for pulmonary fibrosis resulted in weight gain and a noticeable change in his appearance.

In September 2001, Lewis was unable to perform at a planned London charity event. Some months thereafter, Lewis began an arduous, months-long therapy which weaned him off prednisone and enabled him to return to work.

Charity work[link]

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).^[40] 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.^[41] On August 3, 2011, it was announced that Lewis would no longer host any further telethons.^[42]

Jerry Lewis Cinemas[link]

From 1969 to 1980, the National Cinema Corp. franchised "Jerry Lewis Cinemas" as a business opportunity for those interested in theatrical movie exhibition. A harbinger of the cookie-cutter "cineplex" type movie theaters that would become popular in the 1970s, a Jerry Lewis Cinema was billed in franchising ads as a "mini-theatre" with a seating capacity of between 200 and 350. Though billed as "luxurious and plush", the actual theaters were not luxurious, but not bare-bones, either. Franchise hype claimed the theater could be operated by as little as a staff of two due to automation and the fact that the franchisor would provide support in booking films and help in other areas of film exhibition.

National Franchise Corp. successfully wooed Lewis to provide his name and star-power to the franchising operation. As well as bearing his name, each Jerry Lewis Cinema bore a sign with a cartoon logo of Lewis in profile. The theaters were pitched to investors that were not movie exhibition veterans, pitching owning a movie theater as a "mom and pop" operation.^[43]

There initially were 158 territories that were franchised, with a buy-in fee of $10,000 or $15,000, depending on the territory, for what was called an "individual exhibitor". For $50,000, the Jerry Lewis Cinemas offered an opportunity known as an "area director" in which the investor not only was given their own cinema, but controlled franchising opportunities in a territory.^[44]

The success of the chain was hampered by the chain's policy of only booking second-run, family friendly films. Eventually, the policy was changed, and the Jerry Lewis Cinemas were allowed to run other, more competitive fare, but after a decade, the chain failed. Both Lewis and National Cinema Corp. declared bankruptcy in 1980.^[45]

Honors and awards[link]

Lewis' motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6821 Hollywood Blvd

1950s

• 1952 – Winner of the special Photoplay Award^[46]
• 1952 – Nominee for Best Comedian or Comedienne^[46]
• 1954 – Winner for the Most Cooperative Actor, Golden Apple Award^[46]

1960s

• 1965 – Winner, Golden Laurel, Special Award – Family Comedy King^[46]

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.^[47]

1980s

• 1983 – Nominee, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The King of Comedy, British Academy Film Awards^[48]

1990s

• 1997 – Winner, Lifetime Achievement Award, American Comedy Awards^[48]

2000s

• 2004 – Winner, Career Achievement Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Association^[48]

• 2005 – Winner, Governors Award, Primetime Emmy Awards^[48]
• 2006 – Winner, Satellite Award for Outstanding Guest Star on TV's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit^[48]

• 2009 – Induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame

• 2009 – Winner, Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 81st Academy Awards^[49]

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[link]

• 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

See also[link]

• Jerry Lewis filmography and television appearances
• MDA Labor Day Telethon
• Martin and Lewis

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime (Especially Himself): The Story of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis by Arthur Marx, New York, NY: Hawthorn Books, 1974, ISBN 978-0-8015-2430-1
• 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.
• Young, Jordan R. (1999) The Laugh Crafters: Comedy Writing in Radio & TV's Golden Age. Beverly Hills: Past Times Publishing ISBN 0-940410-37-0

External links[link]

• Jerry Lewis at the Internet Movie Database
• Jerry Lewis at AllRovi
• Jerry Lewis at the TCM Movie Database
• Jerry Lewis at the Internet Broadway Database
• Jerry Lewis interview for the Archive of American Television
• 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

Gene Krupa
Background information
Birth name	Eugene Bertram Krupa
Born	(1909-01-15)January 15, 1909 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, swing, dixieland, big band
Occupations	Drummer, composer, bandleader
Instruments	Drums
Years active	1920s – 1970s
Associated acts	Eddie Condon, Benny Goodman, Louie Bellson, Anita O'Day

Gene Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.^[1]

Early life & career[link]

Eugene Bertram Krupa was born in Chicago, the youngest of Anna (Oslowski) and Bartłomiej Krupa's nine children. Krupa's father, Bartłomiej, was an immigrant from Poland, and his mother, Anna, was born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania. His parents were very religious and had groomed Gene for the priesthood. He spent his grammar school days at various parochial schools and upon graduation, attended St Joseph's College for a year, but later decided it was not his vocation. He studied with Sanford A. Moeller and began playing professionally in the mid 1920s with bands in Wisconsin. He broke into the Chicago scene in 1927, when he was picked by MCA to become a member of "Thelma Terry and Her Playboys," the first notable American Jazz band (outside of all-girl bands) to be led by a female musician. The Playboys were the house band at The Golden Pumpkin nightclub in Chicago and also toured extensively throughout the eastern and central United States.^{[citation needed]}

He made his first recordings in 1927, with a band under the leadership of banjoist Eddie Condon and Red McKenzie: along with other recordings beginning in 1924 by musicians known in the "Chicago" scene such as Bix Beiderbecke, these sides are examples of "Chicago Style" jazz. The numbers recorded at that session were: "China Boy", "Sugar", "Nobody's Sweetheart" and "Liza". The McKenzie - Condon sides are also notable for being some of the early examples of the use of a full drum kit on recordings. Krupa's big influences during this time were Tubby Hall and Zutty Singleton. The drummer who probably had the greatest influence on Gene in this period was Baby Dodds, whose use of press rolls was highly reflected in Gene's playing.^[2]

Krupa also appeared on six recordings made by the Thelma Terry band in 1928^[3] In 1934 he joined Benny Goodman's band, where his featured drum work made him a national celebrity. His tom-tom interludes on their hit "Sing, Sing, Sing" were the first extended drum solos to be recorded commercially.^[4] In 1939, Gene Krupa and his Orchestra appeared in the Paramount movie Some Like It Hot, which starred Bob Hope and Shirley Ross, performing the songs "Blue Rhythm Fantasy" and "The Lady's in Love with You". He made a cameo appearance in the 1941 film, Ball of Fire, in which he and his band performed an extended version of the hit "Drum Boogie", sung by Barbara Stanwyck, which he had composed with trumpeter Roy Eldridge. In 1943, Krupa was arrested for possession of two marijuana cigarettes and was given a three-month jail sentence.^[5]

The end of the swing era[link]

As the 1940s closed, large orchestras fell by the wayside: Count Basie closed his large band and Woody Herman reduced his to an octet. Krupa gradually cut down the size of the band in the late 1940s, and from 1951 on led a trio or quartet, often featuring the multi-instrumentalist Eddie Shu on tenor sax, clarinet and harmonica. He appeared regularly with the Jazz At the Philharmonic shows. Along with Ball of Fire, he made a cameo appearance in the 1946 screen classic The Best Years Of Our Lives. His athletic drumming style, timing methods and cymbal technique evolved during this decade to fit in with changed fashions and tastes, but he never quite adjusted to the Be-Bop period.^[2]

In 1954, Krupa returned to Hollywood, to appear in such films as The Glenn Miller Story and The Benny Goodman Story. In 1959, the movie biography, The Gene Krupa Story, was released; Sal Mineo portrayed Krupa, and the film had a cameo appearance by Red Nichols. Dave Frishberg, a pianist who played with Krupa, was particularly struck by the accuracy of one key moment in the film. "The scene where the Krupa character drops his sticks during the big solo, and the audience realizes that he's "back on the stuff." I remember at least a couple of occasions in real life when Gene dropped a stick, and people in the audience began whispering among themselves and pointing at Gene."^[2]

He continued to perform even in famous clubs in the 1960s like the Metropole, near Times Square in New York City, often playing duets with African American drummer Cozy Cole. Increasingly troubled by back pain, he retired in the late 1960s and opened a music school. One of his pupils was Kiss drummer Peter Criss.^[6] He occasionally played in public in the early 1970s until shortly before his death. Krupa married Ethel Maguire twice: the first marriage lasted from 1934–1942; the second one dates from 1946 to her death in 1955. Their relationship was dramatized in the biopic about him. Krupa remarried in 1959 (to Patty Bowler).

Krupa died of leukemia and heart failure in Yonkers, New York, aged 64.^[7] He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Calumet City, Illinois.

Legacy[link]

Gene Krupa Drive in Yonkers, New York

In the 1930s, Krupa prominently featured Slingerland drums. At Krupa's urging, Slingerland developed tom-toms with tuneable top and bottom heads, which immediately became important elements of virtually every drummer's set-up. Krupa developed and popularized many of the cymbal techniques that became standards. His collaboration with Armand Zildjian of the Avedis Zildjian Company developed the modern hi-hat cymbals and standardized the names and uses of the ride cymbal, the crash cymbal, the splash cymbal, the pang cymbal and the swish cymbal. One of his drum sets, a Slingerland inscribed with Benny Goodman's and Krupa's initials, is preserved at the Smithsonian museum in Washington, D.C.^{[citation needed]}

Krupa was featured in the 1946 Warner Bros. cartoon Book Revue in which a rotoscoped version of Krupa's drumming is used in an impromptu jam session.

The 1937 recording of Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra featuring Gene Krupa on drums was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1982.

In 1959, The Gene Krupa Story was released theatrically in America.

Gene Krupa's "Syncopated Style" is mentioned by a street musician in the 1976 film Taxi Driver.

In 1978, Krupa became the first drummer inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame.

Krupa was mentioned in the Simpsons episode "Hurricane Neddy", when Ned Flanders parents are being told they must control Ned, Ned's father responds "We can't do it man! That's discipline! That's like tellin' Gene Krupa not to go "Boom boom bah bah bah, boom boom bah bah bah, boom boom boom bah bah bah bah, boom boom tss!"".

Rhythm, the UK's best selling drum magazine voted Gene Krupa the third most influential drummer ever, in a poll conducted for its February 2009 issue. Voters included over 50 top-name drummers.

Discography[link]

This section requires expansion.

• Benny Goodman: The Famous Carnegie Hall Concert 1938 (Columbia)
• Drummin´ Man (Charly, 1938–41) with Roy Eldridge, Anita O'Day, Benny Carter, Charlie Ventura
• Drum Boogie (Columbia, 1940–41)
• Uptown (Columbia, 1941–1949)
• Lionel Hampton/Gene Krupa (Forlane, 1949) with Don Fagerquist, Frank Rehak, Frank Rosolino, Roy Eldridge
• The Exciting Gene Krupa (Enoch's Music, 1953) with Charlie Shavers, Bill Harris, Willie Smith, Ben Webster, Teddy Wilson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Israel Crosby
• Krupa and Rich (Verve, 1955) with Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Illinois Jacquet, Flip Phillips, Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Buddy Rich
• Gene Krupa Big Band: Drummer Man featuring Anita O'Day & Roy Eldridge (Verve, 1956)

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gene Krupa

• Gene Krupa at the Internet Movie Database
• Gene Krupa at traditional-jazz.com
• America's Ace Drummer Man Gene Krupa
• The Gene Krupa Reference Page
• Gene Krupa Drummerworld Page
• Let Me Off Uptown: A Gene Krupa Biography by John Twomey
• Gene Krupa at Find a Grave

Neil Peart
Peart performing a drum solo at the Xcel Energy Center on May 22, 2008.
Background information
Birth name	Neil Ellwood Peart
Born	(1952-09-12) September 12, 1952 (age 59) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Progressive rock, hard rock, heavy metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer, author
Instruments	Drums, percussion, tubular bells
Years active	1969–present
Labels	Mercury, Anthem, Atlantic
Associated acts	Rush, Buddy Rich Big Band
Website	neilpeart.net
Notable instruments
Sabian Paragon Signature cymbals, designed by Peart

Neil Ellwood Peart ( /ˈpɪərt/; born September 12, 1952), OC, is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush. Peart has received numerous awards for his musical performances, and is known for his technical proficiency and stamina.^[1]

Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario (now part of St. Catharines). During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band in pursuit of a career as a full-time drummer. After a discouraging stint in England to concentrate on his music, Peart returned home, where he joined a local Toronto band, Rush, in the summer of 1974.

Early in his career, Peart's performance style was deeply rooted in hard rock. He drew most of his inspiration from drummers such as Keith Moon and John Bonham, players who were at the forefront of the British hard rock scene.^[2] As time passed, however, he began to emulate jazz and big band musicians Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. In 1994, Peart became a friend and pupil of jazz instructor Freddie Gruber.^[3] It was during this time that Peart decided to revamp his playing style by incorporating jazz and swing components. Gruber was also responsible for introducing him to the products of Drum Workshop, the company whose products Peart currently endorses.

In addition to being a musician, Peart is also a prolific writer, having published several memoirs about his travels. Peart is also Rush's primary lyricist. In writing lyrics for Rush, Peart addresses universal themes and diverse subject matter including science fiction, fantasy, and philosophy, as well as secular, humanitarian and libertarian themes. All five of his books are travel-based non-fiction, though they diverge into his life and these subjects as well. Peart currently resides in Santa Monica, California, with his wife, photographer Carrie Nuttall, and daughter, Olivia Louise. He also has a home in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada, and spends time in Toronto for recording purposes.

Life and career[link]

Early childhood[link]

Peart was born in a Hamilton hospital and lived his early years on his family's farm in Hagersville,^[1][4] on the outskirts of Hamilton. The first child of four,^[5] his brother Danny and sisters Judy and Nancy were born after the family moved to St. Catharines when Peart was two. At this time, his father became parts manager for Dalziel Equipment, an International Harvester farm machinery dealer. In 1956 the family moved to the Port Dalhousie area of the town. Peart attended Gracefield School and later Lakeport Secondary School, and describes his childhood as happy and says he experienced a warm family life. By early adolescence he became interested in music and acquired a transistor radio, which he would use to tune into pop music stations broadcasting from Toronto, Hamilton and Welland, Ontario and Buffalo, USA.^[4]

His first exposure to musical training came in the form of piano lessons, which he later said in his instructional video A Work in Progress did not have much impact on him. He had a penchant for drumming on various objects around the house with a pair of chopsticks, so for his 13th birthday, his parents bought him a pair of drum sticks, a practice drum and some lessons, with the promise that if he stuck with it for a year, they would buy him a kit.^[4]