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BREAKING: In his first film starring role since 1995′s Funny Bones, Jerry Lewis starts work tomorrow in the starring role of the indie feature Max Rose. Directed by Daniel Noah from his script, the film is a drama about a jazz pianist who has recently lost his wife of over five decades. A discovery made days before her death causes Max to believe his marriage was a lie. He embarks on an exploration of his own past that brings him face to face with a menagerie of characters from a bygone era. Noah is making his directing debut.
While he has done stage work, the 86-year-old Lewis hasn’t done much in the way of films in a long time. Before Funny Bones his last big starring role came in 1983′s Martin Scorsese-directed The King Of Comedy, opposite Robert De Niro.
Lewis stars with Claire Bloom, Kevin Pollak, Argo‘s Kerry Bishe and Mort Sahl. It’s a reunion for Sahl and Lewis, as Sahl appeared on Lewis’ 1963 comedy variety series. The project was trotted out several Cannes Film Festivals ago, but then languished. Since then, Noah has gone on to partner with Elijah Wood and Josh C. Waller in The Woodshed, an indy production company with a bent towards genre films.
The film, which will shoot in Los Angeles, is produced by Mosaic Media Group’s Lawrence Inglee and Lightstream Pictures’ Garrett Kelleher.
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Wow, Jerry Lewis keeps on going… Love his acting! He goes from funny to creep to a blink of an eye and still has “it” at 86.
One of the last remaining Rat Pack legends.
He was never in the Rat Pack
Close enough.
No, it’s not. Some of us are old enough to remember.
Dean Martin
Sammy Davis Jr
Frank Sinatra
Joey Bishop
Peter Lawford
Loren and Sherry, your take on the Rat Pack is like finger nails scratching a chalk board…at least to me. But for Jerry’s and Dean’s falling out maybe Jerry would have been a member of the Rat Pack. He certainly had close personal relationships with Frank and Sammy…but a Rat Pack member or even close? I’m afraid not, and he did quite nicely on his own.
As I remember, Shirley M was a kind of honorary member.
Ron Marinelli – So was Angie Dickinson.
OK, Mr. Big Memory– before the Rat Pack there was another group of some of the same entertainers, and it included Shirley McClaine. What and who was that?
Both Jerry Lewis and Johnny Carson were not “official” rat packers, but they were both pretty close to them.
You forgot about Shirley mclaine
Depends how you look at it. The original RP was:
Hills Rat Pack were: Frank Sinatra (pack master), Judy Garland (first vice-president), Bacall (den mother), Sid Luft (cage master), Bogart (rat in charge of public relations), Swifty Lazar (recording secretary and treasurer), Nathaniel Benchley (historian), David Niven, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, George Cukor, Cary Grant, Rex Harrison, and Jimmy Van Heusen.[4][5] In his autobiography The Moon’s a Balloon, David Niven confirms that the Rat Pack originally included him but not Sammy Davis, Jr. or Dean Martin.
McClain was known as one of the “Rat Pack Mascots” – not an honorary member.
Exactly correct.
Lewis was NEVER a member, or even close.
exactly. Dean Martin could not stand Jerry Lewis, at that time.
You forgot Humphy Bogart and Angie Dickenson.
I never smile!
For all the Rat Pack purists:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjy_7haflaM
If Bishop and Lawford were Rat Packers, then Shemp was a Stooge. Frank, Dean and Sammy. Period.
But I think Mary Anne just means he’s one of the last great entertainers of that era who’s still not only with us, but working.
Wrong about the rat-pack membership–Lewis was never a part of the group, only his ex-partner, Dean Martin.
The original name of the Rat Pack was The Summit. They did shows in Vegas while they were shooting Ocean’s Eleven.
Filo, you are correct. They NEVER called themselves Rat Pack. That name was made up years later by someone trying to market the group and today unknowing saps seem label the group with that unfortunate name. There is much more to this. I wish people would do a little research before being so incorrect with their comments.
I don’t believe Jerry Lewis was not part of the rat pack.
This is great news! I saw in in the Broadway touring company of “Damn Yankees” in 1995- he was wonderful.
I saw the same show and — being a lifelong JLewis fan — I loved it! He was Superb.
And when the make the movie of the life of Jerry Lewis it has to be Jon Cryer to play the role.
I would say his last big starring role came in 1992 with Emir Kusturica’s Arizona Dream in which he was playing alongside Johnny Depp.
at the Cinefamily Q&A he said Arizona Dream was one of his biggest mistakes, wishes he never did it.
i kinda liked him in it – and kinda liked the movie. esp Vincent gallo’s debut
Oh really? I liked him in that film as well!
I liked him when he did a guest spot on “Wise Guy” with Ken Wahl. Ron Silver played his son, and they were always going at each other. Some very nice work.
His acting on that show was one of the best performances he ever did.
If you want to know what the Real Jerry Lewis is like watch “King of Comedy” better yet, the alter ego in “The Nutty Professor”, good work, not the best human being!
I have loved Jerry Lewis my whole life. I really enjoyed it when he played a STARRING ROLE on LAW & ORDER SVU in October 2006. He started out as a homeless man who turned out to be Munch’s long-lost uncle. God bless him for all he has done for children with MD.
What has he done, exactly? There have been zero improvements, yet his organization has raked in over a billion dollars.
Actually, there have been too many improvements to list here.
saw him Saturday at Cinefamily where they mentioned this. very excited.
however, it says “first time director” – yet he did “Twelve” in 2001. Is this the “Twelve” (or “12″) that used to show weekly in various parking lots around LA and you had to check the website to see where? It was this very bizarre film that was sort of a modern day Iliad.
Anybody know?
He’s a genius in France.
And in the United States as well.
I’m a genius in France.
LMAO .. Classic
Well a savant anyway.
I like your sense of humor. People need to laugh at themselves first.
Jerry Lewis in France – Ben Vaughn Combo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_b6-t2C_PE
As General Patton once said, “I’d rather have a division of Germans in front of me rather than a division of French behind me.
WHO goes to movies any more?
Lady!!! Hey lady!!!! Sorry, obligatory. But damn was he good in King of Comedy.
I’m from the Francis the mule era. Go Jerry!
Much to admire about Mr. Lewis: his early stand-up career, his film comedies, his Oscar-winning film camera inventions, his charity work for MS (Jerry’s Kids), his dramatic roles, his television appearances…
MS? I think you mean MD (muscular dystrophy). But I agree with you that there is much to admire about Jerry and his career, but I hear he is not the most pleasant person in real life.
JERRY LEWIS WAS NEVER FUNNY AND FRANCE CAN HAVE HIM.
Agree!
Actually his best acting was his crying routine at the end of every tele-thon
I do not condone your use of all caps, but I do agree with your statement. I thought perhaps I was the only one…
I wonder if MDA misses Jerry already?
My Dirty Antelope doesn’t miss Jerry already. He misters him. Because he is a man, not a woman. Not anymore anyway.
How can someone be coherent enough to spell words correctly, yet not make any sense?
HE WAS NEVER FUNNY AND A TERRIBLE ACTOR.
Genius never gives up. This guy is Chaplin times ten.
Plz email me what you`re smokin
Jim, I’m a big Jerry fan, but if you know or have seen ANYTHING by Charlie Chaplin, you’ll soon realize how monumentally wrong your statement is. You’re entitled to your opinion, but to say Jerry is greater than Chaplin times ten is so far off the charts. Chaplin IS the genius of comedy.
TedKennedysSearchAndRescueParty, Jerry DIDN’T invent video assist. It was patented in 1947 with a 1944 filing. Others have improved upon it, but Jerry doesn’t hold any patent relating to it.
Check out this article of do a Google search:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13512_3-10290456-23.html
In some ways he was wasted in slapstick. The man is a superb actor. I wish he had come a long a little later when Hollywood was ready for dark and complex roles.
Jerry would have fit right into a Tarantino flick.
That’s what I was hoping this would be when I saw the headline. He’d be perfect in somethng by Tarantino!
My father is 87. He still has “it” too, Jerry! Give us some more, pal.
Go for it, Jerry! You’ll be great!
To the uninformed Liberal who referred to Jerry Lewis as a “Rat Pack” original: Jerry Lewis was NEVER a MEMBER of the Rat Pack. That group (which was named after a previous group headed by Humphrey Bogart some years before) was formed AFTER Martin & Lewis broke up. Dean Martin needed a friend at the time, and Frank Sinatra befriended him. Together, they joined with Sammy Davis (Jr.), Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford (well … there is one in every crowd) to form the group as most of you remember it. They had some “auxiliary” associates, such as, Shirley MacLaine, Angie Dickinson, and Norman Fell (okay … there are TWO in every crowd).
You are so right.
That shot at Norman Fell was totally uncalled for.
I did not care for the young Jerry, did not like the old Jerry at all. Bring on the geriatric Jerry.
Third time’s a charm, eh? Hopefully…
Rent funny bones if you’ve not seen it already and you might fm change your opinion. It was beautifully done, very affecting. Lewis was terrific.
Please Jerry, release “The Day the Clown Cried” You did it before Benini and Williams and we want to see it! Please!
jerry is part of history…part of our family. glad to see him
back on the screen and back in our lives. i looked forward to the
telethons just to see his rare and quick appearances toward the
last of the telethons. a GREAT man. gave a lot of his time and
himself.
Hope Jerry keeps a eye out for Rupert Pupkin !
“King of Comedy” was notorious for another reason.
In the period during which its stars publicized the film, Lewis revealed that in order to get him riled up for a scene (the one in which Pupkin shows up unannounced at Lewis’ character’s country home), Robert De Niro let loose with a string of anti-Semitic comments towards Lewis who, at least, for the next little while, found nothing funny about it. The comments were almost word for word for what got Mel Gibson in trouble a few decades later.
Under the guise of method acting, one can get away with a lot.
I think Jerry Lewis is one of best comics of the last century. Hollywood needs to recognize him for his trail blazing accomplishments in standup comedy. He is a true gentleman and we look forward to his return to the big screen!
I can vividly recall, as one of the boomer generation, how Martin and Lewis were relished as the Kings of cinema comedy. Seeing their work again in retirement age makes we wonder just what all the hoopla was about. Today I don’t find their “schtick” to be funny at all.
That being said, I’m glad to see Mr. Lewis has found a productive outlet in his wanin years. He deserves whatever opportunities are presented to him for his most commendable humanitarian work.
Good luck to him.
“Seeing their work again in retirement age makes we wonder just what all the hoopla was about. Today I don’t find their “schtick” to be funny at all.”
You’ve grown up Argus.
Remember, humor can be timeless or it can be “of the moment”.
It was self aggrandized crap, complete with laugh tracks. Martin broke free and befriended Sinatra. Lewis hated him for it, and Sinatra loathed Lewis.
Love JL despite his flaws as both an artist and as a person. And I love him enough to have a tribute website honoring his life and art on a tribute website: http://www.behindthehiddenmask.com – Please come and visit, and sign my Guestbook.
I wish JL much success in Max Rose. Sounds like a wonderful story.