Jerry Lewis

When Jerry Lewis was 5, his vaudeville parents brought him on stage one night to share a song."My foot slipped in the footlights and I got that first laugh, and I knew I had something. I milked it," recalls Lewis tonight in an engaging new interview special, "Larry King Extra," at 8 o'clock on cable's TNT service.Now, putting Lewis and King together might seem to portend "Night of the Living Egos." But the two are actually quite interesting to hear in conversation. And King also interviews screen queens Audrey Hepburn and Debbie Reynolds in the hourlong special.

Local author Sherban Young pens what he calls “mystery capers.” The 37-year-old Ellicott City resident got interested in solving puzzles and mysteries through CD-ROM interactive adventure games while at Loyola University, where he majored in English literature. Though in partnership with his father in a Columbia financial planning firm, Young has disciplined himself to devote time each morning to writing his mystery capers. “I love to solve puzzles,” he said, adding that his style of mystery writing enables “readers to enjoy themselves ... my writing is to be entertaining and intriguing.

WASHINGTON -- A defense industry executive and a consultant sat down to lunch in an Asian restaurant near Chevy Chase.The executive was fuming. Earlier that morning of Oct. 13, Congress had finally passed a military spending bill for next year that included money for the F-22 fighter. But it had been a battle, all because Rep. Jerry Lewis of California blindsided the Pentagon with a plan to stop building the plane.Dumping spicy chicken over steamed rice, the executive, who asked not to be identified, marveled that one congressman could wreak such havoc.

Jerry Lewis to receive special Oscar for his humanitarian efforts Jerry Lewis will get his first Oscar on Feb. 22 when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the 82-year-old comic actor with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, which recognizes humanitarian efforts that have brought credit to the film industry. An actor, director, writer and producer, Lewis made his big-screen debut in 1949's My Friend Irma and gained fame for his movies with partner Dean Martin. He has been national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association since 1952 and has raised more than $2 billion for the cause through his annual Labor Day telethon.

I have a library card signed by Jerry Lewis, which he gave to me in 1941 when we attended the same school. Also, how can I find out the value of a Shaker chair with the number 13 on the back?A library card that Jerry signed before he became "Jerry Lewis" is indeed priceless. You may want to donate the card to Jerry's next muscular dystrophy telethon, asking that it be auctioned off to the highest bidder with the proceeds benefiting the cause. Or anyone interested in obtaining the card can write me to contact you.To check out the value of your Shaker chair, or to auction it, write Skinner Inc., 357 Main St., Bolton, Mass.

CANNES, France - Michael Moore doesn't look the part of hero, but at Cannes, he sure was treated like one. All during the recently concluded film festival, Moore was lauded. The first screening of his film, Bowling for Columbine, a scathing and fitfully satiric look at the United States' infatuation with guns and violence, was followed by a 13-minute standing ovation, the longest anyone at Cannes could remember. His movie, already the first documentary to be entered in the festival in 46 years, was the only one that everybody was talking about.

On November 7, 2004, KIMBERLY (Kim) B. LEWIS, loving daughter of Joan Cochin, beloved sister of Jason Cochin and the late Scott and Jerry Lewis. Services are private.

Three marathons, one telethon, and still it seems like nothingthon.* "Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon" (continues 6 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Channel 2) -- Jerry Lewis, still at the helm of the TV fund-raising phenomenon he turned into an annual event and media institution, is planning to go the distance again, with help during this 29th annual telecast from Tony Bennett, Boyz II Men, Elayne Boosler, Larry King and others.* "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" (8-10 p.m., Channel 45) -- This 1991 telemovie, starring Christina Applegate of "Married . . . With Children," is echoed, in a way, in another Fox series, the family drama "Party of Five," which premieres a week from tonight.

Jerry Lewis does his telethon all day, and Cal Ripken Jr. receives another documentary salute tonight, the eve of the game in which he can tie Lou Gehrig's record.* "Stars Across America! Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Weekend" (Until 6:30 p.m. today, WMAR, Channel 2) -- The 30th annual edition of the national telethon aims to top last year's record $47.1 million in pledges toward fighting muscular dystrophy. Channel 2's Keith Cate, Sandra Pinckney, Tony Pagnotti and Sherry Jones are hosts of local segments.

You don't have to be French to laugh at Jerry Lewis -- at least as he is seen with Dean Martin in a fascinating cable documentary this weekend that offers a time trip to one of the less-remembered lodes of the golden age of live television."

DEAN MARTIN & JERRY LEWIS COLLECTION Volume Two -- Paramount Home Entertainment / $34.99 To moviegoers of the 1950s, the young Jerry Lewis was a major comic, a pratfall-prone clown who would stop at nothing for a laugh. If his exuberant whining was sometimes hard to bear, his rough edges were smoothed out by his partner, the crooner Dean Martin, who was everything Lewis was not - composed, confident and cool. Their strange but oddly effective chemistry is given full range in a quintet of movies set for release Tuesday on DVD. The package, which has no bonus features, includes one of Martin and Lewis' top-grossing pictures, Living It Up (1954)

No reason to resent Lewis' fund-raising Misguided and confused disability activists recently protested the Labor Day telethon held on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and hosted by Jerry Lewis ("Telethon raises criticism," Sept. 3). They argued against the telethon's "charity mentality," insisting that it actively promote access, better housing and employment opportunities for the disabled. Reaching such goals is necessary if disabled people are to live productive lives in the complex, competitive world of the 21st century.

LAS VEGAS -- For 40 years, comedian Jerry Lewis and his muscular dystrophy telethon have been as much a part of Labor Day weekend as the start of school and the symbolic end of summer. Now at 80, and taking 25 pills a day for his failing health, Lewis is approaching his curtain calls dogged by activists who contend that the show is designed to evoke pity rather than empower the disabled. Led by a former muscular dystrophy poster boy from Chicago, the activists scored what they call their "big triumph" last November as protesters in wheelchairs ambushed Lewis in an appearance at the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago.

On November 7, 2004, KIMBERLY (Kim) B. LEWIS, loving daughter of Joan Cochin, beloved sister of Jason Cochin and the late Scott and Jerry Lewis. Services are private.

Eric P. Grubman simply couldn't compete with the nearby drilling. "Going forward ...," he began at a news conference earlier today announcing the festivities surrounding Tuesday's opening of the $62 million Hippodrome Performing Arts Center on the west side of downtown Baltimore. After a brief pause, Grubman, the chairman of the Hippodrome Foundation, began again, to no avail. "The Hippodrome Foundation ...." Nearly defeated, he looked over toward the drilling. A workman said, "We're OK."

A lot of folks have never met a clown they liked. At the circus, they suffered the clowns until the tigers and acrobats showed up. They were polite to clowns at birthday parties, assuming -- falsely --that children might like Bozo better than they did. Ronald McDonald did not make meals any happier. What could dampen their good spirits quicker than a clown? Perhaps a painting of a clown ... or a whole book of them. "How much do I have to pay to not have one of these paintings hanging in my house?"

Local author Sherban Young pens what he calls “mystery capers.” The 37-year-old Ellicott City resident got interested in solving puzzles and mysteries through CD-ROM interactive adventure games while at Loyola University, where he majored in English literature. Though in partnership with his father in a Columbia financial planning firm, Young has disciplined himself to devote time each morning to writing his mystery capers. “I love to solve puzzles,” he said, adding that his style of mystery writing enables “readers to enjoy themselves ... my writing is to be entertaining and intriguing.

Jerry Lewis to receive special Oscar for his humanitarian efforts Jerry Lewis will get his first Oscar on Feb. 22 when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the 82-year-old comic actor with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, which recognizes humanitarian efforts that have brought credit to the film industry. An actor, director, writer and producer, Lewis made his big-screen debut in 1949's My Friend Irma and gained fame for his movies with partner Dean Martin. He has been national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association since 1952 and has raised more than $2 billion for the cause through his annual Labor Day telethon.

CANNES, France - Michael Moore doesn't look the part of hero, but at Cannes, he sure was treated like one. All during the recently concluded film festival, Moore was lauded. The first screening of his film, Bowling for Columbine, a scathing and fitfully satiric look at the United States' infatuation with guns and violence, was followed by a 13-minute standing ovation, the longest anyone at Cannes could remember. His movie, already the first documentary to be entered in the festival in 46 years, was the only one that everybody was talking about.

Geraldo Rivera's recent appearance on the wrong end of news coverage strikes a familiar note. It's not just that Rivera is again becoming a laughingstock - this time with his Afghanistan war reporting - it's the historical echo in his statement: "It's time to stop bashing Geraldo." That's Geraldo speaking about himself in an interview, using what might be termed the "third-person peculiar" for its hints of a personality cracking along some public-private fault line. Who could hear that and not think of Richard M. Nixon's famous line: "Well, you won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore"?