"I was about as discreet as a bull taking a piss in your living room."
- Jerry Lewis
When in high school, Jerry Lewis claims he was
thrown out for punching out his principal who had offended him with an anti-Semitic remark. An episode of Seinfeld
(1990) makes use of plot point based on Lewis' (alleged) real-life strategem of secretly leaving an audiotape recorder
running in a briefcase he intentionally leaves behind him in meetings to see what some people may be saying about him.
In Italy, Lewis has been given the nickname 'Picchiatello' (which means something like
"nut" or "crazy"). At least three of his movies use the word in their Italian title: You're Never Too Young (1955) which became "Il Nipote Picchiatello" ("The Crazy Nephew"), Hardly Working (1980) ("Bentornato Picchiatello", or "Welcome Back Crazy") and Cracking Up (1983)("Qua La Mano Picchiatello". pr "Shake My Hand, Crazy").
In
1969, Lewis announced the bold project of franchising a series of Jerry Lewis Cinemas. A firm believer in family entertainment,
he said that the one inviolate rule of the chain would be that nothing other than family-oriented films would be shown. The
theaters were to be state-of-the-art, easy to operate, and franchised to individuals who could meet the chain's investment
requirements. Changing tastes in popular entertainment coupled with internal mismanagement caused the project to collapse
within just a few years, and several lawsuits that could have resulted in jail time for Lewis and his associates were settled
out of court.
Lewis came upon his long-time theme song, "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby (With
a Dixie Melody)," by accident. In 1956 he had to cover for an indisposed Judy Garland at a performance in Las Vegas,
which included singing several of her songs. His performance of "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby," using Garland's arrangement,
went over so well with the audience that Lewis has used it as his theme song ever since.
