Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis. No comedian since Charles Chaplin has been so loved and so reviled. He is America's Dark Prince of Comedy--brilliant, bitter, passionate and deeply conflicted. A man of many demons, his cockiness conceals a labyrinth of doubts and self-destructive impulses. An American original whom Americans have never quite come to terms with, he also happens to be one of the greatest filmmakers of the latter half of the 20th century. And for this he deserves an Academy Award. It's not surprising that he's never even been nominated for one. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has a tradition of snubbing comedians.

Jerry Lewis is known as one of show business' silliest and most outrageous clowns. But when he was honored Sunday night during the Oscars for his humanitarian work, he played it straight. "This touches my heart and the very depths of my soul, not only because of who this award is from, but who it will benefit," Lewis said in accepting the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. "My humility is staggering."

Even though he has come under investigation for his ties to a lobbyist whose clients have benefited from millions of dollars in congressional earmarks, Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) was among the top lawmakers securing money for special projects in this year's spending bills, a watchdog group's analysis has found. Lewis, the senior Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, secured $137 million in earmarks on his own or working with other lawmakers.

BEFORE there was Live Aid -- or Live 8 or Live Earth -- there was Jerry Lewis and his telethon. Begun in 1966 to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. (of which Lewis is national chairman), it occupies 21 1/2 hours of Labor Day weekend air time each year with a mixture of famous faces, just-flew-in-from comics, spangly lounge singers and solid citizens bearing checks. And presiding over it all, the man the French call Le Roi du Crazy.

Entertainer Jerry Lewis sets a goal for his annual Labor Day Telethon to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. of $1 more than the previous year. He met that mark, plus almost $3 million. "We did it. We did it. I got my buck more. And more. We can go shopping," a jubilant Lewis, 81, said in Las Vegas as the tote board topped $63.7 million. The telecast has raised $1.46 billion to fight the disease since it began in 1966 on a single television station in New York City.

I never thought I'd find myself defending Jerry Lewis. Like a lot of people of my generation (and, unless you live in France, the one before that and quite possibly the one before that), my brain just isn't wired to appreciate the charms of his act, which has always struck me as about as close to dental drilling as comedy can get.

France formalized its fascination with Jerry Lewis on Thursday with a uniquely Gallic gift for his 80th birthday: a medal and induction into the Legion of Honor. Lewis received the honorary title of "Legion Commander" in a raucous ceremony in Paris -- hamming it up for the cameras, winking, sticking out his tongue and making his trademark funny faces.

Federal prosecutors have begun an investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis, the Californian who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee, government officials and others said, signaling the spread of a San Diego corruption probe. The U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles has issued subpoenas in an investigation into the relationship between Lewis (R-Redlands) and a Washington lobbyist linked to disgraced former Rep.

A federal grand jury conducting a criminal investigation has subpoenaed San Bernardino County records related to a Washington lobbying firm with close ties to Rep. Jerry Lewis, chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, according to federal documents. Federal investigators are looking into the relationship between Lewis (R-Redlands) and a Washington lobbyist linked to disgraced former Rep.

A political fundraising committee headed by a defense contractor has paid thousands of dollars in fees to the stepdaughter of House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) at a time when the contractor has been lobbying Congress for funding. Lewis' stepdaughter, Julia Willis-Leon, has been paid more than $42,000 by the Small Biz Tech Political Action Committee, according to campaign finance records.