The picture above by the Associated Press appeared on Facebook yesterday, in regard to the death of Jerry Lewis, the famed comedian. If the picture doesn't look like funny Jerry, there's a reason.
When I was about ten years old, my cousin and I stayed with our aunt, who had rented a house for the summer at the shore. Walking on the boardwalk, my consin and I were delighted to see on the marquee that Jerry Lewis was entertaining on Steel Pier. We both ponied up our week's money and went in to see the funny man. A rather gaunt man came out onto the stage and sat at a piano. When he started singing Great Balls Of Fire, we were confused. When he started pounding the piano with his feet, and his hair started unraveling, we were shocked.
Apparently, the young person at the Associated Press also confused Jerry Lewis with Jerry Lee Lewis, whose picture appears above.
reprinted from August of 2017
ADDENDUM OCTOBER 31, 2022: Jerry Lee Lewis passed away on Friday. When I saw the announcement, I remembered my childhood experience and this post. The obituary said that Lewis was 87, only a decade or so older than me. At the time, sitting there as a boy on Steel Pier, the man on stage seemed so much older than me... age has shortened that distance.
I saw Jerry Lee Lewis at Ag hall in the late 1950's or early sixties, not sure of the date, it was a show with the Shirell's , and Chuck Berry. Yes, if we were teenagers they were in their mid or late twenties. As we age, age seems to be less relevant. I guess it is all relevant.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Jerry Lewis does not appear in this particular Steel Pier program from the early 60s, this issue does stirs the excitement we all experienced in those heydays:
ReplyDeletehttps://drive.google.com/file/d/1r2z64gOBAUCBrdZrKV9aJYYyOq62_yk7/view?usp=drivesdk