The other big news over the weekend was the loss of two major figures of midcentury comedy, Dick Gregory and Jerry Lewis. Both of them were comics with larger agendas -- Gregory became a major figure in the civil rights movement, while Lewis devoted much of his life to charitable endeavors. Gregory's old comedy bits aren't plentiful on the internet, but he was very sharp, and he was a tireless voice of activism for nearly half a century. I wasn't a fan of Jerry Lewis, especially the idiot comic persona that made him so popular in Europe, but there's no disputing he brought a lot of joy to the world and his 40+ years at the helm of the Muscular Dystrophy telethon were instrumental in raising many millions of dollars for medical research and treatment.
I've been reading about midcentury entertainment and entertainers recently; I've just started reading a biography of Peggy Lee, who went from being a small-town North Dakota girl to one of the best singers of her era. You can still hear the crackle of her voice on her signature number, the Little Willie John classic "Fever":
Things went off the rails, quite badly, later in her life, but she was pretty great.
2 comments:
like you, i never appreciated Lewis but knew how much others, (namely europe, as you stated)did.... and credited him as among the greatest.
his charitable work was just icing on an already large cake. he will, absolutely, rest in peace.
dick gregory, for some reason.. i know next to nothing about. i saw the announcement, and thought he was the cookie guy that i have always admired. I pray that Amos will live for ever.
I've not seen much of Lewis, but my family greatly enjoyed "Rock-A-Bye Baby" and occasionally tease the kids by saying that they're going to join the "Campfire Girls". Rest in peace, and may real dialogue and non-sexual plots come back to Hollywood.
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