Jerry Lewis dancing the “Jitterbug” with bedazzled dancer in classic video earns 8M views
“The King of Comedy”
The late Jerry Lewis was known for his extremely successful career as an actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter, and film director.
View this post on Instagram
Being a humanitarian on the side, Lewis’ unmatched generous contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in pop culture.
According to Wikipedia, Lewis,
“…was an early and prominent user of video assist, which allows real-time review of how a scene looks on camera. As national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), Lewis supported fundraising for muscular dystrophy research and hosted The Jerry Lewis Telethon, which raised $2.6 billion.”
View this post on Instagram
In 1946, he teamed up with singer Dean Martin and soon, they formed the ever-famous duo ‘Martin and Lewis.’
“In 1945, Lewis was 19 when he met 27-year-old singer Dean Martin at the Glass Hat Club in New York City, where the two performed until they debuted at Atlantic City’s 500 Club as Martin and Lewis on July 25, 1946.”
Greatness
View this post on Instagram
Lewis starred in 60 movies.
He also directed 13 films.
He was so successful that he earned not one but two (one for film and one for television) stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In June 2017, Lewis was admitted to a Las Vegas hospital for a urinary tract infection (UTI).
Sadly, on August 20 of the same year, he died at his home in Las Vegas at the age of 91.
The cause of Lewis’ death was end-stage cardiac disease and peripheral artery disease.
But even after over 5 years of his absence, his legacy still keeps on being mentioned all over the globe.
Thousands of his videos are still making rounds on the world wide web, videos that will show how great he was in his craft.
Jerry Lewis dancing the “Jitterbug”
In his 1954 American comedy film ‘Living It Up’, Lewis starred with his on-screen buddy Dean Martin.
This video was taken from the movie and it shows the audience something new about “The King of Comedy” – dancing!
The clipped scene starts with an event host announcing the jitterbug dance competition that Homer Flagg (Lewis’ character) wants to participate in.
Homer then rushes forward and asks the event’s host if he could join and to his surprise, everyone agrees in chorus except Dr. Steve Harris (Dean Martin’s character).
Why? Simply because he thought Homer can’t dance.
That’s where he was terribly mistaken.
Little did he know, his best friend was hiding something up his sleeves.
And what’s the best way to show up your doubters?
To prove them wrong.
That’s exactly what Lewis’ character did.
As the video continues, comes out from the crowd of performers is none other than the reigning Jitterbug champion, Sheree North played by herself.
As soon as the music starts playing, Lewis and North begin busting their dance prowess to amaze everyone.
Although there’s no telling how long did it take them to master such a routine, the fact can’t be denied – they both have the moves.
Breaking character
While flaunting his not-so-hidden talent, Lewis is still keeping the comedy alive with his amazing dance moves.
His comical face is not going away as he jumps, twists, and turns rhythmically to every beat of the music.
This scene from their movie has reached almost 9 million views (8,886,820 views as of this writing).
It only goes to show how people love watching nostalgic videos of Lewis.
Comedy, goofy gestures, accurate dancing, and rhythm, only a true legend could pull off such a good take and that’s the one and only Jerry Lewis.
See Jerry Lewis marry his brand of comedy and dance in the video below!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.