Jerry Lewis, the comedic legend who teamed up with Dean Martin before starring in his own series of slapstick movies during the 1950s, has died of natural causes at the age of 91.
“Famed comedian, actor and legendary entertainer Jerry Lewis passed away peacefully today of natural causes at 91 at his home in Las Vegas with his family by his side,” a statement from the Lewis family said.
His spokeswoman, Candi Cazau, said he died about 9:30am local time on Sunday.
The son of vaudeville entertainers, Lewis became a star in the early 1950s as Dean Martin’s comic sidekick in nightclubs, on television and in 16 movies.
At their height, they set off the kind of fan hysteria that once surrounded Frank Sinatra and The Beatles.
Their decade-long partnership ended with a bitter split and Lewis went on to star in, and direct, a slew of hit films such as The Nutty Professor.
He once summed up his career by saying he had “great success being a total idiot”, and said the key was maintaining a certain child-like quality.
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