Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin–A Glimpse into America’s Favorite Classic Comedy Duo
When you think about comedy and the people that bring laughs into your household on a regular basis, few can argue the prowess of the union between Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. This was a pair that for all practical purpose should not have been. This pair was often considered a Mirth Quake. Martin and Lewis did have what it took to entertain as a duo, yet lacked the appreciation for each other to be considered true friends. What was considered to be the most successful comedy act in history, Martin and Lewis gave adoring fans the farce that they were so famous for within a 10-year span. This dynamic duo, were clearly on their way to becoming “The Act of the 20th century”. Jumping and romping onto radio shows, television shows, movies, and stage productions, it was thought that this ride would never end.
As many people say, “all good things must come to an end”, so it did for this great entertaining pair. What was felt to be an unbridled bitterness between them, managed to bust this pair up. The split of entertainments most loved comedy act took many people by surprise and broke the hearts of millions of adoring fans. Many people felt that there would be resurgence, and there was of sorts. Both picked up their bootstraps and became phenomenon of the singular variety. In the early months of the year 1946, a strappingly handsome actor originally born under the name Dino Paul Crocetti in the West Virginia -Ohio border-town of Steubenville, Ohio, known to critics as Dean Martin failed a screen test with MGM. This loss was near devastating to Martin at the time, as he felt that he was destined to be nothing more than a mere nightclub performer. One evening, while preparing for a set at the Glass Hat Club in New York City, Dean ran into a gentleman by the name of Jerry Lewis. Both men were performing in the club this evening, and Martin and this fledging comic Lewis quickly formed a friendship. Realizing the chemistry between themselves and their particular styles, they found that a logical choice would be to incorporate each other in their acts. They have found what both thought was there calling as they had set the stage for a wonderful music comedy team.
The stage was set for this duo to perform together on July 25th, 1946 in Atlantic City’s 500 Club. What they had worked out was that Martin would sing, and Lewis would find annoying measures to interrupt Martin and heckle him on stage. This eventually led to the pair chasing each other around the stage, much to the delight of the crowd. A fashionable bond was forged. Fans everywhere began to rave about this pairing and they quickly became one of the top acts in America. Paramount Pictures producer Hal Wallis signed the pair of Martin and Lewis to do a movie in comic relief, in My Friend Irma. At the same time in the year 1949, the pair was asked to do a radio show that became more of a radio sitcom and became rather successful as well. By the early 50s, Martin and Lewis were the hottest act in the world, commanding a very strong audience within the stage, nightclub, television, and movie scene. With all this notoriety and success however, stress did manage to creep up on this pair and they eventually cut ties in the year 1956 much to the displeasure of their adoring fans.
This split unfortunately did not fair well for both of the entertainers, Lewis did indeed shine on his plight as a solo act. Lewis was cast in many films, and his comic nature never dulled without Martin. Dean Martin however, did struggle throughout his solo regime. The first solo gig Martin partook in was the movie Ten Thousand Bedrooms, which unfortunately became a major box office bomb. Albeit the fact that Martin did indeed have the talent, charm, and striking good looks, the split really did not do Martin any justice within his career. It was felt that the pair that made each other, just really could not stand each other. This was a real shame as; they were in the hearts of millions of fans worldwide that would have never dreamed of seeing this pair split up.
