Dann Gire: My wild, wacky afternoon with Jerry Lewis
Daily Herald Film Critic
dgire@dailyherald.com
If I had to choose my all-time craziest interview experience, Jerry Lewis would be it.
I first met Lewis in 1982 when he came to Chicago to promote his biography "Jerry Lewis in Person." We expanded a 45-minute interview into an afternoon encounter during which Lewis taught me the fine art of flipping butter pats onto hotel room ceilings, and how to draw birds on hotel paintings using markers.
He also came packing.
Lewis, the manic comedian and filmmaker known around the world, especially for his greatest comedy "The Nutty Professor," died Sunday at the age of 91.
Lewis had forged a reputation for his cantankerous personality, and possessed a well-documented history of not suffering fools from the press gladly.
In preparation of our interview, I practically memorized his book and read everything on him I could find.
When I nervously walked into his room at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, a PR rep introduced us, but Lewis, dressed in white athletic shorts and a sports shirt, remained seated on a couch.
From his book, I remembered how Lewis had attended a star-studded party at the legendary Chasen's Restaurant in Hollywood, and had defiantly refused to stand for the guest of honor, the powerful and vindictive gossip columnist LouelÂla Parsons.
I said to Lewis, "Thanks for putting me on the same level as Louella by not standing up!"
Lewis' eyes sparked to life. He seemed to be appreciative that his interviewer had actually read his book. We hit it off.
The filmmaker/comedian turned out to be totally cordial, kinetic and crazy.
"I'm 9 years old and I'm never going to be any different," he said. "I still get pretty nuts. As long as I can create fun, I get pretty bananas. Would you have me any other way?"
Lewis is the only celebrity I know who tape-recorded his own interviews. (That way, he explained, there would never be any doubt about who said what.)
After we'd put away the recorders and I prepared to leave, Lewis produced an ankle gun holster, then took out a hammerless .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver to show me.
In the event someone would wish to do him harm, he explained, he'd be prepared. (Later, Lewis would be arrested at an airport for packing a firearm in his luggage.)
I last interviewed Lewis in 2014 by email because his hearing loss was so severe, he could not use the telephone.
I asked him about his new "The Nutty Professor" musical ("it's still very much on track!"), if he would ever release his controversial 1972 Nazi prison camp drama "The Day the Clown Cried" ("No. It's my movie and my decision") and if he ever chugged a Buddy Love Alaskan Polar Bear Heater cocktail ("No. One sip and I'd be bombed!").
The last question to Lewis was this: What's the best thing about being Jerry Lewis?
"When I open my eyes in the morning," he replied, "I'm a hit!"