When you think about your first celebrity crush, chances are it was a handsome movie star or a glamorous leading lady. Every generation has its share of “dreamy” entertainers that young moviegoers find completely irresistible.
I’m pretty sure Jerry Lewis would not be on that list. But as a five-year-old, I saw Cinderfella and fell in love with what I thought was the most perfect person in the world. He was funny and cute, and in almost every one of his movies, he was misunderstood. People would yell at Jerry Lewis. He’d get fired or demoted…even when he was trying hard to do the right thing. Watching him on the big screen, I felt as if I knew him…and, most importantly, I believed I was destined to marry him when I grew up. The fact that he was already married and had eight sons had somehow escaped me. I was steadfast in my love for him and no amount of ribbing from my older brother was going to change that.
Of course there was little I could do about it at the time. Then one morning in the spring of 1963, I heard an announcement on the radio that I believed was going to change my life. Jerry Lewis was going to perform at a local high school. My beloved Jerry Lewis was coming to Washington and I was absolutely giddy with excitement. My dad was washing the car in our driveway as I raced outside to tell him the good news. Honey, he said, it isn’t Jerry Lewis…its Jerry Lee Lewis. He’s a country music singer.
Devastated, I sat down on the back porch steps and cried for a long time. My love for France’s favorite comedian would continue for another or year or so…until the night I saw the Beatles perform for the first time on the Ed Sullivan Show. After that, he no longer meant the world to me, and I had no interest in watching his movies anymore.
The qualities I was attracted to in my first big crush: kindness, honesty and a good sense of humor are still ones I look for today. I guess I have Jerry Lewis to thank for that.
