Archive Interviewee Jerry Lewis Discusses the MDA Telethon

The 43rd annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association will be broadcast live from Las Vegas on Sunday, August 31. “I’ll never wave the white flag in the fight against muscular dystrophy and other muscle-wasting diseases,” Lewis has said. “Not only is the Telethon a chance to help put an end to these debilitating diseases, but it’s also a way to inform and educate the public, while having a darn good time.” Last year's telethon ended with a record-setting $63.8 million in donations and pledges. A new feature of this year’s broadcast is the Jerry Lewis Telethon Online Auction at www.mda.org/auctions.

Jerry Lewis was interviewed in October 2000 by the Archive of American Television where he talked about his long association with the annual event.

On doing a telethon with Dean Martin in 1949:
We did a telethon for two hours with the mail carriers in 1949. Then we went to Carnegie Hall in 1950. He did the six-hour telethon with me there… We did MDA from ‘50 to ‘52, and then there was a hiatus. I didn’t do another one till after we split up. But he was very helpful and he understood it was something I had to do and he was very supportive.

On going national with the telethon:
In 1950, Dean and I did the first telethon out of WNEW New York. That was the flagship. The flagship meaning they also had stations in New Jersey and Connecticut… Then we were on hiatus from ‘53 to about ‘57. And in that, in the interim Dean and I had split up, and then I was doing the telethon local New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut from ‘57, ‘58, ‘59. Then in 1960 I started to travel to get stations, because we were on three stations, New York and two, whatever that was. By 1960 I was already getting seventy stations, ninety stations. ‘61, ‘62, I’m into a hundred and four stations. ‘66, we went national. I had taken those years to put everybody in place and then finally get them to go with us, when we went national. So we were the first telethon to ever go in color, the first telethon to go coast-to-coast, and by the time we went into 1970 I had 213 stations. We moved the telethon in 1973 to Las Vegas for the first time. And this last year [1999] was my fiftieth year. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been doing it for 50 years. But the thing that is so magnificent is that the television medium helped me generate a billion seven hundred million dollars in these last 38 years, because twelve years I didn’t raise two hundred thousand dollars.

On the hope for a cure:
And God-willing, again, because of television, we’re going to find a cure. We’re into DNA now, we’re into genetic engineering, which is certain to give us information. And now I’m being told by the clinicians and the researchers and the lab people, you’re going to see the cure in your lifetime. I mean, it’s incredible.

On special moments on the telethon through the years:
Jack Benny came on and destroyed the audience. I had introduced him and he walked on and he looked right in the camera and he thought for a minute, he looked in the camera again. He looked around, and he said, "I don’t guarantee that I’m going to make a pledge." And we were destroyed! Everybody was hysterical. And he leaned on that for about another minute of just staring. I’ll never forget what that man did with one thought. “Cheapest man in the world,” he’s not going to make a pledge. The Ritz Brothers came on and did the act that they did in vaudeville forty years before, and it was spectacular… I had the hundred and twenty Russian Bolshoi ballet. A hundred and twenty coming right at the center camera, one at a time. One at a time. And about after a hundred and three I was in it. I did my thing. I’ll tell you one thing that I could never ever forget. Mary Passalacqua was a victim of neuromuscular disease, and I went to the hospital to see her in San Francisco, hoping that she would be better. And she was, she was skeleton-like. She was dying so badly. And we funded a thing called plasmapheresis, which flushes the bad blood out and puts new blood in, and she had been given the last rights when I arrived there. When I arrived there she was the epitome of what hero worship is, because she saw me and she, she practically came alive. And then I left, I said good-bye, never though I’d see her again, and then I get a letter from her two months later. Thanks so much for visiting me: it made the difference. I’m doing well. I’m fine. And P.S. my dream is to one day dance with you. I read the letter on television in front of eighty million people. And then I pointed to the curtain and there she came. She walked out and she and I danced dead center of that stage. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. She’s alive and well because of our funding the plasmapheresis syndrome. And that’s probably one of the most unforgettable things, because I was trembling so, trying to dance and be cool. It was so important to her and to everyone else that was a victim. It was a special moment for people in trouble.

On his 1976 reunion with Dean Martin on the telethon:
The other great moment that’s pretty close emotionally was when Frank [Sinatra] decided to bring Dean on and have us embrace, and stop the twenty years of silence, because it was twenty years we hadn’t talked. And Frank worked it out. He worked it out so that everyone in that studio, every member of my staff— nobody knew Dean was coming on. The only one that knew it was Ed McMahon. So I could never have heard about it. It was such a total surprise. And when you look at the footage and you see the look on my face and the look on his face you see two men that love one another. It was an incredible moment. It was great television.

On the instituting of “ You’ll Never Walk Alone” as the telethon’s closing song:
In 1950 I had the occasion to go to Chicago and visit a twelve-year-old little boy who was suffering from spinal atrophy. And they had operated on him and put a shunt in his spine so he could sit up. And when he saw me he said, I got to tell you something. I just love what you do, and, and you know, you should have a theme song. Twelve years old. I said, what do you mean, a theme song? You should have a song for all of us kids. Your kids. I said, a song like what? He said, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” And it was like I was hit between the eyes with a bullet. What? Of course, I know that lyric, I know where he’s coming from. But he was a very bright twelve-year-old little boy. Speaking for all of the kids that were in trouble. I dedicated it to him on Telethon ‘50. I’ve done it for fifty years.

Link to information about the 2008 MDA telethon.

The entire five-part Archive of American Television interview can be viewed by clicking here.

Additionally, Archive interviewee Eddie Foy III also spoke about working with Jerry Lewis on the MDA Telethons (six minutes into part 10 of his interview).

Interview Description:

Jerry Lewis was interviewed for nearly two-and-a-half hours in San Diego, CA. Mr. Lewis described his rise to stardom and his work on early television, including hosting The Colgate Comedy Hour with his partner, Dean Martin. Mr. Lewis spoke of his many accomplishments in the entertainment industry and his major work in television, including his annual telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The interview was conducted by Sam Denoff.

TV Golden Age Writer Tad Mosel has Died

Tad Mosel, one of the group of writers who came to define the Golden Age of Television in the 1950s, has died at the age of 86. Among Mosel's most well-known teleplays were: "The Out-of-Towners" (for Studio One), "The Five Dollar Bill" (for Studio One), and an adaptation of "The Petrified Forest" (for Producers' Showcase). He was Emmy-nominated in 1977 for his work on the miniseries The Adams Chronicles. He received a WGA nomination for his feature film screenplay of Up the Down Staircase.

Mosel won the Pulitizer Prize for drama for the play "All the Way Home" an adaptation of James Agee's A Death in the Family.

Tad Mosel was one of the Archive's earliest interviewees. Click here to view his entire 13-part interview.

"A golden age is a flowering, plain and simple, historically, artistically, it is a flowering. It is not a zenith, it is never been considered a zenith. It is a flowering and that is what television was doing in the fifties, it was flowering. They say we've got a new golden age, well you can't have another golden age, you only get one.... it was a decade of opportunity. Never to my knowledge, at any point in the history of this country was there such a chance for talent. As I said if you could write, you couldn't help but get discovered. Hanging on was another matter, but you could get discovered, same with actors, it used hundreds of actors every week. Never anywhere at anytime was there so much work for creative people. And that's pretty golden, I always say there was gold dust in the air." — Tad Mosel (from part 12 of his Archive interview)

Interview description:
Tad Mosel was interviewed for six-and-a-half hours in Concord, NH. He spoke about the challenges and thrills of writing for Fred Coe and David Susskind on live dramas including The Philco/Goodyear Playhouse, Playhouse 90, and Studio One. He spoke about many of his plays including his first original television play, "Ernie Barger is 50," which appeared on Philco. The interview was conducted by Michael Rosen on October 18, 1997.

TV's Most Memorable Moments - Vote online!

The 60th Primetime Emmy Awards are soon approaching, and many of our Archive interviewees have been honored with nominations this year. Visit emmys.com/abc to watch and vote on your favorite comedy and dramatic moments from classic television shows. The audience favorites will be revealed on the Emmy Awards telecast on September 21 on ABC.

The Many Layers of Julia Child

The National Women's History Museum exhibit, Clandestine Women: The Untold Stories of Women in Espionage, highlights the story of an unlikely operative, Julia Child.

It has recently been brought to light that decades before becoming a famous chef, Julia Child, in 1944, worked for the OSS. She helped the U.S. spy agency develop shark repellent, used to combat German U-boats during World War II.

The exhibit can be seen at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington Cemetery.

Julia Child was interviewed by the Archive of American Television on June 25, 1999

From Part 1 of her Archive interview: “The OSS began to recruit people to go to the Far East. And I knew eventually I’d get to Europe, at that point I’d only been to Tijuana, and I was anxious to go to Europe some time, but I knew I’d probably never get to the Far East, so I volunteered. And again, the only thing open was in the files. So, I went, I joined up and we had a long ocean voyage. We all met in Long Beach, California. It was said we were not supposed to tell anyone where we were going or what we were doing and it was all so secret. And then we got to this departure thing and there was a great big sign on it saying U.S. Military Departure for the Far East. And we went, there were, I think we had twelve women going over to join the OSS detachment, and we, all twelve in a cabin for two, sailed to, by way of Australia, to India, and we got off at Bombay. I remember sitting out in the harbor at dawn, this kind of mist and you could smell this strange kind of odor of incense and I don’t know what. It was, and I thought, gosh, what have I got myself into here.”

Click here to access Julia Child’s entire Archive interview.

50th Anniversary of the Beginning of the Quiz Show Scandals

A year before Charles Van Doren and Herb Stempel squared off on Twenty-One, a contestant on the quiz show Dotto discovered that the program he was on was rigged. As related in Jeff Kisseloff's The Box: An Oral History of Television 1920-1961, on August 15, 1958 Dotto contestant Edward Hilgemeier, Jr. walked into the office of Assistant New York District Attorney Joseph Stone, with his complaint about the quiz show's rigging, the first spark that ignited the quiz show scandal flame.

Quiz shows were a popular genre in the 1950s— The $64,000 Question became the #1 show of the 1955-56 season, temporarily knocking out I Love Lucy from the top spot.

Twenty-One, premiering in September 1956, was as much a drama as it was a quiz show— with contestants facing off against each other while in individual isolation booths. When college instructor Charles Van Doren and bookish intellectual Herb Stempel competed with each other, it made for riveting television. But after their appearances, Stempel exposed the rigging and Van Doren, who had become a national celebrity, lost his credibility with the American public (detailed in the critically-acclaimed 1994 feature film Quiz Show).

Charles Van Doren, has recently told his story in a feature in The New Yorker, "All the Answers."

The Archive of American Television interviewed several direct participants who discussed the "Quiz Show Scandals," including Herbert Stempel. Click here to access Herbert Stempel's entire three-part interview.

Interview description:
Mr. Stempel talked about his early years, where he discovered that he could retain large amounts of information from materials that he read. He discussed how in 1956, he wrote a letter to the producers of the new quiz show Twenty-One and was quickly invited to become a contestant on the popular program. He revealed how producer Dan Enright choreographed the entire production by creating his “nerdy” look and secretly providing Stempel with the answers to specific quiz questions. Mr. Stempel talked about his repeated appearances on the show, and his orchestrated defeat by Charles Van Doren – before which he was promised a job on the show and other benefits. When the job did not come through, Mr. Stempel approached the authorities, further igniting what became known as the “Quiz Show Scandals.” Mr. Stempel talked about his testimony and his ultimate return to private life, where he continues to work for the New York transportation system.

Too Hip For the Room: George Carlin's Archive Interview online

Legendary comedian George Carlin (1937-2008) sat for an Archive of American Television interview with longtime Archive interviewer Henry Colman and Archivist Jenni Matz in December, 2007. His interview is now available online.

Click here to view Part 1 of 7, where Carlin talks about his early childhood, family, and days as a disc jockey. Stay tuned for the rest of the interview to be posted later this week!

For more information about this comedy icon, see georgecarlin.com.

2008 Summer Olympics Begin Today

The Summer Olympics begin today from Beijing, China. NBC Universal will be airing the most Olympic coverage in history with 3,600 hours on NBC, USA, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, Telemundo, Universal HD and NBCOlympics.com.

American television began to air the Olympic Games as early as August 1936. Variety described this early attempt, thusly: "Definition of 180 lines, 25 frames per second, was very unclear and unsatisfactory.... General feeling is that commercially practical television is still several years off." Seventy-two years later, the 2008 Summer Olympics will be the first Olympics to be covered entirely in high definition.

The Archive contains many interviews with the TV legends who captured the spirit of the Games. Designer Ray Aghayan, Sportscaster Curt Gowdy, network exec Don Ohlmeyer, and producer David Wolper, are among those found in our collection. Watch this clip from Wide Wold of Sports sportscaster Jim McKay (right) talk about the first televised foreign Games (from Rome) in 1960 and his encounter with Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay).

Manager Bernie Brillstein Has Died

Bernie Brillstein, who represented many comedy legends and helped shephard classic television programming, has died at age 77.

Bernie Brillstein full 8-part interview will be online soon and can be viewed in its entirety at Academy Headquarters.

Interview description:
Brillstein talked about his experiences growing up in the various entertainment worlds of New York City, and how he eventually landed a job in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency. He discussed his meeting with WMA client Elvis Presley, and fondly remembered his first meeting with eventual client, puppeteer Jim Henson. He explained his reasons for leaving the agency to become a personal manager, and the work that he did on behalf of his various clients. He described his role in creating the long-running syndicated series Hee Haw, and his efforts at getting The Muppet Show on the air. He also spoke about his representation of writer/producer Lorne Michaels, and his involvement in the early years of Saturday Night Live. Brillstein reminisced about clients including John Belushi and Gilda Radner, and later explained his move into the executive suites at Lorimar. Finally, he talked about his partnership with Brad Grey, and the clients and programs that they have represented. The interview was conducted by Dan Pasternack on November 14, 2001.

Sherman Hemsley's Interview Is Now Online

Sherman Hemsley's Archive Interview is now online. Forever "George Jefferson" in the minds of TV fans, Hemsley also had a hit with the highly-rated sitcom Amen.

Click here to view Sherman Hemsley's three part Archive Interview.


Interview Description:
During his interview, Mr. Hemsley spoke of his early career as a stage actor (while continuing to work a day-job at the post office) and his rise to fame as “George Jefferson” on All in the Family. Hemsley spoke of his being cast for the role and the subsequent long-running spin-off, The Jeffersons. Hemsely then spoke about creating the character of "Deacon Ernest Frye" on Amen. The interview was conducted by Karen Herman on August 17, 2003.

Click here for a link to Jeffersons co-star Isabel Sanford's interview.