Gary Lewis blames Jerry for brother's death

The great Jerry Lewis has made millions laugh and helped millions live, but like Bing Crosby and John Lennon and so many other great figures before him, has not managed to work the same magic within his own family. Word this morning is that Joseph Lewis, his 45-year-old son and a black sheep in the family for more than twenty years, has died, and that another of Jerry's troubled sons is blaming his father for the tragedy.

Joseph Lewis was estranged from his father for years. We recall that extra security was added to the Jerry Lewis Telethon in Las Vegas in 1989 (recounted in Tabloid Baby's Chapter Six, Lesbians, Cripples & Clowns), when word spread that Joe was somewhere outside, looking to attack his father. And as he has year after year, Jerry's eldest son Gary was allowed to perform for the national audience at that telethon with the latest version of his group, the Playboys.

Today, the story of Joey's death after suffering a seizure in Utah is accompanied by statements from Gary Lewis in which he blames the death in part on his father, for turning his back on the drug-addicted son.

Gary Lewis tells The Globe:

"Joe had problems his entire life and I blame our father. Jerry Lewis is a mean and evil person. He was never loving and caring toward me or my brothers.

"I don't know if Joe's death is drug related, but I believe it could have been prevented if he and my father had been on better terms. I believe he partly died of a broken heart.

"(My father) doesn't really care. He's more worried about his career and his image than his own family."

Comedy is not funny.