Our friend Leonard Maltin has some nice words about Jerry Lewis. Consider this Equal Time to balance my piece, though we certainly agree on Jerry's success and good works for charity.
The last time I spoke (for three seconds) to Jerry, it was at an event where Leonard was interviewing him. Jerry brought a gift for Leonard — an antique Tuck Tape dispenser with Martin on one side, Lewis on the other. It was not the one in the above photo but similar. Leonard, who collects items like that, was genuinely touched. (Leonard and I sometimes exchange gifts of that nature. I forget if I gave it to him or he gave it to me but at one time, there passed between us a deck of playing cards where the backs were all the same photo of Joey Bishop.)
That was the nice Jerry, the thoughtful Jerry. Later though, I saw him screaming at the organizers of the event over a totally imagined slight. You could say that the truth of the man was somewhere between the extremes. Or you could say that the good moments do not excuse the bad moments, especially when the bad moments seem less than rational. I lean towards the latter.