Editing Jerry Lewis (section)

==Tributes and legacy==
From the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, "Lewis was a major force in American popular culture."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Here at Last--A Serious Life of Jerry Lewis|first=Bruce|last=Handy|magazine=Time|page=180|date=July 29, 1996}}</ref> Widely acknowledged as a comic genius, Lewis influenced generations of comedians, comedy writers, performers and film makers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/20/arts/jerry-lewis-critic-comedians-influence.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/20/arts/jerry-lewis-critic-comedians-influence.html |archive-date=January 3, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=For Jerry Lewis Few Statuettes But Lots of Influence|first=Neil|last=Genzlinger|date=August 20, 2017|newspaper=NY Times}}{{cbignore}}</ref> As Lewis was often referred to as the bridge from [[Vaudeville]] to modern comedy, [[Carl Reiner]] wrote after Lewis's death, "All comedians watch other comedians, and every generation of comedians going back to those who watched Jerry on the ''Colgate Comedy Hour'' were influenced by Jerry. They say that mankind goes back to the first guy ... which everyone tries to copy. In comedy that guy was Jerry Lewis."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/carl-reiner-tribute-jerry-lewis-he-was-a-true-genius-1031722|title=Carl Reiner on 7 Decades of Laughter With Friend Jerry Lewis|first=Carl|last=Reiner|date=August 23, 2017|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=February 5, 2018|archive-date=February 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206073520/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/carl-reiner-tribute-jerry-lewis-he-was-a-true-genius-1031722|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lewis's films, especially his self-directed films, have warranted steady reappraisal. [[Richard Brody]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' said Lewis was "one of the most original, inventive, ... profound directors of the time" and "one of the most skilled and original comic performers, verbal and physical, ever to appear on screen."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/postscript-jerry-lewis|first=Richard|last=Brody|title=Postscript: Jerry Lewis|date=August 29, 2017|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=February 9, 2018|archive-date=February 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219144928/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/postscript-jerry-lewis|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Dave Kehr]], a film critic and film curator for the [[Museum of Modern Art]], wrote in ''[[The New York Times]]'' of Lewis's "fierce creativity" and "the extreme formal sophistication of his direction."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-feb-27-tm-lewis09-story.html|title=Jerry Lewis Is a Brilliant Comic Artist, a Technically Innovative Filmmaker and an Enduring Creative Influence in Hollywood -- and for That He Deserves an Oscar|website=www.latimes.com|date=February 27, 2005|access-date=October 20, 2022|archive-date=October 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021182432/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-feb-27-tm-lewis09-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Kehr wrote that Lewis was "one of the great American filmmakers."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kehr |first=Dave |date=December 31, 2004 |title=The Disc's Coming of Age, From Noir to Seinfeld |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/movies/the-discs-coming-of-age-from-noir-to-seinfeld.html |access-date=December 20, 2022 |quote="Is it finally time to stop with the French-love-him jokes and acknowledge that Jerry Lewis is one of the great American filmmakers? The 10 Lewis films released by Paramount this fall, all in fine transfers and with additional material drawn from Mr. Lewis's extensive archives, reveal both the fierce creativity of his comic performances and the extreme formal sophistication of his direction." |archive-date=December 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221003922/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/movies/the-discs-coming-of-age-from-noir-to-seinfeld.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{quote box||align=right|width=25em|bgcolor=Cornsilk|quote=As a filmmaker who insisted on the personal side of his work—who was producer, writer, director, star, and over-all boss of his productions in the interest of his artistic conception and passion—he was an [[auteur]] by temperament and in practice long before the word traveled Stateside.|source=''The New Yorker'', 2017}}

"Lewis was an explosive experimenter with a dazzling skill, and an audacious, innovatory flair for the technique of the cinema. He knew how to frame and present his own adrenaline-fuelled, instinctive physical comedy for the camera."<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2017/aug/20/jerry-lewis-a-knockabout-clown-with-a-dark-and-melancholy-inner-life|first=Peter|last=Bradshaw|date=August 21, 2017|title=Jerry Lewis, a Knockabout Clown with a Dark and Melancholy Inner Life|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>

Lewis was at the forefront in the transition to [[independent film]]making, which came to be known as [[New Hollywood]] in the late 1960s. Writing for the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' in 2005, screenwriter [[David Weddle]] lauded Lewis's audacity in 1959 "daring to declare his independence from the [[studio system]]."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-feb-27-tm-lewis09-story.html|title=Jerry Lewis Is a Brilliant Comic Artist, a Technically Innovative Filmmaker and an Enduring Creative Influence in Hollywood – and for That He Deserves an Oscar|first=David|last=Weddle|newspaper=LA Times|access-date=April 16, 2020|archive-date=April 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407111337/http://articles.latimes.com/2005/feb/27/magazine/tm-lewis09|url-status=live}}</ref> Lewis came along to a studio system in which the industry was regularly stratified between players and coaches. The studios tightly controlled the process and they wanted their people directing. Yet Lewis regularly led, often flouting the power structure to do so.
Steven Zeitchik of the LA Times wrote of Lewis, "Control over material was smart business, and it was also good art. Neither the entrepreneur nor the auteur were common types among actors in mid-20th century Hollywood. But there Lewis was, at a time of strict studio control, doing both."<ref>{{cite web|title=An appreciation: Jerry Lewis helped write the auteur's playbook|first=Steven|last=Zeitchik|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-mn-jerry-lewis-legacy-20170820-story.html|date=August 20, 2017|access-date=April 16, 2020|archive-date=March 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301103203/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-mn-jerry-lewis-legacy-20170820-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

No other comedic star, with the exceptions of [[Charlie Chaplin|Chaplin]] and [[Buster Keaton|Keaton]] in the [[silent film|silent era]], dared to direct himself. "Not only would Lewis's efforts as a director pave the way for the likes of [[Mel Brooks]] and [[Woody Allen]], but it would reveal him to be uncommonly skilled in that area as well." "Most screen comedies until that time were not especially cinematic—they tended to plop down the camera where it could best capture the action and that was it. Lewis, on the other hand, was interested in exploring the possibilities of the medium by utilizing the tools he had at his disposal in formally innovative and oftentimes hilarious ways."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/an-american-original-the-rogerebertcom-staff-remembers-jerry-lewis|title=An American Original RogerEbert.com Staff Remembers Jerry Lewis|first=Peter|last=Sobczynski|date=August 22, 2017|publisher=rogerebert.com|access-date=February 10, 2018|archive-date=February 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211072201/https://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/an-american-original-the-rogerebertcom-staff-remembers-jerry-lewis|url-status=live}}</ref> "In Lewis's work the way the scene is photographed is an integral part of the joke. His purposeful selection of lenses, for example, expands and contracts space to generate laughs that aren't necessarily inherent in the material, and he often achieves his biggest effects via what he leaves off screen, not just visually but structurally."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://americancinematheque.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-innovator-jerry-lewis-at-paramount.html|first=Jim|last=Hemphill|date=August 18, 2016|title=The Innovator: Jerry Lewis at Paramount|publisher=AmericanCinemateque|access-date=March 25, 2018|archive-date=March 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326064249/http://americancinematheque.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-innovator-jerry-lewis-at-paramount.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

As a director, Lewis advanced the genre of film comedy with innovations in the areas of fragmented narrative, experimental use of music and sound technology, and near [[surrealism|surrealist]] use of color and art direction.<ref name="Kehr"/><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://sensesofcinema.com/2016/jerry-lewis/jerry-lewis-as-director/|title=Deconstructing Jerry, Lewis As A Director|first=Daniel|last=Fairfax|date=July 2016|magazine=Senses of Cinema|access-date=February 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207005019/http://sensesofcinema.com/2016/jerry-lewis/jerry-lewis-as-director/|archive-date=February 7, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.movingimagesource.us/articles/the-king-of-comedy-20081117|title=Wresting Order From Disorder in Jerry Lewis's Adventures In Multiplicity|first=Chris|last=Fujiwara|date=November 17, 2008|publisher=The Museum of the Moving Image|access-date=February 5, 2018|archive-date=February 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206131554/http://www.movingimagesource.us/articles/the-king-of-comedy-20081117|url-status=live}}</ref> This prompted his peer, filmmaker [[Jean Luc Godard]] to proclaim, "Jerry Lewis ... is the only one in Hollywood doing something different, the only one who isn't falling in with the established categories, the norms, the principles. ... Lewis is the only one today who's making courageous films. He's been able to do it because of his personal genius."<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Jim |editor-last=Hillier |title=Cahiers du Cinema 1960–1968 New Wave, New Cinema, Re-evalutating Hollywood (Godard in interview with Jacques Bontemps, Jean-Louis Comolli, Michel Delahaye, and Jean Narboni)|year=1987|page=295|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674090651}}</ref> [[Jim Hemphill]] for ''[[American Cinematheque]]'' wrote, "They are films of ambitious visual and narrative experimentation, provocative and sometimes conflicted commentaries on masculinity in post-war America, and unsettling self-critiques and analyses of the performer's neuroses."{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

Intensely personal and original, Lewis's films were groundbreaking in their use of dark humor for psychological exploration.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://flavorwire.com/563565/pure-unfiltered-id-reappraising-jerry-lewis-brutally-unfunny-comedy|title=Pure, Unfiltered Id: Reappraising Jerry Lewis' Brutally Unfunny Comedy|first=Will|last=Sloan|date=March 1, 2016|magazine=Flavorwire|access-date=February 6, 2018|archive-date=February 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206190328/http://flavorwire.com/563565/pure-unfiltered-id-reappraising-jerry-lewis-brutally-unfunny-comedy|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Justin Chang]] of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' said, "The idea of comedians getting under the skin and tapping into their deepest, darkest selves is no longer especially novel, but it was far from a universally accepted notion when Lewis first took the spotlight. Few comedians before him had so brazenly turned arrested development into art, or held up such a warped fun house mirror to American identity in its loudest, ugliest, vulgarest excesses. Fewer still had advanced the still-radical notion that comedy doesn't always have to be funny, just fearless, in order to strike a nerve."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-jerry-lewis-appreciation-film-20170821-story.html|title=Jerry Lewis, The Movie's Mad and Mercerial Comic Genius|first=Justin|last=Chang|author-link=Justin Chang|date=August 21, 2017|newspaper=LA Times|access-date=April 16, 2020|archive-date=August 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801233619/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-jerry-lewis-appreciation-film-20170821-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Before 1960, Hollywood comedies were [[screwball comedy film|screwball]] or [[farce]]. Lewis, from his earliest 'home movies, such as ''[[How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border]]'', made in his playhouse in the early 1950s, was one of the first to introduce satire as a full-length film. This "sharp-eyed" satire continued in his mature work, commenting on the cult of celebrity, the machinery of 'fame', and "the dilemma of being true to oneself while also fitting into polite society." Stephen Dalton in ''The Hollywood Reporter'' wrote, Lewis had "an agreeably bitter streak, offering self-lacerating insights into celebrity culture which now look strikingly [[modernism|modern]]. Even [[postmodernity|post-modern]] in places." Speaking of ''The King of Comedy'', "More contemporary satirists like [[Garry Shandling]], [[Steve Coogan]] and [[Ricky Gervais]] owe at least some of their self-deconstructing chops to Lewis's generously unappetizing turn in Scorsese's cult classic."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/critics-notebook-jerry-lewis-a-comic-genius-by-turns-sweet-bitter-1031194|first=Stephen|last=Dalton|title=Critics Notebook: Jerry Lewis a Comic Genius by Turns Sweet and Bitter|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=August 21, 2017|access-date=February 17, 2018|archive-date=February 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218090353/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/critics-notebook-jerry-lewis-a-comic-genius-by-turns-sweet-bitter-1031194|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lewis was an early master of [[deconstruction]] to enhance comedy. From the first ''Comedy Hour''s he exposed the artifice of on-stage performance by acknowledging the lens, sets, malfunctioning props, failed jokes, and tricks of production. As [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]] wrote: Lewis had "the impulse to deconstruct and even demolish the fictional "givens" of any particular sketch, including those that he might have dreamed up himself, a kind of perpetual auto-destruction that becomes an essential part of his filmmaking as he steadily gains more control over the writing and direction of his features."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2017/06/the-lewis-contradiction/|title=The Lewis Contradiction|first=Jonathan|last=Rosenbaum|date=October 2013|publisher=Viennale Catalogue|access-date=March 28, 2018|archive-date=March 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328231619/https://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/2017/06/the-lewis-contradiction/|url-status=dead}}</ref> His self directed films abound in behind-the-scene reveals, demystifying movie-making. Daniel Fairfax writes in ''Deconstructing Jerry: Lewis as a Director'', "Lewis deconstructs the very functioning of the joke itself." ... quoting Chris Fujiwara, "''[[The Patsy (1964 film)|The Patsy]]'' is a film so radical that it makes comedy out of the situation of a comedian who isn't funny."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sensesofcinema.com/2016/jerry-lewis/jerry-lewis-as-director|title=Deconstrucing Jerry: Lewis as Director|first=Daniel|last=Fairfax|date=July 2016|publisher=sensesofcinema.com|access-date=February 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207005019/http://sensesofcinema.com/2016/jerry-lewis/jerry-lewis-as-director/|archive-date=February 7, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> The final scene of ''The Patsy'' is famous for revealing to the audience the movie as a movie, and Lewis as actor/director.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://brightlightsfilm.com/jerry-lewis-b-joseph-levitch-newark-new-jersey-1926-res-hollywood/|first=Michael|last=Stern|date=August 21, 2017|title=Jerry Lewis: b. Joseph Levitch, Newark New Jersey, res. Hollywood|publisher=brightlightsfilm.com}}</ref> Lewis wrote in ''The Total Filmmaker'', his belief in [[breaking the fourth wall]], actors looking directly into the camera, despite industry norms.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Total Filmmaker|first=Jerry|last=Lewis|year=1971|publisher=Random House|isbn=9780446669269|page=120}}</ref>

[[Robert De Niro]] and [[Sandra Bernhard]], both of whom starred with Lewis in ''The King of Comedy'', reflected on his death. Bernhard said: "It was one of the great experiences of my career, he was tough but one of a kind." De Niro said: "Jerry was a pioneer in comedy and film. And he was a friend. I was fortunate to have seen him a few times over the past couple of years. Even at 91, he didn't miss a beat ... or a punchline. You'll be missed."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/movies/2017/08/20/jerry-lewis-dead-king-of-comedy|title=Jerry Lewis Dead, King of Comedy|magazine=EW.com|date=August 20, 2017|access-date=October 17, 2017|archive-date=October 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018072020/http://ew.com/movies/2017/08/20/jerry-lewis-dead-king-of-comedy/|url-status=live}}</ref> There was also a [[New York Friars Club]] roast in honor of Lewis with [[Sarah Silverman]] and [[Amy Schumer]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gq.com/story/amy-schumer-funniest-people-may-2014|title=Amy Schumer&nbsp;– GQ's 15 Funniest People Alive|first=Lauren Bans, Danielle|last=Levitt|date=May 6, 2014|access-date=December 16, 2017|archive-date=December 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217014017/https://www.gq.com/story/amy-schumer-funniest-people-may-2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://articles.latimes.com/keyword/jerry-lewis|title=Articles about Jerry Lewis&nbsp;– latimes|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=December 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930075016/http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/jerry-lewis|archive-date=September 30, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://culpepertheatre.org/legendary-comedian-jerry-lewis-performs-sold-out-show-at-culpeper-state-theatre/|title=Legendary comedian Jerry Lewis performs sold-out show at Culpeper State Theatre&nbsp;– State Theatre of Culpeper|website=culpepertheatre.org|access-date=December 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217013953/http://culpepertheatre.org/legendary-comedian-jerry-lewis-performs-sold-out-show-at-culpeper-state-theatre/|archive-date=December 17, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/07/french-love-jerry-lewis-paris|title=The French Really Do Love Jerry Lewis, Call Him "Akin to Godard"—But Why?!|first=Bruce|last=Handy|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=July 19, 2013|access-date=December 16, 2017|archive-date=November 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118161826/https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/07/french-love-jerry-lewis-paris|url-status=live}}</ref> Martin Scorsese recalls working with him on ''The King of Comedy'', "It was like watching a virtuoso pianist at the keyboard."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/01/jerry-lewis-martin-scorsese-king-comedy-nutty-professor|title=Martin Scorsese on Jerry Lewis: 'It was like watching a virtuoso pianist at the keyboard' |first=Martin|last=Scorsese|newspaper=The Guardian |date=September 1, 2017|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4845-jerry-lewis-1926-2017|title=Jerry Lewis, 1926–2017|first=David|last=Hudson|website=The Criterion Collection|access-date=September 13, 2021|archive-date=September 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913134642/https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4845-jerry-lewis-1926-2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/obituaries/obituaries/2017/08/24/stanley-marcus-daughter-fondly-recalls-one-meeting-late-great-jerry-lewis|title=Stanley Marcus' daughter fondly recalls her one meeting with the late, great Jerry Lewis|date=August 24, 2017|access-date=December 16, 2017|archive-date=December 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217014000/https://www.dallasnews.com/obituaries/obituaries/2017/08/24/stanley-marcus-daughter-fondly-recalls-one-meeting-late-great-jerry-lewis|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/08/21/545027326/jerry-lewis-on-his-borscht-belt-childhood-and-the-lonely-work-of-comedy|title=Jerry Lewis On His Borscht Belt Childhood And The Lonely Work Of Comedy|website=NPR.org|access-date=April 5, 2018|archive-date=July 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726172322/https://www.npr.org/2017/08/21/545027326/jerry-lewis-on-his-borscht-belt-childhood-and-the-lonely-work-of-comedy|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/08/26/546323152/saturday-essay|title=Remembering Jerry Lewis|website=NPR.org|date=August 26, 2017|last1=Simon|first1=Scott|access-date=December 16, 2017|archive-date=December 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217014035/https://www.npr.org/2017/08/26/546323152/saturday-essay|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://adage.com/article/media/jerry-lewis-actor-comedian-commercial-pitchman/310184|title=Watch Jerry Lewis Pitch Polaroid, Chesterfield and More|date=August 21, 2017|website=Ad Age|access-date=September 13, 2021|archive-date=September 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913154708/https://adage.com/article/media/jerry-lewis-actor-comedian-commercial-pitchman/310184|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jerry-lewis-interview-painful-awkward-awful-7-minutes-watch-957115|title=Watch the Most Painfully Awkward Interview of 2016: 7 Minutes With Jerry Lewis|website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=December 19, 2016|access-date=December 16, 2017|archive-date=December 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217014044/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jerry-lewis-interview-painful-awkward-awful-7-minutes-watch-957115|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/remembering-jerry-lewis|title=Remembering Jerry Lewis|website=WTF with Marc Maron Podcast|date=August 20, 2017|access-date=December 16, 2017|archive-date=December 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216201512/http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/remembering-jerry-lewis|url-status=live}}</ref> Lewis was the subject of a documentary ''Jerry Lewis: Method to the Madness''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/method-to-the-madness-of-jerry-lewis-with-all-the-unhappy-stuff-left-out/2011/12/13/gIQAT69BzO_story.html|title='Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis,' with all the unhappy stuff left out|first=Hank|last=Stuever|date=December 16, 2011|via=www.washingtonpost.com|access-date=December 16, 2017|archive-date=December 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216201357/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/method-to-the-madness-of-jerry-lewis-with-all-the-unhappy-stuff-left-out/2011/12/13/gIQAT69BzO_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/arts/television/method-to-the-madness-of-jerry-lewis-on-encore-review.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/arts/television/method-to-the-madness-of-jerry-lewis-on-encore-review.html |archive-date=January 3, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=A John Lennon in the World of Comics|date=December 17, 2011|website=The New York Times}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2011/tv/reviews/method-to-the-madness-of-jerry-lewis-1117946756/|title=Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis|first=Brian|last=Lowry|date=December 15, 2011|access-date=January 29, 2018|archive-date=February 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206002710/https://variety.com/2011/tv/reviews/method-to-the-madness-of-jerry-lewis-1117946756/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/jerry-lewis-method-to-the-madness-272960|title=5 Things to Know About Jerry Lewis' 'Method to the Madness'|website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=December 16, 2011|access-date=December 16, 2017|archive-date=December 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217014133/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/jerry-lewis-method-to-the-madness-272960|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-dec-17-la-et-1217-jerry-lewis-review-20111217-story.html|title=Television review: 'Jerry Lewis: Method to the Madness'|first=Robert|last=Lloyd|date=December 17, 2011|via=LA Times|access-date=April 16, 2020|archive-date=November 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128183335/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/17/entertainment/la-et-1217-jerry-lewis-review-20111217|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/jerry-lewis-method-to-the-madness-1798170905|title=Jerry Lewis: Method To The Madness|first=Steve|last=Heisler|website=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=December 17, 2011|access-date=December 16, 2017|archive-date=December 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217014159/https://tv.avclub.com/jerry-lewis-method-to-the-madness-1798170905|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Method-to-the-Madness-of-Jerry-Lewis-TV-review-2399712.php |title='Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis' TV review |newspaper=Sfgate |date=December 13, 2011 |last1=Wiegand |first1=David |access-date=December 16, 2017 |archive-date=December 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217013956/http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Method-to-the-Madness-of-Jerry-Lewis-TV-review-2399712.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Peter Chelsom]], director of ''Funny Bones'' wrote, "Working with him was a masterclass in comic acting&nbsp;– and in charm. From the outset he was generous." "There's a very thin line between a talent for being funny and being a great actor. Jerry Lewis epitomized that. Jerry embodied the term "funny bones": a way of differentiating between comedians who ''tell'' funny and those who ''are'' funny."<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/07/jerry-lewis-went-to-blackpool-funny-bones|title='He embraced the fish, the chips, all of it': -my time with Jerry Lewis in Blackpool|first=Peter|last=Chelsom|date=September 7, 2017|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> Director Daniel Noah recalling his relationship with Lewis during production of ''Max Rose'' wrote, "He was kind and loving and patient and limitlessly generous with his genius. He was unbelievably complicated and shockingly self-aware."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jerry-lewis-remembered-by-max-rose-director-daniel-noah-as-unbelievably-complicated-1031147|title=Jerry Lewis Remembered By the Director of His Last Lead Role|first=Daniel|last=Noah|date=August 21, 2017|work=Indiewire|access-date=February 22, 2018|archive-date=February 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222232709/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jerry-lewis-remembered-by-max-rose-director-daniel-noah-as-unbelievably-complicated-1031147|url-status=live}}</ref>

Actor and comedian [[Jeffrey Tambor]] wrote after Lewis's death, "You invented the whole thing. Thank you doesn't even get close."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/tv/2017/08/20/jerry-lewis-dead-celebrity-reactions/|first=Breanne L|last=Heldman|date=August 20, 2017|title=Celebrities pay tribute to Jerry Lewis|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=April 16, 2020|archive-date=August 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802021407/https://ew.com/tv/2017/08/20/jerry-lewis-dead-celebrity-reactions/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Actor and comedian [[Jim Carrey]] tweeted after Lewis's death, "I am because he was."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |date=2017-08-20 |title=Jerry Lewis: Martin Scorsese, Jim Carrey, More Remember Comedy Legend |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/jerry-lewis-martin-scorsese-jim-carrey-more-remember-comedy-legend-204680/ |access-date=2023-05-30 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US |archive-date=May 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530151048/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/jerry-lewis-martin-scorsese-jim-carrey-more-remember-comedy-legend-204680/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

There have been numerous retrospectives of Lewis's films in the U.S. and abroad, most notably ''Jerry Lewis: A Film and Television Retrospective'' at [[Museum of the Moving Image]], the 2013 [[Vienna International Film Festival|Viennale]], the 2016 [[Melbourne International Film Festival]], ''The Innovator: Jerry Lewis at Paramount'' at [[American Cinematheque]] in Los Angeles, ''Happy Birthday Mr. Lewis: The Kid Turns 90'' at [[Museum of Modern Art|MoMA]] in New York City,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Happy Birthday, Mr. Lewis: The Kid Turns 90 |url=https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/1621 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328125458/https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/1621 |archive-date=March 28, 2023 |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=[[Museum of Modern Art|MoMA]] }}</ref> and "Jerry Lewis, cinéaste" at the [[Cinémathèque Française|French Cinémathèque]] in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rétrospective Jerry Lewis, cinéaste - La Cinémathèque française |url=https://www.cinematheque.fr/cycle/jerry-lewis-cineaste-1123.html |access-date=2023-10-21 |website=www.cinematheque.fr |archive-date=October 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029041417/https://www.cinematheque.fr/cycle/jerry-lewis-cineaste-1123.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2017, Lewis with others inaugurated and founded Legionnaires of Laughter and Legacy Awards, and the first Legacy Award held in Downtown, New York.<ref>{{Cite web |title=News |url=https://legionnairesoflaughter.com/news/ |access-date=July 11, 2022 |website=Legionnaires Of Laughter |language=en-US |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404085233/https://legionnairesoflaughter.com/news/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On August 21, 2017, multiple hotel marquees on the [[Las Vegas Strip]] honored Lewis with a coordinated video display of images of his career as a Las Vegas performer and resident.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/celebrity/las-vegas-strip-tribute-remembers-jerry-lewis/|first=Carol|last=Cling|title=Las Vegas Strip tribute remembers Jerry Lewis|date=August 21, 2017|newspaper=Las Vegas Review-Journal|access-date=June 17, 2018|archive-date=June 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618025516/https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/celebrity/las-vegas-strip-tribute-remembers-jerry-lewis/|url-status=live}}</ref>