Editing Jerry Lewis (section)

===Solo performances and live shows ===
After ending his partnership with Martin in 1956, Lewis and his wife Patty took a vacation in Las Vegas to consider the direction of his career. He felt his life was in a crisis state: "I was unable to put one foot in front of the other with any confidence. I was completely unnerved to be alone."<ref name=Lewis /> While there, he received an urgent request from his friend [[Sidney Luft|Sid Luft]], who was [[Judy Garland]]'s husband and manager, saying that she couldn't perform that night in Las Vegas because of [[Streptococcal pharyngitis|strep throat]],<ref name=Lewis /> and asking Lewis to fill in. Lewis had not sung alone on stage since he was five years old, twenty-five years before.

He delivered jokes and clowned with the audience while Garland sat off-stage, watching. He then sang a rendition of a song he had learned as a child, "[[Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody]]" along with "[[Come Rain or Come Shine]]." Lewis recalled, "When I was done, the place exploded. I walked off the stage knowing I could make it on my own."<ref name=Lewis /> At his wife's urging, Lewis used his own money to record the songs on a single.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RfVeOpw-NPY/hqdefault.jpg|title=Image of record cover for Jerry Lewis single recording of "Rock-A-Bye Baby"|access-date=April 16, 2017|archive-date=August 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821191454/https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RfVeOpw-NPY/hqdefault.jpg|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Decca Records]] heard it, liked it and insisted he record an album for them.<ref name=Muncie>"Jerry Lewis 'Goes Over' in a Big Way", ''The Star Press'' (Muncie, Indiana), December 2, 1956, p. 23</ref> The single of "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby" went to No. 10 and the album ''Jerry Lewis Just Sings'' went to No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' charts, staying near the top for four months and selling a million and a half copies.<ref name=Lewis /><ref name=Lewis2>Lewis, Jerry. [https://jolsonville.net/2011/03/24/rock-a-bye-helps-jerry-lewis-become-a-singer/ "''Rock-a-Bye'' helps Jerry Lewis become a singer"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103165554/https://jolsonville.net/2011/03/24/rock-a-bye-helps-jerry-lewis-become-a-singer/ |date=January 3, 2017 }}</ref>
[[File:Jerry Lewis 1958.JPG|thumb|180px|right|Lewis in 1958]]
With the success of that album, he recorded additional albums ''More Jerry Lewis'' (an EP of songs from this release was released as ''Somebody Loves Me''), and ''Jerry Lewis Sings Big Songs for Little People'' (later reissued with fewer tracks as ''Jerry Lewis Sings for Children''). Non-album singles were released, and ''[[It All Depends On You]]'' hit the charts in April and May 1957, but peaked at only No. 68. Further singles were recorded and released by Lewis into the mid-1960s. But these were not Lewis's first forays into recording, nor his first appearance on the hit charts. During his partnership with Martin, they made several recordings together, charting at No. 22 in 1948 with the 1920s ''That Certain Party'' and later mostly re-recording songs highlighted in their films.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

In late 1956, Lewis began performing regularly at the [[Sands Hotel and Casino]] in Las Vegas, which marked a turning point in his life and career. The Sands signed him for five years to perform six weeks each year and paid him the same amount they had paid Martin and Lewis as a team.<ref name=Muncie /> Live performances became a staple of Lewis's career and over the years he performed at casinos, theaters, and state fairs. In February 1957, Lewis followed Garland at the [[Palace Theatre (Albany, New York)|Palace Theater]] in New York and Martin called on the phone during this period to wish him the best of luck.<ref name=Muncie /> "I've never been happier", said Lewis. "I have peace of mind for the first time."<ref name=Muncie /> Lewis established himself as a solo act, starting with the first of six appearances on ''What's My Line?'' from 1956 to 1966, then guest starred on ''[[The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show]]'', ''[[Tonight Starring Jack Paar]]'' and ''The Ed Sullivan Show''.

In January 1957, Lewis did a number of solo specials for NBC and starred in his adaptation of "[[The Jazz Singer]]" for ''[[Startime (American TV series)|Startime]]'', then hosted the Academy Awards three times, in 1956, 1957 and 1959. The third telecast, which ran twenty minutes short, forced him to improvise to fill time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=2riKdGOdU3E| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/2riKdGOdU3E| archive-date=December 11, 2021 | url-status=live|title=Jerry Lewis Ad Libs at the Oscars|last=1959 Academy Awards|date=1959|publisher=The Oscars|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Lewis remained at Paramount and started off with his first solo film ''[[The Delicate Delinquent]]'' (1957) then starred in ''[[The Sad Sack]]'' (1957). [[Frank Tashlin]], whose background as a ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoon director (for [[Warner Bros.]]) suited Lewis's brand of humor and came on board. The pair did new films, first with ''[[Rock-A-Bye Baby (film)|Rock-A-Bye Baby]]'' (1958) and then ''[[The Geisha Boy]]'' (1958). [[Billy Wilder]] asked Lewis to play the lead role of an uptight jazz musician, who winds up on the run from a mob in ''[[Some Like It Hot]],'' but he turned it down.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} Lewis then appeared in ''[[Don't Give Up the Ship (film)|Don't Give Up The Ship]]'' (1959) and cameoed in ''[[Li'l Abner (1959 film)|Li'l Abner]]'' (1959).

A 1959 contract between Paramount and Jerry Lewis Productions specified a payment of $10&nbsp;million plus 60% of the profits for 14 films over seven years.<ref>{{cite book |last=Krutnik|first=Frank |title=Inventing Jerry Lewis |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |year=2000 |page=105 |isbn=978-1560983699}}</ref> This made Lewis the highest paid individual Hollywood talent to date and was unprecedented in that he had unlimited creative control, including final cut and the return of film rights after 30 years. Lewis's clout and box office were so strong<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.archive.org/stream/variety215-1959-06#page/n91/mode/1up|title=Jerry Lewis' Foreseeable $10-Mil From Paramount During Next 7 Years|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=June 10, 1959|page=28|access-date=June 15, 2019|via=[[Archive.org]]}}</ref> that [[Barney Balaban]], head of production at Paramount, told the press, "If Jerry wants to burn down the studio I'll give him the match!"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2014/01/method-madness-jerry-lewis-dvd-review/|title=Method to The Madness of Jerry Lewis the DVD Review|first=Sam|last=Moffitt|date=January 20, 2014|publisher=wearemoviegeeks.com|access-date=March 1, 2018|archive-date=March 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302050125/http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2014/01/method-madness-jerry-lewis-dvd-review/|url-status=live}}</ref>