Born Joseph Levitch on March 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey, “Jerry Lewis” grew up sleeping and breathing the showbiz since childhood. His father was Daniel “Danny” Levitch, a popular vaudeville performer who went by Danny Lewis. His mother, Rachael “Rae” Levitch, was a pianist and her husband’s musical director.
The young Jerry Lewis always wanted to make people laugh, but one of his earliest passions he had was his love of pranks. As a boy, he’d sneak into people’s houses and steal things like pies and chickens (yes, his neighbors had chickens) as a practical joke.
The Showbiz Family
The acting bug hit young Lewis early on, even as young as five years old. He often joined his parent's performances in various places throughout New York’s legendary Catskill Mountains. The comedy scene was home to countless great comics such as Jerry Stiller and Lenny Bruce.
Getting people's attention came rather naturally for little Lewis. By his teen years, he was writing and creating his own comedic acts for his family, neighbors, and peers.
The Record Act
Lewis would ultimately become the King of Comedy in later years due to his signature goofiness and zany antics. The earliest version of that signature style could be seen as early as 15 years old when he did his "Record Act" In it, he would mime lyrics to songs as a phonograph played offstage. He then pursued it seriously and sought out a real audience.
By the time he was just 15 years old, Lewis already developed his now-famous “Record Act” bit. If you haven’t seen it, the bit involves Lewis pantomiming a lip-synced performance of a song in an exaggerated and silly way. He performed the song-and-dance act for decades.
Giving Up Too Soon
Of course, every entertainer experiences a little bit of rejection, and Lewis certainly got a whiff of that. One of his first shows in the Burlesque House in Buffalo did not go too well and he ended up getting canceled.
To make ends meet, Lewis worked at the snack counter and then as a theater usher at the Paramount Theatre and Loew’s Capitol Theatre in New York City. He was starting to go off the path, but then this wise father stepped in and set him straight.
The Borscht Belt
Max Coleman, a popular comedian at the time (who worked with Lewi's father,) together with Lewis's father, convinced the burgeoning comic to get back on that horse and try again. The famous "Record Act" eventually made its way to comedian Irving Kaye, who loved it.
Immediately Coleman became his manager and guardian, landing him a string of Borscht Belt appearances (a nickname for the summer resorts in the Catskills frequented by the Jewish community between the 1920s and 1960s.)