It is an outcome befitting one of the nuttiest years of Jerry Lewis’ life.
As a documentary celebrating his peerless entertainment career is set to debut this weekend, the person largely responsible for Lewis’ inelegant ouster from the Muscular Dystrophy Association has stepped down.
The organization has announced that Gerald C. Weinberg has retired as president and CEO of the MDA. That news release was posted on the MDA’s official Web site on Monday. Weinberg, 82, is expected to continue to serve on the MDA’s Board of Directors as a consultant. In the last telethon of Weinberg's 54-year career, the organization raised $61.5 million, a $2.6 million increase over Lewis' last telethon in 2010.
In the face of that announcement, at 8 p.m. Saturday, the long-awaited Lewis documentary “Method to the Madness” premieres on Encore. This is the project for which director Gregg Barson fairly attached himself to Lewis like a barnacle for more than three years.
During that time, Barson recorded behind-the-scenes footage of Lewis in performance and rehearsing at the MDA Telethon and also interviewed famed comics and film figures such as Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, John Landis, Jerry Seinfeld, Alec Baldwin, Eddie Murphy, Richard Belzer, Carol Burnett, Carl Reiner, Chevy Chase and Richard Lewis.
The timing of the two events is somewhat bittersweet for Lewis’ fans -- and likely for Lewis himself -- as the documentary is a laudatory project pulling from Lewis’ greatest film and stage moments intertwined with fresh and candid footage of the film icon in action. As Seinfeld says, “If you don’t get Jerry Lewis, you don’t understand comedy because he is the essence of it.”
Conversely, the resignation of Weinberg marks the end of a remarkably sad chapter in Lewis’ legendary life and career, as he was effectively forced from the MDA and the annual telethon he loved so dearly. The term “resigned” was laughably used by the MDA as the reason for his departure, countering Lewis’ own seemingly boundless zeal and desire to continue his work for the organization.
Lewis spent more than a half-century working for the organization and helming the “Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon” -- a title that was edited to eradicate his name before last year’s show -- raising more than $2 billion in his tenure. But in the months leading to this year’s telethon, which was trimmed to 6 hours, from 21 1/2, for this year’s show, Lewis was removed entirely from the MDA and its operations.
In a litany of announcements that at times turned farcical, it was first announced in May that Lewis would appear one last time to sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Then in August, the MDA sent notice, via a two-paragraph news release, that he would not at all be part of the telecast and also was giving up his chairman position -- thus saying Lewis was voluntarily cutting himself free from the organization.
Still, in the days and weeks leading to the Sept. 5 telethon, there still seemed a thread of hope that Lewis would appear a last time on the show. A rehearsal and filming session was scheduled for South Point (the site of this year’s telethon) and 33 musicians were retained to perform as Lewis was to sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
However, that effort collapsed as it became evident that Lewis himself was never consulted about appearing in the video clip, which was to be edited into the show. Aside from comments praising Lewis from Celine Dion (who dedicated “Open Arms” to him) and co-hosts Nancy O’Dell, Nigel Lythgoe, Jann Carl and Alison Sweeney, he had no presence in an event he’d hosted for more than half of his 85 years.
Attempts to reach Lewis this week have fallen short. Nothing new there. He has consistently declined requests for comment since being interviewed for a lengthy profile piece in GQ in July. He made no mention of the MDA or the telethon in his most recent public appearance in Las Vegas, on Aug. 20 at Red Rock Resort, when he accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nevada Broadcasters Association.
The reason (or reasons) Lewis is no longer powering the telethon or at all involved in the MDA has never been specified, though it is widely known inside the organization that Lewis and Weinberg have for years butted heads. It was Weinberg who called for the removal of thousands of promotional place mats bearing Lewis’ famous caricature from all the restaurants at South Point.
There is scant chance Lewis will be invited back to the MDA, either. In this melodrama, do not expect a sequel.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.
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