Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Fatigued Jerry Lewis resting after canceling appearance in Australia

Jerry Lewis

Terry King

Jerry Lewis, shown during an interview on his yacht in San Diego in October 2010.

2010 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon

The 2010 Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon at South Point. Ace Young, Nigel Lythgoe and David Archuleta are pictured here. Launch slideshow »

This is what it’s like to be a living legend: You cancel a speaking engagement for fatigue, it makes international news, and your headquarters are flooded with 150 phone calls from media wondering what happened.

What happened to Jerry Lewis in Sydney, Australia, on Friday morning (Las Vegas time) was that he was too tired to make a scheduled appearance on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation Australia in a venue known as the Rooty Hill Servicemen’s League Club. Lewis reportedly arrived at the event, but was too weary to leave his car and called off the appearance. Lewis has since been resting at his hotel.

Reports indicated that Lewis, who turned 85 in March, was briefly hospitalized, but his personal assistant in Las Vegas, David Jackson, said today that he was unsure if Lewis required hospital care. He did say that Lewis simply needed rest from a demanding fundraising schedule for MDF, which is not affiliated with the Muscular Dystrophy Association Lewis has for decades fronted in the fight against the disease.

It was announced in May that Lewis would be retiring from his role as the MDA Labor Day Telethon host, but he still remains the national MDA chairman.

Lewis has two more appearances scheduled on his speaking tour, which is not a series of performances but rather an educational effort by him to raise funds for MDF. He is due back in Las Vegas in the first week of July.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow "Kats With the Dish" at twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.

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