Pledging Allegiance: Lewis stays true to telethon despite multitude of ailments

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2003 | 8:33 a.m.

Many viewers were shocked by Jerry Lewis' appearance during the 2001 MDA telethon his once thin, angular body was bloated by Prednisone, one of the medications used to treat pulmonary fibrosis.

Earlier that year Lewis had been diagnosed with the ailment, which causes an excess of fiber in the lungs.

It took more than a year for Lewis to recover, but he says he is healthy now and ready to tackle this year's fund-raiser, which begins Sunday and runs through Labor Day.

Don't be shocked by Lewis' appearance, which hasn't changed dramatically in two years; he is still carrying in excess of 60 extra pounds.

"I feel great but unfortunately the Prednisone is still in my body so I look like Kate Smith in heat," the 77-year-old comedian, a Las Vegas resident for almost 25 years, joked during a telephone interview Tuesday from his office in Los Angeles.

Lewis is busy putting his final touches on the "38th annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon," which has been televised nationally since 1966 and last year raised a record $58.3 million in nationwide pledges.

The 21-hour broadcast, originating from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, begins at 6 p.m. on Channel 8 and will be shown on about 200 television stations across the country.

The privately funded MDA works to combat more than 40 neuromuscular diseases through research, services to people afflicted and professional and public health education.

It is an ironic twist of fate that Lewis has suffered a number of bouts of life-threatening conditions himself, even as he struggles to fund the discovery of a cure that would save the lives of thousands of victims of muscular dystrophy.

But it is an irony that he ignores.

Lewis is an eternal optimist who has not let debilitating back pain (which required the implant of an electronic pain-blocking device last year), colon cancer, meningitis and double-bypass heart surgery cause him to lose focus of one of the primary goals in his life.

He wants to save his kids. It is a cause that may have helped keep him going when things got tough.

"It provides a motivation not to check out," Lewis said. "That has a lot to do with it. It gives you a tremendous energy."

He says his "creative juices are fine," he's alert and enthusiastic about the opportunity to raise more money for the cause.

The MDA was founded in 1950 (as MDAA, the Muscular Dystrophy Association of America), when the team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis was in its heyday.

In December 1951, Lewis and Martin included an appeal for funds for MDA during an appearance on NBC. The following year the duo hosted the first MDA Telethon -- it aired on WNBT, only in New York, and raised $70,000.

According to Bob Mackle, MDA spokesman, 75 cents of every dollar spent by the MDA goes directly to program services.

He also noted that the organization:

Sends more than 4,300 children with neuromuscular diseases to MDA summer camps each year.

Awards research grants to more than 400 teams of scientists and physicians worldwide.

Helps buy and repair hundreds of wheelchairs, pairs of leg braces and augmentative communication devices.

Lewis says his work with the MDA is a long way from being completed, and he doesn't foresee retiring anytime soon.

"Retire for what reason, to do what?" Lewis said. "There's something better than this?"

Lewis has been national chairman of the MDA for almost 50 years, the only person to have ever held the position.

"Every year I'm energized by the knowledge that millions of Americans share my goal of wiping out these awful diseases," Lewis said.

This year's telethon can also be viewed on MDA's web site, www.mdausa.org.

The telethon will feature its traditional roundup of celebrities and well-known performers. As always, the national broadcast will feature breakaways to remote locations.

A New York remote will showcase the grand talent of Broadway, and a Milwaukee segment will help celebrate the 100th anniversary of longtime MDA sponsor Harley-Davidson.

Assisting Lewis will be longtime telethon anchor Ed McMahon, a member of the Association's board of directors.

Also helping Lewis will be co-hosts Jann Carl of "Entertainment Tonight," television personality Cynthia Garrett and comedians Norm Crosby and Bob Zany. Carl is an MDA director, and Garrett and Crosby are national vice presidents.

Tony Orlando recently was added to the list of national vice presidents.

Lewis says his sense of humor has helped him through some of the rough times over the past couple of years.

"I get up in the morning, get out of the shower and think to myself, 'Thank God for a sense of humor,' " he said. "I look like a Jewish sumo wrestler -- when this is over I'm going to strap a black belt around my (backside) and go to Japan and wrestle."

His friends in show business also have a sense of humor.

"Dom DeLuise calls me and says, 'That's terrific. When you get better, can I have your clothes?' "