Please consider writing your Senator's and the White House (comments@whitehouse.gov)

To have the United States give Jerry Lewis

the highest civilian honor

The Presidential Medal Of Freedom

As someone from another country, in the opinion of all you guys in the home country of the unique Jerry Lewis, and in my personal opinion THE greatest comedian in the world.....WHY has he never been awarded a top award by his own industry? After all he has done more both in front of the camera AND behind it than all the others put together, and yet, as far as we know...NOTHING! Has a spokesperson for the industry ever said why? It's just a really odd situation to me. Any comments? Gerry.

In the words of Prof. Julius Kelp...

"Ah, actually the highest civilian honor would just happen to be the Presidential Medal Of Freedom...actually."

Click on the link below to help make that happen for Jerry!

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This is wonderfull news - I'm sure Chris DeBello is aware of the request made today. Folks - if you're to act, this would be the time - call your senators and let your voice be heard. Let them know what you think of Jerry and that you'd like him to get this awesome honor.

AWESOME news! Let's everyone contact his/her Senators & Congress Reps. & let our voices be heard for

It is one of the many overdue recognitions Jerry deserves but it's still a second place medal. I still make the argument that if Arnold Palmer can be awarded the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal Of Freedom, why shouldn't Jerry?

In the meantime, here are the links to the members of the U.S. Senate and House.

U.S. House Members

U.S. Senate Members

Keep in mind that in this case there's strength in numbers. Send individual letters, not single letters with a bunch of signatures.

i just read this on the internet
not sure how to post a link
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2006/09/06/ap2998660.html

anyway the article says the three senators have proposed that jerry be nominated for the presidential gold medal, i think thats what they called it

sorry, that's congressional gold medal

Htillots -

I posted the story late last night so I merged the 2 threads.

Thanks!

Three-step plan:

1. Send e-mails for immediate attention.
2. Send a letter for emphasis.
3. Call local and national offices of your Senators and Representatives. The secretaries log telephone calls by subject matter.
Do it for
You might also mention the Presidential Medal of Freedom while you're at it.

I emailed my district senator and both state congressman a very heartfelt letter, and on one of thier sites (Sen. Joe Lieberman) it had an option, so I checked the box that was marked "Request a reply from Sen. Lieberman."

So....Let's hear the drums and see what happens!

I did it for , all his "kids", and me. I urge all of you to do the same.

James

Personally, I think alot of his peers in the industry just didn't like him for some reason. As those people die off and a younger generation takes over the Academy Awards, maybe he will be recognized. Two years ago the Los Angeles Times wrote a 2 page story basically petitioning the Academy to give Jerry an Academy Award for his body of film work. Something like that is almost unprecedented. It was ignored. Last year, after some speculation he might get the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award the Academy said "Mr. Lewis will have to wait." ---- total arogance on their part. In the US we have something called the Kennedy Center Honors, I'm not sure if they air that in the UK; it's held in Washington DC each year and they put on a big tribute show for a handful of Americans who have made some type of contribution. It's just unbelievable that Jerry has been passed over. For 2006 they are honoring: Andrew Lloyd Webber; conductor Zubin Mehta; country singer and songwriter Dolly Parton; singer, songwriter and producer Smokey Robinson; and film director and producer Steven Spielberg. Why can Dolly Parton get the tribute before Jerry Lewis??? Its like that every year, they pick someone who has contributed far less as an entertainer. Why he hasn't been given the Congressional Medal of Honor years ago is just impossible to say.

This year I am really upset about the Kennedy Center Honorees chosen. I basically wrote and told them so. This time I don't think I can bring myself to watch this. I get more upset each year about this. Jerry should have been given the awayrd the very first year they did this, along with Fred Astaire, George Balanchine and Artur Rubenstein.

Barbara

Dinojerry. Thank you for answering my question. No we get very little over here with regard to the Kennedy's or any other awards, unless you refer to the OSCARS. As for Honouring Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber before JERRY LEWIS! This is just another very vivid snub. Over here Norman Wisdom, who portrayed a rather zany character in the cinema at around the same time as Martin & Lewis, was given a KNIGHTHOOD for services to the Entertainment Industry! Please America don't let them wait and give him a posthumous award.....if they did, and I was Sam or any member of his family I would tell them to shove it! Gerry.

I sometimes wonder if the people who choose award recipients are doing so based on what they think the public's reaction will be. Jerry Lewis has always been known as a "love him" or "hate him" kind of personality. He's brutally honest about his feelings and about what he thinks. He's been a target of the press because of his outspokenness, which has sometimes gotten him in a pickle. I can just imagine the reaction of some of the writers who've blasted him, if he were to be awarded these well-deserved industry and civilian honors. (Oh heavens, more controversy!) I can't help but think that this influences the decision to not award him that which he deserves more than most of the other award recipients. The aforementioned recipients don't seem to ignite a lot of controversy. And I know Zubin Mehta is a good conductor, but has he contributed more to the arts than JL? But it's also like JL said, how many comedy films have been given the award of best motion picture, or comedians given the honor of best actor/actress? There's a certain snobbery in the entertainment industry and perhaps even in human nature that fights against acknowledging or awarding funny stuff. But Jerry Lewis' life is about a lot more than funny stuff. This is what makes it difficult to understand why he would continue to be snubbed.

Nevertheless, JL has my vote! Thanks for the links, debello.

Great idea! Just signed! Let's hope it'll get some attention from the right people!

From The Bergen (NJ) Record, 9/8/2006:

JERRY LEWIS once observed that people either despise or adore him. There's no middle ground.

So you can expect some raised eyebrows if not outright debate over the proposal by three U.S. senators, including Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, to award Lewis the Congressional Gold Medal.

But Lewis deserves it.

The Newark native, raised by a grandmother in Irvington when his entertainer parents toured the Catskills and other haunts, has elicited donations of $1.4 billion to fight muscular dystrophy since he began his Labor Day telethons in 1966.

Granted, the telethons seem at times a little maudlin. And some disability activists have claimed the show makes the disabled appear weak and helpless. But the fact is Lewis began raising the visibility of the disabled before there was a disability-rights movement.

Even if there were no telethon, Lewis would deserve the Gold Medal for his madcap comedy, which sparked peals of laughter from so many Americans for years and which inspired many of today's leading entertainers.

The medal has been awarded in the past to notables in all fields, from Bob Hope to Mother Teresa, John Wayne to Rosa Parks.

Generations will decide whether Lewis was a comic genius or annoying hack, whether his telethons uplifted persons with muscular dystrophy or exploited them. But his commitment to his comedic craft and to easing the suffering of those with a degenerative muscle disease is not in question.

He deserves the nation's appreciation -- and a medal.

Another example of outrageousness? This past year's winners included Aretha Franklin, Andy Griffith, and Muhammed Ali!! Deserving? Maybe, but, CERTAINLY not more so than JL!!!!

I JUST DON'T GET IT!!!

Wayne