March 16

This Day in Humor with Mike Durrett

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Born 1906: Henny Youngman, stand-up comedian extraordinaire with approximately 70 years of snappy one-liner performances. Quote: "Take my wife. Please." Died 1998.

Born 1920: Leo McKern, actor, "The Mouse That Roared," "Help!" "Rumpole of the Bailey." Died 2002.

Born 1926: Jerry Lewis, stand-up comedian, musical entertainer, actor, film director, producer, writer. From 1946 to 1956, he partnered with nightclub crooner Dean Martin, both struggling small timers, but together lightning struck and they quickly became the most successful comedy team in history, steamrollering across concert, radio, and television ventures. Their biggest accomplishment was realized in an unbroken string of 16 hit Paramount movie comedies, from "My Friend Irma" (1949) to "Hollywood or Bust" (1956). A long, bitter personal and professional feud ended in a split, when, remarkably, another miracle happened and Lewis' solo career took him to even bigger heights of popularity and fortune.

At one point, circa 1960, he was the highest paid movie performer to date, appearing in numerous tailor-made productions such as "The Delicate Delinquent," "The Bellboy," "The Errand Boy," "The Nutty Professor," and "The Patsy." In occasional films since 1970, including "The King of Comedy," he concentrated on live shows and his more than 50 years of record-breaking fundraising for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. In 1995, in an energetic revival of "Damn Yankees," he fulfilled a lifetime goal to star on Broadway. Health problems in recent years have taken a toll, but not his inner child. Father of pop singer Gary Lewis ("This Diamond Ring").

• Top 10 Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis Comedy Movies
• Top 10 Jerry Lewis Comedy Movies (The Films Without Dean Martin)
• "The Ladies' Man" (1961): Another Movie That Makes Me Laugh

Born 1949: Victor Garber, actor, "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd," "Sleepless in Seattle," "The First Wives Club," "Legally Blonde." Ironically, on Broadway in 1995, he was replaced by Jerry Lewis in "Damn Yankees."

1957: Art Clokey's Claymation cartoon series, "The Gumby Show," premiered on NBC with his pal, Pokey.

1961: Walt Disney's "The Absent Minded Professor" opened in theatres, starring Fred MacMurray and introducing Flubber, "the goo that flew."

Copyright ©2003 Mike Durrett. All rights reserved.