Maybe I am thinking of someone else (possibly Dean Martin?) but I thought that Jerry Lewis also had a kid who OD’d from illegal drugs…
I don’t recall ever hearing that Jerry Lewis had a child with MD. The reason for Lewis’ involvement with MD has always been a mystery, whereas having a child with the disease would make his motivation obvious.
As far as I know the only children of Dean Martin’s who died was a daughter from his first marriage, who died of cancer, and his son, Dino, who was a National Guard (I think?) jet pilot and died when his plane crashed. Dean was devasted by his son’s death and was never the same again.
ETA: Wiki shows Lewis had a son who died of a narcotics overdose in 2009.
Art Linkletter had a daughter who defenestrated herself while on LSD; you may be thinking of her.
Or Paul Newman, Barbara Eden, or Carroll O’Connor. I’m sure there are more.
Last night on Jimmy Kimmel, they did a bit on Jerry Lewis’ getting fired, (apparently Kimmel is originally from Vegas, and said he used to go watch them tape the Telethon in person as a kid) and they showed a compilation of some of JL’s bizarre behavior during the MDA Telethons of years past, including his on-air use of the word motherfucking (he was pissed that he couldn’t read the teleprompter—“Move that motherfucking video-screen!”) and a truly head-scratching moment where he said something about how while he was now too old for hanky-panky, he still loved to watch his porno collection…
These were NOT dubbed or photoshopped for the Jimmy Kimmel show.
ETA—Looks like Jerrry Lewis did indeed have a kid who died from an OD, but it was fairly recently, and long after his dad’s creepy, asshole behavior had started, so it couldn’t be the root cause of Jerry’s crazy goings-on.
The last time I saw him, he was so bloated as to be nearly unrecognizable. What was up with that?
He was taking prednisone for a medical condition, a side effect of which is substantial weight gain.
nm - answered by Miller.
That’s also why Lewis was able to hit 38 homers for the Angels that year.
Goodness, gracious, great balls of HEY LAAAAAAADY!!!
If you don’t recognize the above, it’s from one of the all-time great BBQ pittings. Click on the link… you’ll be glad you did. 
Jesus!
I never knew any of this shit, and, in my radio days, I used to be proud I could play and dedicate anyone’s pledge of a dollar for MDA!
I stayed on the air as long as the telethon, and when it was over, the whole control room looked like a spaceship from another planet, because of the hallucinations I was having from sleep deprivation.
And now this.
There’s nothing worse than… blah, blah, blah.
Just excuse me while I go vomit.
Quasi
They had Lynrd Skynard and Maureen McGovern on last year, along with one of the Cirque du Soleil groups.
I remember watching the telethon every year, and being so excited when the tote board rolled over to ever bigger numbers. It’s fallen a long way from its glory days, I suppose.
As to Jerry Lewis being an asshole … I never know how to react to that sort of thing. It sounds like, in his personal life, he’s an asshole. But he’s (apparently) put his heart and soul into raising money for medical research for decades, research that’s paying off. The dichotomy is hard to resolve, and leaves me with decidedly mixed feelings.
Our long national nightmare is over!
::scribbles note, “Jerry Lewis/Death Pool”, and crosses fingers::
** BUMP AND UPDATED**
Actually, he will host it apparently. He has been reinstated as host.
Piss!
Here it is on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZyBIJvq8ss
In re-watching the Kimmel bit, I see that Jerry Lewis actually said “Goddamn” on-air, NOT “motherfucking”.
Please find it in your heart to forgive me, Mr. Lewis…
Untrue
Jerry Lewis’ spokeswoman apparently just said that he will NOT be hosting the telethon again, and that was just an unfounded rumor started by a Vegas TV station.