Celebrity Seniors!
Green Celebrity Jerry Lewis retiring from charity benefit telethon?
[May 16]
Who is Jerry Lewis? After 45 years wonderful years promoting funding medical treatment and finding a cure for sick children he calls “my kids,” Hollywood comedian and big screen actor Jerry Lewis announced May 16th, 2011 that he will finally be retiring from the TV gig that made him famous. As the most well-known television host on TV, the Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon and the name Jerry Lewis have essentially become one in the same. The celebrity senior is not welching out on his commitment to helping kids, though. At 85 years old, the green celebrity issued a statement to the press through the MDA simply calling his retirement “time for an all new Telethon era.”
Huffington Post reported Jerry Lewis statement about what fans can expect for the 2011 telethon gala where he thinks he will be making a final special guest appearance as host.
“As a labor of love, I’ve hosted the annual Telethon since 1966 and I’ll be making my final appearance on the show this year by perfroming my signature song, `You’ll Never Walk Alone,'” Lewis said of a shortened six-hour primetime broadcast scheduled for Sept. 4.
They went on to reveal a bit more about his Hollywood history and life as a performer, sharing, “Lewis, a Las Vegas resident, has in recent years battled a debilitating back condition, heart issues and the crippling lung disease pulmonary fibrosis. He said he’ll continue serving as national Muscular Dystrophy Association chairman, as he’s done since the early 1950s.”
But when the celebrity senior does hand over that final microphone, what will happen to the charity?
“I’ll never desert MDA and my kids,” Jerry Lewis says, and we bet that when the sad time of his passing due to the inevitable age ratio, the World War II generation member will leave them plenty of money in his will.
Thank you, Jerry Lewis — it has been fun getting to know you and more about your favorite green celebrity causes all these years. From all the writers and behind the scenes staff here at GCN, we wish you well.