Editor’s note: from an answer that I posted on Quora, regarding Jerry Lewis.
Well, it frankly depends. Like most of us, Jerry Lewis had a public life, and private life. In his public life:
- Jerry Lewis raised millions of dollars for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
- He made a great many comedies, entertaining millions of people around the world.
- He’s discovered or helped many other performers over the years.
- He’s proven himself capable of serious performances as well, such as The King of Comedy.
In his private life, there are many negatives as well as positives:
- He cheated on his wife, hundreds of times, possibly more. He details this in his autobiography, Dean and Me.
- Jerry Lewis had a long-term addiction to pain killers after a spine injury. He treated his family poorly during this time.
- His children were (mostly) estranged from him.
- He divorced his wife of many years to marry a much younger woman.
- He wrote all of the children from his first marriage out of his will.
Like everyone on the planet, he’s a mixture of good, bad, and indifferent.