Dean and Me: A Love Story, by Jerry Lewis
Jan. 21st, 2009 09:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sub_dividedDean Martin and Jerry Lewis were a(n extremely popular) double comedy act in the era before rock 'n roll. Dean Martin sang and looked handsome while Jerry Lewis did dumb things to get his attention, was the basic premise.The act ran 10 years to the day -- from 1946 to 1956 -- though Martin and Lewis were apparently not on speaking terms during their last year together. Before breaking up, both performers made a lot of money together, spent a lot of time on the road together (often sharing hotel suites), drank a lot of booze -- separately and together, hobnobbed with a lot of Italian mobsters -- again separately and together, and appeared -- together -- in a lot of scripted movies and television specials, a few of which can now be seen on Youtube. The pair's true talents, however, lay in improvision and ad-lib (at least according to Lewis). Here's an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuqKswMLJtw
...In other words this is not as lame as it looks, I swear!
What *is* somewhat lame is my real reason for checking Dean and Me: A Love Story out of the library, which was -- seeing as the book's title and also the mere fact of its existence screams "codependency!" -- that I was curious to see whether what these guys had together in any way resembled what Pete and Carl (Libertines) had together, and if so in what ways.
Well the most obvious difference is that in the 50s you could kiss your double comedy act partner on the lips in front of a live television audience and get a general reaction of "oh those guys are such good good friends -- just look at 'em clowning around!" XD; Also: bad reviews, but little invasive journalism -- you had to go out of your way to cause a scandal, for instance by going on very public double dates with a pair of hugely famous Hollywood actresses/best friends -- every day for weeks -- despite all four of you being married (to other people, naturally).
Also despite all the booze and women and (at one point) prescription drug abuse, there's a sort of innocence here? Jerry Lewis tells a very touching story about the time the whole crew was driving out to the University of Iowa, and they all got stuck in a blizzard, and everyone toked up even him (a twenty-eight year old man, and still treated like a kid!), and he went totally off the walls and would have messed the whole show up, but then Dean took him aside and explained what pot does to your body...XD.
The other difference, obviously, is that we are talking about very different people with very different personalities. Although actually the combination of:
A. seemingly uninhibited and childlike person who is in fact very difficult to read (Jerry), with
B. seemingly reserved and grownup person who is in fact completely emotionally transparent (Dean),
did ring a few bells. XD; It's the interplay that makes the act, I think -- if Dean had been less easy to read, there would have been no comedy -- it's all double-takes and mock-affronted looks. (And indulgent smiles that let you know that he doesn't really mind being upstaged.) On the other hand, if Jerry had been more easily read, the act would have been too uncomfortable -- it would have looked like real (outragous) displays of public affection, instead of comically exaggerated ones put on for the benefit of the audience.
Another similarity: backgrounds that match up like jigsaw pieces. ^^; I mean it's no wonder they got on together, when one of them spent his childhood being passed around between kind but ultimately unavailable (FEMALE) relatives trying desperately to show how much he cared (Jerry), while the other spent his childhood being told by his cold parents that he should always keep to himself and (LIKE A MAN) never show any emotion, because other people would only take advantage (Dean).
In conclusion this is actually a very good book, though I felt like a complete and utter dork the whole time I was reading it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuqKswMLJtw
...In other words this is not as lame as it looks, I swear!
What *is* somewhat lame is my real reason for checking Dean and Me: A Love Story out of the library, which was -- seeing as the book's title and also the mere fact of its existence screams "codependency!" -- that I was curious to see whether what these guys had together in any way resembled what Pete and Carl (Libertines) had together, and if so in what ways.
Well the most obvious difference is that in the 50s you could kiss your double comedy act partner on the lips in front of a live television audience and get a general reaction of "oh those guys are such good good friends -- just look at 'em clowning around!" XD; Also: bad reviews, but little invasive journalism -- you had to go out of your way to cause a scandal, for instance by going on very public double dates with a pair of hugely famous Hollywood actresses/best friends -- every day for weeks -- despite all four of you being married (to other people, naturally).
Also despite all the booze and women and (at one point) prescription drug abuse, there's a sort of innocence here? Jerry Lewis tells a very touching story about the time the whole crew was driving out to the University of Iowa, and they all got stuck in a blizzard, and everyone toked up even him (a twenty-eight year old man, and still treated like a kid!), and he went totally off the walls and would have messed the whole show up, but then Dean took him aside and explained what pot does to your body...XD.
The other difference, obviously, is that we are talking about very different people with very different personalities. Although actually the combination of:
A. seemingly uninhibited and childlike person who is in fact very difficult to read (Jerry), with
B. seemingly reserved and grownup person who is in fact completely emotionally transparent (Dean),
did ring a few bells. XD; It's the interplay that makes the act, I think -- if Dean had been less easy to read, there would have been no comedy -- it's all double-takes and mock-affronted looks. (And indulgent smiles that let you know that he doesn't really mind being upstaged.) On the other hand, if Jerry had been more easily read, the act would have been too uncomfortable -- it would have looked like real (outragous) displays of public affection, instead of comically exaggerated ones put on for the benefit of the audience.
Another similarity: backgrounds that match up like jigsaw pieces. ^^; I mean it's no wonder they got on together, when one of them spent his childhood being passed around between kind but ultimately unavailable (FEMALE) relatives trying desperately to show how much he cared (Jerry), while the other spent his childhood being told by his cold parents that he should always keep to himself and (LIKE A MAN) never show any emotion, because other people would only take advantage (Dean).
In conclusion this is actually a very good book, though I felt like a complete and utter dork the whole time I was reading it.