Jerry Lewis Will Not Host the 2011 MDA Labor Day Telethon

It is the end of an era, and not a gentle end. For the first time in 40 years, Labor Day television will not offer up a sleep-deprived Jerry Lewis cajoling big checks and salty tears out of celebrities, corporate bosses, and midwestern youth groups. Given how old and infirm Lewis looked the last couple of years, it is not entirely shocking that the page has turned; but, the way it seems to have happened seems all wrong.

The details aren’t all out, and Lewis’s spokesmen haven’t yet released a statement. All we have is this short, bloodless press announcement from the Muscular Dystrophy Association:

TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) announces that today Jerry Lewis has completed his run as its national chairman. In May, Lewis and MDA announced his retirement as host of the MDA Labor Day Telethon.

MDA Chairman of the Board of Directors, R. Rodney Howell, M.D., said, “Jerry Lewis is a world-class humanitarian and we’re forever grateful to him for his more than half century of generous service to MDA. We will not be replacing him as MDA national chairman, and he will not be appearing on the Telethon.”

The passive voice is stunning. “Lewis has completed his run.” Yeah. Right. He was fired. No one uses that kind of language to describe the retirement of an icon unless something has gone horribly wrong. And no icon retires a couple of weeks before what should’ve been his swan song/farewell tour extravaganza. Especially not an old ham like Jerry Lewis.

The old dude may be difficult to get along with, and god knows he’s lost a step or twelve in the last few years, but this looks really, really wrong.

Top Photo: Jerry Lewis receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Friars Club Comedy Film Festival in New York City on September 29, 2010. (Andres Otero/WENN.com)