Jerry Lewis Receives Humanitarian Award at the Academy Awards Ceremony
Posted on: February 23, 2009
Jerry Lewis, the 82-year old actor best known for his comedy routines alongside Dean Martin in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, is also a very influential humanitarian. For a good part of his life, Lewis has hosted the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, an annual event that raises money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Since its inception in 1960 and its first nationally televised event in 1966, the telethon has raised $1.46 billion to help fight muscular dystrophy, a group of genetic, hereditary muscle diseases that weaken the muscles of the human body. Please click here for more information on the telethon, which occurs every year on Labor Day Weekend:
Lewis is among a select group of actors and actresses deeply committed to humanitarian efforts, including the late Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor, and the late Frank Sinatra. Here is the full list of past recipients of the award:
Past Recipients of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award:
| Year | First Name | Last Name |
| 1956 | Y. Frank | Freeman |
| 1957 | Samuel | Goldwyn |
| 1959 | Bob | Hope |
| 1960 | Sol | Lesser |
| 1961 | George | Seaton |
| 1962 | Steve | Broidy |
| 1965 | Edmond L. | DePatie |
| 1966 | George | Bagnall |
| 1967 | Gregory | Peck |
| 1968 | Martha | Raye |
| 1969 | George | Jessel |
| 1970 | Frank | Sinatra |
| 1972 | Rosalind | Russell |
| 1973 | Lew | Wasserman |
| 1974 | Arthur B. | Krim |
| 1975 | Jules C. | Stein |
| 1977 | Charlton | Heston |
| 1978 | Leo | Jaffe |
| 1979 | Robert | Benjamin |
| 1981 | Danny | Kaye |
| 1982 | Walter | Mirisch |
| 1983 | M.J. | Frankovich |
| 1984 | David L. | Wolper |
| 1985 | Charles “Buddy” | Rogers |
| 1989 | Howard W. | Koch |
| 1992* | Audrey | Hepburn |
| 1992* | Elizabeth | Taylor |
| 1993 | Paul | Newman |
| 1994 | Quincy | Jones |
| 2001 | Arthur | Hiller |
| 2005 | Roger | Mayer |
| 2007 | Sherry | Lansing |
| 2009 | Jerry | Lewis |
| * Two Oscars were presented | ||
| to both Audrey Hepburn and | ||
| Elizabeth Taylor in 1992 | ||
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