Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis ended their partnership ten years to the date after it began, after the movie "Hollywood or Bust" in 1956. In fact, they wouldn't even speak to each other when they weren't filming. But I'm getting ahead myself aren't I?

There are differing versions of how the duo met, just as there are conflicting reports as to how they broke up.

I will spend more time on the partnership and the breakup then I will on the meeting. Its pretty obvious they met right? To me, how is basically irrelevant. What is universally agreed upon is that they did a few shows together at first.

It was basically hit or miss early on; Dean would sing, and Jerry would come out on stage and start throwing things around like a mad man...people loved it! The thing was, Jerry was a mad man; he was afraid he was going to get his legs broke or something by the owner of the club he and Dino were working(maybe because he thought the act was getting old).

Whether Jerry's fear was real or not who knows, but the act was a terrific hit and the duo was off and running. Within 10 days there was standing room only, and Dean & Jerry, went from $350 a week to any where from $3500 to $7500 a week.

Dean & Jerry, or Jerry & Dean. Either way you slice it you come up talent!

Dean Martin had the charisma, the voice, and the looks, (he was the straight man) he could do it all. Jerry Lewis was the comic, he was the knuckle head, he could also sing(not on Dino's level) and dance, and act, but he didn't have the "IT" that Dean had.

What Jerry could do was write, and he wrote a lot of the duo's material which may have led to trouble with Dean who was feeling the sting of Jerry's fame. Many thought Jerry was the real talent; they just didn't get it that these two guys together were what it was all about!

Dino wanted his own fame, and he wanted to do it on his own. People in his own camp were telling him he didn't need Jerry, that he in fact was the real talent in the duo, and he could, and should strike out on his own.

Well, obviously I don't know what actually transpired to bring everything to a head. Suffice it to say that something did, and the two couldn't stand the sight of each other or be in the same room together for very long without screaming at each other.

One thing does come up in interviews I've watched over the years, and it's this; Jerry, as the writer, was becoming more and more demanding of Dean. And like any talented and confident young man of the time (or any time for that matter), Dean wasn't having it. Folks in Dean's camp accused Jerry of trying to steal all the fame & glory.

But if you ask me I don't think Jerry cared much about the fame part, but it looked like he cared about who called the shots. I think he wanted to be the one in control and Dino wasn't having any.

Now, if you've seen the original "Nutty professor" Jerry Lewis (as Buddy Love) is the definition of cool and charismatic in that movie, and I've seen him do it in other roles he's played in. He wasn't jealous of ole Dino.