I laffed till I cried : thirty-six years of marriage to Jerry Lewis | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Patti Lewis was married to comedian Jerry Lewis for thirty-six years and took from it not material wealth but a family that she is very proud of. Esther Calonica became the pretty singer Patti, who in 1945 interrupted her career to wed Jerry Lewis, defying her Italian-Catholic parents and his Jewish kin. As Jerry's fame and fortunes grew, Patti devoted herself to home and to their six sons, while enjoying the companionship of Hollywood greats. Of the divorce in 1981, Patti explains that Jerry's continued and numerous infidelities, drug use that drained the family finances, jealousy, and abusive behavior towards his children--who were fearful of his mood swings--were cause enough. Afterward, Patti was guided by her religious beliefs to forgive, to establish support groups for other divorced women and even to promote Jerry's telethon benefits for child victims of muscular dystrophy. Readers interested in a "dishy" Hollywood memoir might be disappointed