Not since, oh, Martin and Lewis has there been a showbiz breakup as sudden and inexplicable. Last year the Muscular Dystrophy Association announced that Jerry Lewis was stepping down as host of its ...

LAS VEGAS -- After 45 years promoting treatment and a cure for children he calls "my kids," comedian Jerry Lewis announced this week he is retiring as host of the Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy ...

In this Sept. 7, 1998, file photo, Jerry Lewis stands in front of a countdown board after announcing a record $51.5 million in pledges and contributions for the fight against neuromuscular diseases ...

To most viewers, the Muscular Dystrophy Association's annual pledge drive has always been known as "The Jerry Lewis Telethon." Well, not anymore. The MDA has announced that the 85 year-old comedian ...

Lewis has not publicly said why he is no longer chairman of the MDA, or why he didn't personally appear in this year's telethon. The co-hosts' remarks during the show were the first time the MDA has ...

Tuesday p.m. update: Jerry Lewis has issued an apology for using a foul slur on air Monday during the waning hours of his annual MDA telethon: “I obviously made a bad choice of words. Everyone who ...

Jerry Lewis died two weeks before Labor Day, the annual holiday he made his own for the better part of many of our lives. His annual telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association were as reliable a ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jerry Lewis, the manic, rubber-faced showman who jumped and hollered to fame in a lucrative partnership with Dean Martin, settled down to become a self-conscious screen auteur and ...

LOS ANGELES -- So. Jerry Lewis is out as host of the Muscular Dystrophy Labor Day Telethon, which he had captained since 1966 (though he had hosted local telethons for the charity as far back as 1954) ...

The comedian, filmmaker and philanthropist Jerry Lewis, he of the nasally voice and epic pratfalls, has died. Here he is with his longtime partner and straight-man Dean Martin. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED ...

Once upon a time before the internet, telethons — marathon television fundraisers known for their endless lineup of performers and rows and rows of on-camera volunteers answering telephones to accept ...