Las Vegas – For 40 years, comedian Jerry Lewis and his muscular dystrophy telethon have been as much a part of Labor Day weekend as the start of school and the symbolic end of summer.
Now 80 and swallowing 25 pills a day for his sagging health, Lewis is approaching his curtain calls dogged by disabled activists who contend the show is designed to evoke pity rather than empower the disabled.
Led by a former muscular dystrophy poster boy from Chicago, the activists scored what they call their “big triumph” in November as protesters in wheelchairs ambushed Lewis in an appearance at the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago.
As they interrupted his speech, Lewis reacted as he has to critics for years, denouncing them and then storming off the stage.
“They want me to stop the telethon because I make them look pitiful,” Lewis said, according to a recording made by an audience member. “What is more pitiful than this?”
The 21 1/2-hour telethon – scheduled to air on about 190 stations nationwide, including WB2 in Denver, starting tonight – moves to Las Vegas after a 12-year run in Hollywood.
As they have for most Labor Days in the past 15 years, protesters plan to appear at several satellite telethon locations across the country to denounce “the charity mentality.”
“Jerry Lewis has got to go,” said Mike Ervin, 50, a freelance writer and disability- rights proponent. He has mockingly formed a group in Chicago called “Jerry’s Orphans” that plays off Lewis calling show participants “Jerry’s Kids.”
“The telethon gives a negative message about people with disabilities,” said Laura Hershey, once a “Jerry’s Kid” who organized a movement in Denver called “Tune Jerry Out.”
