Joe E. Lewis (born Joseph Klewan; January 12, 1902 – June 4, 1971) was an American comedian, actor, and singer.Obituary '' Variety'', June 9, 1971, page 54.

Early life

Lewis was born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents on January 12, 1902 in New York City, New York. He added the E. to distinguish himself from the boxer. Dropping out of De Witt Clinton High School after two years, the 15‐year‐old Lewis enlisted in the Marine Corps, but was found out and released. He got into third‐rate burlesque and vaudeville in 1923. He made his breakthrough as a nightclub star in Chicago in the days of what he liked to call “the Great Drought,” Prohibition. As portrayed in his 1957 biographic film, '' The Joker Is Wild'', Lewis started out as a popular crooner in a gang-owned speakeasy during the prohibition years of the 1920s.

Biography

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1927, Lewis refused the request of Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn (a lieutenant of Al Capone) to renew a contract that would have bound him to sing and perform at the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, which was partly owned by Capone. After refusing, because he had been offered more money by a rival gang to appear at their own club, "The New Rendezvous", he was assaulted in his 10th floor Commonwealth Hotel room, on November 8, 1927, by three enforcers sent by McGurn. The enforcers, who included Sam Giancana and Leonard "Needles" Gianola, mutilated Lewis (his throat and tongue were cut) and left him for dead. He could not speak for several years. Capone, who was fond of Lewis, was displeased with the assault, but would not take action against one of his top lieutenants. He instead gave Lewis $10,000 (equal to $ today) to recover properly and eventually resume his career. Lewis toured in the

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

shows with Ray Bolger in the Pacific Theater during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Joe appeared in the movies ''Too Many Husbands'' (the 1931 short comedy), '' Private Number'' (1936), '' The Holy Terror'' (1937), '' Private Buckaroo'' (1942), and (playing himself) '' Lady in Cement'' (1968). He appeared frequently on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

'', was the "Mystery Guest" three times on '' What's My Line?'', and was interviewed on '' Person to Person'' in 1956. In 1946 he married actress Martha Stewart; they

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

d in 1948.

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

published Lewis's biography, ''The Joker Is Wild'', written by Art Cohn, in 1955. Lewis and

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

had a longtime friendship predating Sinatra's portrayal of the comedian in '' The Joker Is Wild''. In 1961 Sinatra signed Lewis to record for his label, Reprise Records. The result, ''It Is Now Post Time'', is one of the first LPs released by Reprise, and one of the few recorded examples of Lewis at work as a stand-up comedian. The title references a well-known part of his act, holding up a drink on stage and saying “Post time!”. This is a horse racing term, meaning the race is about to start; its use here implies that the drinker is about to start on a long binge. On his live album '' Sinatra at the Sands'' (1966), Sinatra says that even though he recently celebrated his 50th birthday, he would have the body of a 22-year-old man "if I hadn't spent all those years drinking with Joe E. Lewis."

Death

Lewis, who had been in a diabetic coma, died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in 1971, aged 69, and was buried in Cedar Park Cemetery, Emerson, New Jersey.

Filmography

* '' The Big Show'' (1926) – Abie * '' Private Number'' (1936) – Smiley Watson * '' The Holy Terror'' (1937) – Pelican Beek * '' Private Buckaroo'' (1942) – Lancelot Pringle McBiff * '' Lady in Cement'' (1968) – Himself (uncredited; final appearance)

References

External links