Sherman Klump
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The Nutty Professor (known as Julius F. Kelp in the original film (1963) and as Prof. Sherman Klump in the 1996 remake, and by his alter ego Buddy Love in both films) is a fictional character portrayed by
Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...
in '' The Nutty Professor'' and its respective sequel, and by
Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...
in the 1996 version and its 2000 sequel '' Nutty Professor II: The Klumps''. Julius F. Kelp is an awkward, shy and accident-prone but polite, intelligent and lively chemistry professor. Sherman Klump is an obese but jolly and kind-hearted science teacher at Welman College. Buddy Love, meanwhile, is a charismatic and conventionally handsome
lothario Lothario is an Italian name used as shorthand for an unscrupulous seducer of women, based upon a character in '' The Fair Penitent'', a 1703 tragedy by Nicholas Rowe.
with narcissistic and sociopathic tendencies. Murphy also played the rest of Klump's family in the sequel. Lewis was not fond of Murphy's characters, in particular due to excessive fart jokes in the films. Alongside "inhuman professors" inspired by the perceived motivations of scientists in the
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...
, the Nutty Professor is an example of a stock character and stereotype of the "absent-minded professor" that was prevalent during the 1960s.


Films


''The Nutty Professor'' (1963)

In the 1963 film Professor Julius Kelp is known for his clumsiness and generally shy and awkward demeanor. When he meets the beautiful and attentive Ms. Stella Purdy (
Stella Stevens Stella Stevens (born Estelle Caro Eggleston; October 1, 1938 – February 17, 2023) was an American actress. She was the mother of actor Andrew Stevens. Stevens began her acting career in 1959 in the film ''Say One for Me'', winning the Golden ...
) he tries various methods to have a more charming persona. When he creates his serum, it seems at first to have terrible consequences, but this revealed to have been a nightmare when he arrives at the local bar as Buddy Love, a suave "ladies' man" known for his ease for words and assertiveness but also for his brash behavior and aggressive attitude. He also possesses a talent for singing and playing the piano. Nevertheless, the serum seems to dwindle as he reverts after a short while and even seems to lose his singing at times. At the end the serum's effect ends and he reverts in the midst of a song with the school's big band.


''The Nutty Professor'' (1996)

Throughout the first film, Professor Sherman Klump is portrayed as highly intelligent and generally respected by his students, as well as being a fundamentally friendly man, but has occasional clumsy accidents due to his obesity. Additionally, his lack of confidence makes him a victim to bullying and criticism from the Dean of the university. Having recently fallen in love with grad student and chemistry teacher Carla Purty ( Jada Pinkett Smith), Klump uses his latest discovery, a weight-loss serum that rewrites the subject's genes, to lose weight in order to spend time with her. Unfortunately, this serum creates the confident but mean-spirited individual known as Buddy Love, as the testosterone imbalance caused by the transformation results in Buddy manifesting as an independent personality instead of just being a thin Sherman. When Klump's student and assistant Jason learns what has happened, he realizes that Buddy is gaining increasingly greater freedom from the professor's influence. This encourages Klump to take back control of his life, disposing of most of the serum and 'fighting' Buddy for control of the body before Buddy can drink enough of the last samples of the serum to eliminate Klump forever. At the conclusion, Klump admits what has happened to the faculty staff after he transforms back to normal in public, concluding that he must learn to accept himself as he is.


''Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)''

In the second movie Klump's kind personality is polluted by the Buddy Love gene in his DNA, causing him to occasionally say offensive or insulting things to people, especially when talking to his new love interest Denise Gaines (
Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...
). In an attempt to eliminate this, Klump uses a risky experiment to extract Buddy's DNA from his system, but his plan backfires and results in Buddy manifesting as an independent entity (albeit with some dog-like traits as a result his genetic make-up filling up the gaps with canine DNA). Klump proposes to Denise, who happily accepts, but Klump gradually begins to lose his intelligence due to the damage his brain cells have sustained due to Buddy's genes being extracted from his system. Eventually, he comes up with a plan to reabsorb Buddy by using a powerful version of his new youth serum to regress Buddy to
amniotic fluid The amniotic fluid is the protective liquid contained by the amniotic sac of a gravid amniote. This fluid serves as a cushion for the growing fetus, but also serves to facilitate the exchange of nutrients, water, and biochemical products betwee ...
allowing him to drink Buddy and regain his old intellect. However, Buddy escapes and is able to evade Klump long enough to evaporate. Denise and Klump's father, Cletus, arrive just in time to help him when he loses his intelligence. Cletus and Denise force Klump to drink the water from a fountain, which contains Buddy's genetic pattern, and he regains his intelligence. Later, he and Denise are married.


In other media

Sherman Klump appears in the third season ''
Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animation, adult stop motion, stop-motion animated sketch comedy television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The twelve-minute ...
'' episode "Endless Breadsticks".


Reception

In ''Beyond the Stars'', Kenneth von Gunden called Professor Julius F. Kelp one of Jerry Lewis' best roles. Describing him as a "peculiarly American
stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a type of character in a narrative (e.g. a novel, play, television show, or film) whom audiences recognize across many narratives or as part of a storytelling tradition or convention. Th ...
" similar to Ned Brainard in ''
The Absent-Minded Professor ''The Absent-Minded Professor'' is a 1961 American science fiction comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney Productions. It is based on the 1943 short story "A Situation of Gravity" (May 22, 1943 ''Liberty'') by ...
'', Gunden states that he represents a man who has put all his energy into harnessing his intellectual side, but had none left for socializing, sexuality or common sense. Kelp represents a popular culture message that becoming a great thinker and doer will cost one a great deal. Through the alter-ego of Buddy Love, Jerry Lewis also tried to demonstrate his ability to play different roles after being typecast numerous times as the "kid", a crazy man-child. In ''Comedy Is a Man in Trouble'', Alan S. Dale states that Kelp is Jerry Lewis acting out "the two poles of his personality", the innocent one that made him a star, and a callous, successful persona he had kept well-hidden. Dale describes Buddy Love as representing Lewis' true personality as a "bastard-mogul", comparing him to Charlie Chaplin's "brilliantly heartless" Tramp persona, or the Great Dictator but "even more inappropriately egomaniacal". He describes Lewis as funnier playing Buddy Love than Kelp. David Denby of ''New York'' magazine, calling the remake a "personal triumph for Eddie Murphy", described Buddy Love as portrayed by Eddie Murphy as, conversely, being similar to Murphy's typical stage persona, while Professor Sherman Klump was the outlier. However, Klump emerges as the hero, with Love representing the "destructive and horrifying" aspects of his old screen character.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nutty Professor The Nutty Professor African-American characters in films Film characters introduced in 1963 Film characters introduced in 1996 Fictional characters with alter egos Fictional mad scientists Fictional academics Fictional scientists in films Male characters in film