I was saddened to recently read about the passing of entertainment legend, Jerry Lewis.

While I was never a fan of his, I did have the unique opportunity to spend three solid hours with him in his dressing room prior to Jerry’s performance one night at the legendary Las Vegas Hilton (Think: Elvis, Howard Hughes, etc.). I believe the year was 1983.

Regardless, I found my way into Lewis’s sanctum sanctorum courtesy of a barter deal my client, Sony Audio, had cut with him and a number of other stars of the day, including: Willie Mays, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, Mick & The Boys and John “The SuperBrat” McEnroe.

The deal was simple and straightforward: Sony would provide the stars with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of top-of-the-line professional audio, video and car stereo equipment and, in exchange, the star(s) would grant exclusive interviews with the top audiophile trades of the day (extolling the many virtues of Sony over Panasonic, etc.).

I was there to “staff” the interview between Jerry and David Hajdu, the editor of Stereo Review, and a rising superstar in his own right.

I sat down and listened as David asked his first question. Having never seen Lewis anywhere but in movies or TV, I was positively dazzled by his calm, controlled manner, delightful personality (I’d heard rumors to the contrary) and his incredible intellect. Yes, I used the word intellect in describing Jerry Lewis.

It turned out Lewis was a consummate student of anything and everything pertaining to audio and video. He loved trying the latest, experimental equipment and knew more about Sony’s models and their features and benefits that Hajdu and me combined (not a good thing to realize by a then-aspiring young account supervisor).

Anyway, the conversation finally ended and David’s photographer asked if Jerry would mind posing for a few photographs. He was very gracious and immediately agreed (even though we were less than 15 minutes before showtime).

So, he stood alongside David and the two shook hands. Then Hajdu, to his everlasting credit said, “Hey, Jerry, mind posing with the PR flack?”

Lewis nodded, walked up alongside me and, boom, instantly reverted to his nuttiest nutty professor character. It was so cool and so unexpected that I completely lost it and burst out laughing (see the accompanying photo for evidence).

And, that was that. We shook hands, left to take our seats in the restaurant lounge to sit alongside 25 other Sony executives who had flown to Vegas just to see Jerry, and watched Lewis do his thing on stage. Sure enough, he found four or five ways to include the name Sony in his various bits.

Afterword: As you may know, Jerry Lewis is revered in France, where he had been awarded that nation’s highest honors and worshiped by critics who saw him as the “Second Chaplin.” Sadly, very few other critics around the world agreed.

I mention this because Peppercomm’s very own Chief Comedy Officer, Clayton Fletcher, is a beloved star in Stockholm and the paparazzi there (I think there are three in total) routinely describe him as, “The Jerry Lewis of Sweden.”

Now, there’s something to one day tell the grandchildren.