Jerry Lewis' agent of 30 years, Jeff Witjas, went public with a view from inside Lewis' final years, noting that the comedian never lost his sense of humor even with failing health. Lewis died at age 91 on Sunday from heart disease.
Witjas said it was difficult to watch Lewis' health decline, but that he never stopped being the funniest person in the room.
“It was tough to see him get older, because at the end he couldn’t walk as well and he was in a wheelchair,” Witjas told People. “I never saw Jerry as fallible or vulnerable too much, he always exuded a certain strength and charisma. At the end, at 91, he lived a great life — but it was hard to see somebody you love sort of start breaking down.”
Witjas recalled the last time Lewis came to his office and said he was joking with everyone and poking fun at them.
“Jerry didn’t change much. He lived the life he wanted to live, which was fabulous. The joy that he brought to millions of people for so long was incredible. He was always my idol growing up,” Witjas told People.
Lewis died of natural causes from peripheral vascular disease, which means his heart got progressively weaker and then stopped working.
He was a popular comedian, director, and actor over decades, and hosted the Jerry Lewis Muscular Distrophy Assocation Telethon from 1966 to 2010 to raise $2.6 billion in total for “Jerry’s Kids,” the children with muscular dystrophy. He also visited many children in hospitals over the years.
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