JERRY LEWIS' LIFETIME OF PAIN RELIEVED BY BACK SURGERY
TUCSON, Ariz., Jan. 19, 2001 - Entertainer Jerry Lewis is recovering after successful surgery to correct long-standing injuries to his back caused by repeated pratfalls.
Lewis, national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, is resting at his Las Vegas home following the Jan. 10 surgery.
"I feel fabulous," the 74-year-old comedian said. "I can't wait to get back on the stage and make people laugh."
Lewis said he expects to resume his performance schedule in March. In addition to live performances at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and elsewhere, Lewis will star in MDA's 36th annual Labor Day Telethon Sept. 2-3.
Lewis underwent a partial laminectomy and spinal repair at Methodist Hospital in Houston. The surgery repaired spinal damage that the entertainer first incurred during a fall off a piano while performing at Las Vegas' Sands Hotel in 1965. The original injury was exacerbated by other pratfalls during Lewis' film and stage career.
MDA Senior Vice President and Executive Director Robert Ross said, "We're grateful that Jerry is doing so well, and has found relief from a problem that's plagued him for decades.
"I knew how difficult it was for him to cavort for 211/2 hours on our Telethons when he was suffering intense pain," Ross added. "But, trouper that he is, Jerry always came through - even though it required a truly heroic effort to do so."
Lewis and Dean Martin starred in the first MDA Telethon, broadcast in New York, in 1952.
MDA is the nonprofit health agency dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy, ALS and related diseases by funding worldwide research. The Association also provides comprehensive health care and support services, advocacy and education.. The Association's programs are funded almost entirely by individual private contributors. |
