story from the 70's or 80's about the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon

September 6, 2016 8:47 AM

In honor of Labor Day, I wanted to revisit this amazing account of the telethon that I had read somewhere online several years ago. It was definitely written/published sometime in the 70's or 80's, and it was a pretty unvarnished look at Jerry Lewis and his involvement in the MDA telethon. Google is completely failing to help me track it down right now, can anyone help?
posted by cakelite to Society & Culture (5 answers total)

Is it this article from New York Magazine, 1979? It's short.
posted by jessamyn at 9:03 AM on September 6, 2016

Response by poster: I don't think that's the one, but I'll happily read it!
posted by cakelite at 9:08 AM on September 6, 2016

Best answer: Harry Shearer wrote an article called "Telethon" for Film Comment in 1979. There's a link to the scanned pdf from Shearer's website.
posted by seabound_coast at 11:02 AM on September 6, 2016 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: YES! That's it! This place really is magical.
posted by cakelite at 11:04 AM on September 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

http://www.thekidsareallright.org Is a 30 min movie exploring "Jerry's Orphans," a group of former poster children with lived experience on MDA stages.
posted by Jesse the K at 1:16 PM on September 6, 2016 [2 favorites]