Lewis & Martin didn't speak for months

Jerry Lewis has revealed how he barely spoke a word to double-act partner Dean Martin in the last ten months before their comedy relationship finally fell apart.

The couple had starred for more than a decade in movies, radio and clubs before they split up in 1956.

Now, in his forthcoming autobiography, Dean & Me (A Love Story), 79-year-old Lewis reveals the details of exactly how the successful partnership fell apart.

In an extract to be published in America’s Parade next week, Lewis writes: ‘I couldn't shake the childish hope that, just like a fairy tale, everything would be all better. But I knew that Martin & Lewis' days were numbered.

‘Meanwhile, we continued to perform together, but we weren't really speaking.’

Their last show was at the Copacabana Club in New York on July 24, 1956. ‘Then we closed the book on  ten great years - with the exception of the last ten months,’ Lewis wrote. ‘Those were horrific - ten months of pain and anger, uncertainty and sorrow.’

Lewis, now 79, says it took the death of Martin's son ‘Dino’ in a 1987 plane crash to bring them close again.

Martin died in 1995 at age 78, while Lewis is now best known for his annual muscular dystrophy telethon. In 2002, he collapsed moments before he was to take to the London Palladium stage at the end of a tribute gig saluting his career, but quickly made a recovery

Click here to buy Dean & Me (A Love Story) on import from Amazon.

Published: 18 Oct 2005