Jerry Lewis was an American comedian, filmmaker, actor, humanitarian and singer, who was famously nicknamed "The King of Comedy" throughout the United States. Lewis appeared in more than 59 motion pictures, including the first sixteen films with his partner, singer Dean Martin, during their act as Martin and Lewis. He acted in Cinderfella (1960), The Bellboy (1960), The Errand Boy (1961), The Ladies Man (1961), It's Only Money (1962), The Nutty Professor (1963), Who's Minding the Store? (1963), The Patsy (1964), The Disorderly Orderly (1964) and The Family Jewels (1965), and portrayed Jerry Langford in Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy (1982) earning a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination and was an early and prominent user of video assist.
Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affected, the degree of weakness, how fast they worsen, and when symptoms begin. Some types are also associated with problems in other organs.
Sandra Zaiter was a Dominican-born Puerto Rican actress, children's television show host, singer, composer and athlete.
Alison Ann Sweeney is an American actress, reality show host, director and author. Sweeney is best known for her portrayal of Samantha "Sami" Brady on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, a role she played under contract with the show from January 6, 1993 to October 30, 2014. In this role, she earned a Daytime Emmy Award nomination, four Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Fan Voted Daytime Emmy Award. After making sporadic appearances since then, she returned as a series regular in 2021. In 2007, she became the host of The Biggest Loser in its fourth season, and left the series at the end of the 16th season in 2015.
KSDK is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Market Street in Downtown St. Louis, and its transmitter is located in Shrewsbury, Missouri.
Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting people living with muscular dystrophy, ALS, and related neuromuscular diseases. Founded in 1950 by Paul Cohen, who lived with muscular dystrophy, MDA accelerates research, advances care, and works to empower families to live longer and more independent lives but is perhaps known for its working relationship with world-renowned comedian, actor and entertainer Jerry Lewis, its national chairman of 55 years and host of the annual live Labor Day Telethon, along with more support from Don Rickles, Frank Sinatra, Milton Berle, Sammy Davis Jr., Rip Taylor and Dean Martin. The organization's headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois.
The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is a labor union representing paid full-time firefighters and emergency medical services personnel in the United States and Canada. The IAFF was formed in 1918 and is affiliated with the AFL–CIO in the United States and the Canadian Labour Congress in Canada. The IAFF has more than 344,440 members in its more than 3,500 affiliate organizations. Its political action committee, FIREPAC, is one of the most active PACs in the country.
Martin and Lewis were an American comedy duo, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis. They met in 1945 and debuted at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 25, 1946; the team lasted ten years to the day. Before they teamed up, Martin was a nightclub singer, while Lewis performed a comedy act lip-synching to records.
Nancy O'Dell is an American television host and entertainment journalist. She served as co-anchor of the syndicated entertainment news show Entertainment Tonight from January 3, 2011, to August 2, 2019.
KTVL is a television station in Medford, Oregon, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has studios on North Fir Street in downtown Medford, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Ashland, 15 miles (24 km) south of the city.
Danny Sheridan was an American musician, songwriter, producer, actor, and entertainment manager. In 2006 he also became a radio personality on 97.1 KLSX Free FM. He is credited as an influential electric bass player, and as the founder of the Eli Radish Band, pioneers of the so-called outlaw country music genre. This is a style that Sheridan's former band-mate/vocalist David Allan Coe continues to perform today, with a string of hit songs like "Would You Lay with Me " and the anti-boss tune, "Take This Job And Shove It". Still in his teens, Sheridan's Eli Radish toured with such notable acts as The Who and The Doors. The lyrics of Coe's "Longhaired Redneck" forever memorialized the concerts he performed with Sheridan while fronting the Eli Radish Band. In 2014 Sheridan began managing Coe and co-produced his new CD "Just As I Am", with Boris Menart.
The MDA Labor Day Telethon was an annual telethon held on Labor Day in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The Muscular Dystrophy Association was founded in 1950 with hopes of gaining the American public's interest. The show was hosted by comedian, actor, singer and filmmaker Jerry Lewis from its 1966 inception until 2010. The history of MDA's telethon dates back to the 1950s, when the Jerry Lewis Thanksgiving Party for MDA raised funds for the organization's New York City area operations. The telethon was held annually on Labor Day weekend beginning in 1966, and raised $2.45 billion for MDA from its inception through 2009.
Charles DeWayne Zink was an American television personality and film actor, best known for playing the character Skipper Chuck who hosted the popular South Florida children's television series Popeye Playhouse (1957–1979).
Donnie Demers is an American musician and multi-platinum selling songwriter. Donnie's songs have been recorded and performed by various artists from around the world, including Amir Haddad and Joanna Forest.
Nils Allen "Booboo" Stewart Jr. is an American actor, musician, and visual artist. He is known for playing Seth Clearwater in The Twilight Saga, Warpath in X-Men: Days of Future Past, Jay in the Disney television film franchise Descendants, Luca in Good Trouble, and Willie in Julie and the Phantoms.
Laura Ann Hershey was a poet, journalist, popular speaker, feminist, and a disability rights activist and consultant. Known to have parked her wheelchair in front of buses, Hershey was one of the leaders of a protest against the paternalistic attitudes and images of people with disabilities inherent to Jerry Lewis's MDA Telethon. She was a regular columnist for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, and on her own website, Crip Commentary, and was published in a variety of magazines and websites. She was admired for her wit, her ability to structure strong arguments in the service of justice, and her spirited refusal to let social responses to her spinal muscular atrophy define the parameters of her life as anything less than a full human existence. She was also the mother of an adopted daughter.
Bryson Foster is a noted teen activist who advocates and fundraises for the development of treatments for muscular dystrophy.
Small Town Big Deal is an American television news magazine that runs in first-run syndication with a focus on human interest stories in rural America. The TV program is co-hosted by Rodney K. Miller and Jann Carl. Together, they travel the United States sharing inspirational stories about communities, people, events and happenings. The show first aired on September 6, 2012 on the RFD-TV network. In 2017, the show was being viewed on over 150 local stations and 80 percent of the country each week across America, including several of the ABC Owned Television Stations, which air the program in weekend morning graveyard slots, as well as low-power and digital 24-hour networks Youtoo America, AMGTV, Total Living Network, CTN Lifestyle and Heartland. Small Town Big Deal has received the Parents Television Council Seal of Approval.
Rodney Miller is the creator and co-host of Small Town Big Deal, an American nationally syndicated broadcast and cable television show. Miller and co-host Jann Carl, a former TV reporter and weekend anchor with Entertainment Tonight, travel the country sharing uplifting stories about American communities and people. Small Town Big Deal first aired on September 6, 2012, on the RFD-TV cable network. Since then, Small Town Big Deal has entered national broadcast syndication and appears on over 150 local stations each week. It also began broadcasting on the Armed Forces Network in the Fall of 2017.
