Five years after his death, new testimonies are coming to light from the two actresses who accused Jerry Lewis of sexual harassment and assault.
Karen Sharp and Hope Holiday, two of the biggest comedians who have starred alongside the star in the past, have made new revelations about their work with him in a new documentary, "The Dark Side of a Hollywood Icon," released by Vanity Fair.
The two women spoke to Amy Ziring and Kirby Dick, and first, 91-year-old Karen Sharp described her unpleasant experience with the comedian in the 1964 film, "The Disorderly Orderly."
According to her, while she was changing in the dressing room and looking for her costume for the role, Lewis ordered everyone in the room at the time to exit, except her.
"He began to approach me and when he got close to me, he grabbed me in his arms. He started stroking me and unzipped his pants. I was stunned. I abruptly raised my hand and told him to wait a minute. Then I said to him: I don't know if this is a requirement of the ladies you're around, but it's something I don't do," the veteran film actress described, and said that for a long time, she couldn't realize what had happened.
As she went on to explain, the comedic actor's frustration and anger were palpable. "It should never have happened to him before," she said."
Although the incident took place while production on "The Disorderly Orderly" was underway, she couldn't leave her role because of her contract. However, Jerry Lewis never spoke to her again since then and, of course, ordered the rest of the crew to stop talking to her.
"Only the director and the assistant director talked to me. He often refused even to rehearse with me. When we didn't have scenes together, he pretended not to know me," Sharp added.
On the other hand, the comedian's meeting with Hope Holiday had an unpleasant outcome from the very first moment.
When the actress arrived on the set of "The Ladies Man" in 1961, Lewis asked her to join him in his dressing room. Once the actress walked in, he locked up.
"He started talking to me and telling me how attractive I was in pants, but he also pointed out that he had never seen me in a skirt. He was telling me how nice my legs and breasts were," the actress said.
But the situation took a turn for the worse afterwards. "He started talking to me about sex. He was talking dirty to me and unzipping his pants at the same time. He would sit and talk to me standing up with his mole outside his zipper. I was so scared, I sat across from him in tears and I couldn't move, I wanted to leave so badly," the "The Apartment" and "Irma La Douce" actress described.
Even though there had been various rumors about the famous comedian's obscene behavior towards women, no one "touched" him.
In fact, when some young women had spoken out about the harassment they had received from Jerry Lewis on the set of some films, film producer and president of Paramount Pictures, the famous Barney Balaban, said: "I don't hear anything. Even if Jerry Lewis wants to burn down the studio, I'll give him the match." the studio, I'll give him the match."
Source: protothema.gr
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