Jerry Lewis the following summer, and the audience was so enthusiastic that Kaye became Lewis' manager and guardian for Borscht Belt appearances. During World War II, he was rejected for military service because of a heart murmur. Lewis initially gained attention as part of a double act with singer Dean Martin, who served as straight man to Lewis' zany antics as the Martin and Lewis comedy team. They were different from other duo acts of the time because they played to each other and had ad-libbed improvisational segments within their planned routines. After forming in 1946, they quickly rose to national prominence,
Jerry Lewis boxing bout for MDA's fund drive, with Martin as referee. He then began hosting New York area telethons to benefit the organization from 1952 to 1959, leading up to the live annual Labor Day event of "The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon" (also referred to as "Jerry Lewis Extra Special Special", "Jerry Lewis Super Show" and "Jerry Lewis Stars Across America"), which ran from 1966 to 2010. In 1977, Lewis was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. By 1990, popular culture had shifted its view of the differently-abled and