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 and Davis Jr. performed in Las Vegas together (his first 'double-act' since the split with Martin in 1956). That same year, he also learned of the death of Martin's son Dean Paul Martin and attended the funeral, which lead to a more substantial reconciliation with Martin. In 1988, Lewis hosted "America's All-Time Favorite Movies", then was interviewed by Howard Cosell on "Speaking of Everything." He then starred in five episodes of the CBS program "Wiseguy". The filming schedule of the show forced Lewis to miss the Museum of the Moving Image's opening with a retrospective of his work. In 1989,