The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon individual stations, airing on ABC on Sunday, September 1, 2013, and running two hours. The final edition aired on ABC on August 31, 2014, again as a two-hour special, beginning at 9PM ET/PT. It was announced on May 1, 2015 that the MDA would be discontinuing the annual event for good. Jerry Lewis began hosting telethons to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Associations of America (MDAA) in 1952 after a plea from a staff member who worked with Lewis and Dean Martin on "The Colgate Comedy Hour". Lewis had previously taken part in what has been described as the very first
Ira Lewis toured with a production of “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”. Lewis died in Edison, New Jersey, of complications following heart surgery on 4 April 2015. He was a resident of Westfield, New Jersey. Ira Lewis Ira Lewis Metsky (27 August 1932 — 4 April 2015) was an American actor, writer, and playwright. Lewis was best known for his one-act play, "Chinese Coffee", which opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre in 1992, starring Al Pacino. A film adaptation of "Chinese Coffee", also starring Pacino, as well as Jerry Orbach, was released in 2000. Ira Lewis wrote the film's screenplay,