Lewis remained at Paramount and started off with his first solo effort and debut as film producer of "The Delicate Delinquent" (1957) then starred in his next film "The Sad Sack" (1957). Frank Tashlin, whose background as a "Looney Tunes" cartoon director suited Lewis' brand of humor and came on board. Lewis did new films with him, first with "Rock-A-Bye Baby" (1958) and then "The Geisha Boy" (1958). Billy Wilder asked Lewis to play the lead role of an uptight jazz musician named Jerry, who winds up on the run from the mob, in "Some Like It Hot" but turned it down.